Can you rely on the Better Business Bureau?

When I was considering becoming an EASI Affiliate, one of the many inadequate steps that I took was to check with the Better Business Bureau. After all, everyone has heard of the BBB, and surely their information can be relied upon. Correct? They are reputable, aren't they? Don't they exist to help protect the little guy?

At that time, BBB indicated no red flags. That was encouraging, and contributed to my decision to move forward with EASI.

Fast forward a few years to when I filed a complaint against EASI with the BBB and pursued it over a period of time. The BBB facilitated a correspondence between myself and EASI which consisted of me laying out my basis for complaint with the BBB and EASI admitting nothing, denying everything, and making counteraccusations. After a few rounds of this correspondence, the BBB dropped out of the process, citing an unfortunate inability to resolve the dispute. The reality is that they didn't really do anything but pass written communications between myself and EASI.

If you were to look on the BBB website during the time of this complaint and after, it showed that there were zero complaints on file about EASI. I don't really understand that. Clearly, they were mediating an active complaint. I could be wrong, but the impression I got from the BBB was that their process only works if the defending party agrees that there was a wrong and agrees to take action to make it right. If that does not happen, the BBB drops out of the process, and will not record it as a complaint. Since I am not aware of EASI ever admitting to wrongdoing, I guess I should not be surprised to see zero complaints against EASI on the BBB website.

Here is a link to another blog on the web (with which I have no affiliation) that discusses the subject of EASI and the BBB:

http://bizop.ca/blog2/due-diligence/better-business-bureau-of-midd.html

Are you confused yet? Me too. Apparently I do not understand what the BBB is all about and how it works.

Do you? If you don't fully understand how the BBB works and whose interests they serve, maybe that's reason enough to not rely on their information.