The Better Business Bureau’s nationwide move earlier this month to a letter-grading system for businesses doesn’t appear to be making the mark in some cities.
So much so that the local BBB has asked for and received an extension on implementing the new system until Feb. 1.
“We think it has tremendous inequities,” said Dan Parsons, president of the BBB of Greater Houston and South Texas.
In short, the national group that thousands of consumers rely on to resolve complaints against businesses and to help determine whether firms are reputable is scrapping its “satisfactory” and “unsatisfactory” ratings. Instead, businesses will be awarded letter grades from A-plus to F.
The new system assesses points based on 16 factors, such as the type of business and its business model, how long a business has been in operation, government actions against a firm, paid BBB membership and complaints filed.
Charges of ‘pay to play’
Five cities — including Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Calif., Albuquerque, N.M., Asheville, N.C., and West Palm Beach, Fla. — tested a similar system that the nonprofit BBB is using as a model. According to news accounts, the test projects received some complaints, including one that some Los Angeles restaurants that pay BBB membership dues got higher grades than those with similar ratings but are not members.
Rick Berman, president of Berman and Co., a Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm that represents restaurants nationwide, refers to it as a “pay-to-play system.” He has mounted a nationwide media blitz against the system.
“I really do believe this is all about money,” said Berman, who prefers the BBB return to the old system.
Parsons disagrees with Berman’s article circulating on the Internet, saying that he’s basing his comments on the test system in the five cities instead of the program adopted for the rest of the nation. And he noted that a business’s membership in the BBB accounts for only 4 points out of a possible 100 under the new rating system. But Parsons said he doesn’t disagree with Berman’s premise that the new system has some issues.
He said his bureau has been working to figure out how to apply the system fairly so it won’t offend members and at the same time report accurately on those who are not members.