Is it appropriate to add a comment with a company's Better Business Bureau rating to their deals?
One company that posts deals here frequently has an F rating with the BBB. Is it appropriate to add a comment noting that to their deals? I say yes, let the potential buyers make an informed decision but I'd like to hear other opinions.
by
axe
asked 2 years ago
I think if you're aware of a good or bad rating for a company sometimes it is very useful for your fellow wooters, so do it (I would just ask for a reference, i.e. a link)
Any information pertaining to reliability, customer service, product quality, etc. is very beneficial when considering an item from any store - online or not. I agree it would be nice to include a link if that option is available, but even without a link it is beneficial. The words of an experienced buyer (from the store in question) are always beneficial, and they rarely have a link. Just my $.02 :)
Actually a link would be very helpful if it is BBB stuff. I hate it when people mention a BBB rating without giving a link. The search function on the BBB site is horrible and I can never seem to find anything I want there.
Please add the BBB information if you have it/find it.
Actually, let me provide a small commentary to that.
If you're speaking of a local entity, or someone who has a serious presence as a local entity, then BBB ratings are very important. They become far less useful when talking about online business. Often an online store is not even aware of poor ratings, or is unable to fix them in a way that will satisfy the BBB and the complaining customer.
I'd be VERY interested for you to post the precise store, and the place where the ratings are, since it's obvious that you're not speaking hypothetically. It's pretty tough to answer without seeing the specifics.
@chris12345: Ah. That'd make sense. I don't see a lot of happy campers on that one. I'll wait until morning, and then nag @axe for actual links. You know what they say:
Links, or it didn't happen.
Oh, wait. That's what I say. Still, I'd like to see the actual links.
I think it is a good idea. I actually reported a company for gypping me. I bought a 2 bag set and only recieved one bag. First I was told the price was only for one bag, but the I was on the page while on the phone with them and was able to get the guy to admit I was screwed. He and 2 subsequent phone reps promised me my bag would be shipped to me. I even received an email confirmation (that turned out to only be a confirmation that I called the service center for an "unspecified reason".
I contacted my local BBB and they provided me the steps for filing a complaint. Say you buy online from a luaggage company based in CO. You have to write the CO BBB (regardless of where you live) and fill out their form. The company then receives a copy of the complaint and DOES have the opportunity to contest it, say for example, showing them my order vs my shipping slip.
Since the shady vendors come on here to push their products, I feel they have opened the door to scrutiny and public shaming
I think it depends on why they have an F rating. Because they are sending you crappy products or because they aren't even fullfilling the order at all - I know you all can think of a retailer that posts here that does that, which is more concerning than a retailer that has items that are advertised as well not promised, I have seen that item advertised in other catalogs and honestly? I wouldn't believe any wine glass could hold an entire bottle of wine. But people get taken in by that sort of thing and then get pissed off and complain. It also goes back to buyers need to be responsible for their purchasing habits.
@hobbit: I have a wine glass that holds an entire bottle of wine. 750ml (a wine bottle standard in the US) isn't REALLY all that much liquid. Less than a 1 litre sports drink. I've seen many glasses that are designed to hold entire bottles, and they look actually deceptively small, as we're not used to seeing a wine bottle's worth of liquid in other shapes.
@axe: Found your link over on the deal.
Just for the sake of completion. Your comment seems to have been roundly ignored.
@axe sounds like you may have gotten screwed over by dillyeo or possibly you're another deal of the day site merchant that doesn't like dillyeo much.
I applaud dillyeo for having excellent products that are unique, fun and have that "why not factor". They are doing an outstanding job of marketing their products on the forum and getting people to sign up for promotional emails through their iPad give away.
They are doing the community a service by providing good deals and from the looks of it people are responding very positively to them with a couple of rants on their BBB standings. These do need to be addressed and in due time they (most likely) will be.
Hello Guys and Gals, We want to thank you for being a part of this community; both Dillyeo and as a Wooter. We also believe that it is extremely important to look out for one another, and the BBB is a great tool to use in gauging the validity of an organization. But you must also keep in mind the ratio of issues to the amount of orders, as well as the length of time since the said incident/s. Also, Dillyeo has been under new management since November of 2009. Nonetheless, Dillyeo is in an amazing place today- a new fulfillment center and shipping most of our orders same day has really created a positive effect of our business. Anyways, if there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at support@dillyeo.com. Our CS Team is available from 9-5 Mon-Fri CST and will respond within 6 hours at these times. Otherwise, please allow up to 24 hours. We hope to earn your trust by providing a great service. Have a great weekend.
In their defence, I've ordered several things from Dillyeo, and have yet to be disappointed. Anecdotal evidence being what it is, however, you can take that with the appropriate grains of seasoning.
I generally prefer resellerratings.com for info about companies that do business online, as their offices may be outside the purview of the US BBB, even though they have a primary distribution area in the US.
The BBB has no enforcing power. It's more of a public image type deal. I don't see how it's all that useful.
Reviews of the specific item seem like they would help more.
@doctorjones84: I agree, which we have been encouraging, or if there is an overall issue with the retailer posting an alert about it on this side. Which has been done regarding one other retailers lack of shipment of deals.
According to the BBB explanation this is why they have an F rating.
* Length of time business has been operating.
* 16 complaints filed against business
* Failure to respond to 5 complaints filed against business.
* BBB does not have sufficient background information on this business.
To me, 16 complaints filed against the company does not sound too bad. Think of the volume that they must deal and to only receive 16 complaints does not make it a bad company in my eyes.
I think these ratings may not always be accurate of what the general experience with that retailer will be like. Take Woot for instance. I am pretty sure we all love Woot, but they have a C- rating.
http://www.bbb.org/dallas/business-reviews/internet-shopping/woot-in-carrollton-tx-90017163
So I guess you can post it, but I would caution others not to put too much weight on the information provided by the BBB.
@lslipetz: Nice, well-written review. I completely agree that BBB is merely a data point, in the same way that Reseller Ratings is a data point. If someone that I know makes a comment (positive or negative) on a deal, that's the information I find most useful. If someone that joined Woot before Deals went live makes a comment, I may go off and see what they've said on things over on Woot, before I trust their opinion here. I'm not too trusting, I suppose.
Many positive comments from accounts that were just created are just annoying (aka shill accounts), as are negative comments from people who consistently make negative comments about everything (seen when you start looking at other things they've commented on).
Everything is just data. Some data is more worthy than others, and I think that each deal, even the sponsored ones, needs to be looked at and investigated. It's still Caveat Emptor.
Again, nice write up, and thank you.
The easiest way to get a negative rating with the BBB is if you fail to respond to complaints from customers. You don't have to agree with them, just respond and state your point. As long as you make a reasonable effort to respond to the complaints, you're not likely to get a negative rating.
Stats
- Asked
- 2 years ago
- Asked By
- axe
- Answered
- 18 times
- Viewed
- 3204 times
- Voted Against
- 0 times
- Voted For
- 22 times
18 Answers answer
Sort By: