Eliminate the Better Business Bureau's Double Standards In Grading Businesses

We the undersigned consumers and business owners hereby petition the Better Business Bureau, interested politicians, and government officials to take the following course of action to rectify what we believe to be a travesty with great economic costs.

We believe the following statements to be true:

1. The Better Business Bureau current grading system is inaccurate, biased, and faulty which has caused legitimate, well run, consumer friendly businesses to suffer greatly from bad grades given to them by the Better Business Bureau.

2. The Better Business Bureau current grading system has not done the due diligence necessary to guarantee accurate results about non-member businesses for which it has given grades.

3. The Better Business Bureau has no mechanism in place for a non-member business to seek independent arbitration for what they deem to be an unfair grade. In other words, the Better Business Bureau refuses to subject itself to the very process that they require businesses to participate in if they wish to be members.

4. There is no standardization between regional offices of the Better Business Bureaus when it comes to grading or sales tactics. There is no appearance of oversight of these regional BBB offices by the national Council of Better Business Bureaus.

In view of these statements which we believe reflect the truth, we hereby request the Council of Better Business Bureaus take the following course of action to better serve the consumers it has sworn to protect and the businesses it seeks to represent, and make right the damage it has caused to businesses that have been disparaged by incorrect grades from various regional BBB offices.

1. Until such time as the Better Business Bureau can demonstrate that they have done the countless hours of research necessary to grade any business in their database, the BBB must be required to remove all grades assigned to non-member businesses.

2. Prior to re-instituting said grading system, the BBB must have a system in place to allow businesses and consumers to file complaints about a regional BBB. These complaints must go directly to the National Council of Better Business Bureaus to oversee, and if necessary arbitrate. If the Council of Better Business Bureaus declines to establish such a national oversight process, then we request legislation from the United States Congress to require the BBB to subject itself to such a national oversight process from whom-so-ever Congress decides.