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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Accountability is a must in order to carry the BBB torch



 (The Spokesman-Review)
Jan Quintrall Special to The Spokesman-Review

Earlier this year I addressed the issue of accountability — holding businesspeople accountable for their actions. Even though it might appear that there are few ethics in the business world today, business leaders tell the BBB system they want accountability, want BBB membership standards enforced and want that information made public in order to strengthen the impact of those standards. Focus groups, planning sessions and surveys support TheLocalBBB’s stance to “name names” and take a stand on ethical accountability.

For this reason, it seems logical to explain how BBBs hold member businesses accountable.

When a business is invited to become a BBB member, it agrees to conduct business at a higher standard and to adhere to all standards of membership.

So, what happens if a member company ceases to live up to those standards?

First, the BBB board of directors reviews the situation and makes its decision based on all the facts. The board’s standards committee and BBB staff offer business owners every opportunity to clear the issue(s) at hand in order to continue membership in good standing. Revocation of membership typically is the “last straw.”

The board has final say on membership revocations. If a member company ceases communication with the BBB regarding a potential revocation, then an appeal process is not granted. Otherwise, a member business can appeal its revocation. A revocation is reported in a member company’s reliability report for 12 months.

Revocation is not a step taken lightly by TheLocalBBB.

But all roads lead to accountability — and the steadfast belief that customers, when they see our torch logo and three B’s on a company’s door or in advertisements, must be assured they are doing business with a firm that adheres to a higher standard. TheLocalBBB actively pursues misuse of the torch logo because without policing, it loses its power and assurance.

Since January, the board of TheLocalBBB has revoked 11 memberships throughout its service area, which includes Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Montana.

In the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area, two memberships were revoked for failing to respond to complaints in a timely manner or to resolve complaints through alternative dispute resolution, which they agreed to when they signed a contract with the BBB. Those companies are URL Motor Sports of Hayden, and Mr. House Painter of Spokane.

For breech of the online code of business practices through failure to address a concern with its online adverting, MaxTheater.com, of Spokane, also was revoked.

For engaging in activity that reflected poorly on TheLocalBBB’s service area and/or BBB membership, Spokane-based Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co.’s membership in the BBB was revoked.

Government actions taken against a company’s marketplace activity also can result in BBB membership revocation. In the case of National Marketing Solutions, of Spokane, that’s precisely what happened.

A LocalBBB member also can’t retain membership if its corporate or headquarter BBB report becomes unsatisfactory. For instance, the local board revoked the membership of Washington Mutual Bank because corporate BBB reports issued in Seattle and at the parent mortgage company in California both were unsatisfactory. Thus, BBB standards dictate revocation. It’s unpleasant when a local affiliate has no part in unfavorable reports issued at the corporate or headquarter level. However, if the company’s headquarters is not living up to the BBB standards, it reflects on the entire system. Consistency in BBB reports is a goal that all BBBs work hard to maintain.

The last of the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene revocations is Professional Crane Inspection, of Liberty Lake. This case involved mediation with another business. The board and the standards committee, after hearing the company’s appeal, voted to revoke based on the BBB standard that dictates: “A company will enter mediation or arbitrations in the spirit of resolution.” In this case, the majority voted that this “spirit of resolution” was missing.

I have no plans on making this kind of “laundry list” a regular feature in this column. We release this information to the media each month in the hopes that they will relay the information to the general public. We also list revocations in our quarterly newsletter to our members, and with the revamp of our Web site this fall, will have them posted for the general public to review.

Be assured that TheLocalBBB, under the direction of its board, is holding regional businesses accountable and raising the level of ethical practice in the process. Now, if we could do the same with individual customers, we’d be way ahead.