Feedback offers chance to reflect, improve
My recent columns and stories including the BBB have created quite a stir among those looking for employment, individuals and business leaders who believe in downtown Spokane, chiropractors, and folks confused about truncating. Let me address them one by one.
Issue No. 1: Employers, there’s a kinder way
My column two weeks ago regarding how employers can better respond to job seekers hit a nerve and generated much feedback. Unfortunately, not much of it was positive.
The common thread was that potential employees feel invalidated when they’re ignored. Being unemployed is bad enough without interviewers salting the wound. So business owners, show a little compassion, please. Let applicants know after an inter- view if you aren’t going to hire them, and return calls even if your news isn’t positive.
Issue No. 2: Investing in Spokane
Yes, the Better Business Bureau is purchasing a part of downtown Spokane. We’re buying office space — like you’d buy a residential condominium — in the Jefferson Street Auto Lofts project, at 152 S. Jefferson. We’re sure not on the same field as developer Marshall Chesrown, but we, too, are investing in the area’s continuing revitalization — and we heard applause from the business community, loud and clear.
Deciding where to put our office, when we serve three states, wasn’t an easy decision for the BBB Board of Directors. The center of our service area is close to Missoula, but the largest concentration of people is in the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene area.
This condo project is a new concept for Spokane, but that’s why we’re moving ahead. We want to be part of the renaissance.
Issue No. 3: A pain to chiropractors?
Have you seen the four new TV spots about your LocalBBB? They are humorous shorts: catchy and industry-specific. We highlighted banks, tree services, funeral homes and chiropractors, pointing out how using the BBB before you buy can save you problems down the road.
Comments I’ve heard from viewers have been positive, with one glaring exception: Many chiropractors felt the commercial put their industry in a bad light. While the message of the spots was to help build a more trusting relationship between businesses and their customers, that particular one didn’t create a positive experience between the BBB and the chiropractic industry.
In response to the complaints, we’ve removed that spot from the rotation. Why do I mention this? Even the BBB gets complaints. No malice was intended, and the Spokane market will no longer see the ads.
Issue No. 4: More about truncating
John Stucke, a reporter for The Spokesman-Review, wrote a great article about identification theft two weeks ago. In that story, I was quoted talking about truncating, the practice of only printing the last four digits of a credit card on the charge slip that the customer signs or keeps. Let me make a couple of things more clear:
Effective last July, Washington state required that businesses truncate all “customer copy” credit card slips or debit card slips. However, all the credit/debit card numbers may appear on the “merchant’s copy” slip that’s kept by the business.
If you have a problem with a Washington business not truncating, contact TheLocalBBB and we will follow up, but please don’t take it out on the employee. It’s not something they control.
As a final note, businesses, be careful with the information you have in your possession. Customers, be thankful when you’re asked for ID. Why? Because $2.8 million is lost each month in Spokane County alone to bad checks and bad credit cards, whether they’re stolen, forged, or otherwise phony. This is everyone’s problem — we all pay for it.
Thank you for all your feedback. Remember, a compliment reinforces what we’re doing right; a complaint lets us address what we can improve.