Your BBB appreciates and values your subscription to Consumer Club. As a subscriber you have helped us achieve our vision to create a trustworthy marketplace by utilizing the resources available on bbb.org. BBB’s website attracts an increasing number of visitors. For the first six months of the year, BBB | Greater Maryland provided 1,506,746 pages of trustworthy information to nearly one half-million visitors. In fact, Google recently recognized BBB in the top 1 percent of all organizations in the United States as a “Favorite Place.”
BBB consciously continues to make strides in providing you and other consumers with the resources and tools to make smart marketplace decisions. Last year, BBB adapted letter grades, A+ to F, for company reliability reports. The grade represents BBB's degree of confidence that the business is operating in a trustworthy and consumer-friendly manner. The grades are equivalent to those in an academic setting; the higher the better.
When searching for companies and reviewing reliability reports on bbb.org, we encourage you to start with a BBB Accredited Business. Remember, if a business has been accredited, it means BBB has determined that the business meets accreditation standards, which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints.
In the first six months of this year, BBB compared complaint resolution between accredited and non-accredited businesses. We found 97 percent of consumers who filed complaints against accredited business were satisfied with how the business addressed their issue. For consumers who filed complaints against non-accredited business, only 58 percent were content with the company’s response.
With over 2,000 complaints processed this year, fewer complaints were filed against accredited businesses.
Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited because they have not sought BBB accreditation. To be accredited by BBB, a business or organization affirms that it meets and will abide by BBB Standard of Trust:
1. Build Trust
2. Advertise Honestly
3. Tell the Truth
4. Be Transparent
5. Honor Promises
6. Be Responsive
7. Safeguard Privacy
8. Embody Integrity
As a consumer there are tons of businesses competing for your service. Continue to do your research and if you ever have any doubts, remember we’re here to help. Once again thank you for trusting BBB to be your marketplace guide.