The Better Business Bureau – Is it an Impartial Consumer Protection Group or not?

July 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Andover, Massachusetts July 16th 2010 — The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has been at the forefront of protecting consumers from illegitimate companies that do not have the best interest of their clients in mind. They are a private company with branches throughout the USA whose primary responsibility is to foster trust between consumers and businesses by highlighting good performing companies and also exposing companies that are not living up to basic business standards in regards to fulfilling advertising promises, treating consumers fairly, and providing legitimate business services to their clients. To become a member of the BBB, companies have to pay the local chamber a yearly membership fee and pass certain standards to remain in good standing. This relationship between the companies being judged and the BBB has always been controversial and has only gotten more attention in recent years. Although it is commonly thought to be a neutral judge of private companies, recent developments highlight the growing concern over the dependability and neutrality of the BBB.

In 2009 the BBB implemented an F-A grading system for its affiliated companies with the goal of making it easier for consumers to judge a company. While the intention was good, the final outcome has been quite the opposite. The first issue consumers should have with this system is that only companies that pay to be recognized by the BBB and earn their approval can earn a grade of A+ severely diminishing their claims of neutrality. Secondly, the BBB has begun grading entire industries without looking at the individual companies. The BBB has recently announced that from now on all Debt Settlement Companies will be limited to a maximum score of C-, even if they had been recognized for their superior business practices and rewarded with certifications such as the BBB Accreditation and BBB Torch Award. While the debt settlement industry has issues to work out, the blanked grading of an industry is not only unfair to the individual companies but also to the consumers looking for help with their personal debt.

While there are bad apples among the debt settlement industry the legitimate companies offer another option for consumers looking to eliminate their debt. For some, bankruptcy, consumer credit counseling, and continuing their minimum monthly payments are not good options and that is where debt settlement can step in and help them. This blanket grading eliminates the chance for consumers to fairly judge a company based on its merits and work and instead lump every one of the 2000+ companies into one below average grade. To prevent this situation and to allow consumers to research and make up their own decisions on a particular company it is important that all consumers look past the arbitrary score given to a particular by the BBB. Instead, look at the # of complaints, how they were fixed, and how management has worked at improving the situation.

Preferred Financial Services is a debt reduction firm certified by the CFC (Center for Financial Certifications) and accredited by U.S.O.B.A. (United States Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives). Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Preferred Financial Services has been a leader in the debt reduction industry since 2003. Preferred Financial Services has acquired some of the best experience in the industry over the past 7 years. In 2009 alone Preferred Financial Services reduced over $16.5 million worth of consumer debt for just $6.4 million, for a savings of about 60%- and over 2,900 accounts were settled on behalf of their clients.

For more information, please visit www.pfsdebtrelief.com or follow us on our blog at www.pfsdebtrelief.com/blog/ .


Contact:
Stephan Tavernini
Marketing Coordinator
Certified IAPDA Debt Arbitrator
Preferred Financial Services
stavernini@pfs1.net


Original Article at www.usoba.org

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Preferred Financial Services is the leading voice in the debt settlement industry. PFS has worked with hundreds of creditors to help negotiate realistic goals for those drowning credit card debt.