Better Business Bureau/BBB/William (Bill) Mitchell BBB is a Private Company that Both Extorts Money and Does Not Use Much if Any Due Diligence Befote Issuing Their Rating on a Particular Company Colton, California

This Southland BBB that was caught up in a sting operation giving particular companies very high ratings predicated on how much money they were able to extort. (See article from Sharon Bernstein's, Los Angeles Times, November19, 2010 - ABC News reported that a group of Los Angeles business owners that had been critical of the BBB pulled a sting operation by paying dues for fake companies, including one named after the Palestinian organization Hamas, which the U.S. government considers a terrorist group.

The fake businesses were accepted by the BBB and given ratings, according to the report. Hamas got an A-minus.

It was not the first time the BBB had been under fire for its rating system. Additionally, William (Bill) Mitchell who ran the BBB for years in this part of the country took it upon himself to unilaterally determine which companies deserved a certain rating predicated by a supposed Algorithm that determined whether or not companies were 1. Legitimate 2. Doing a good job.

There, however, are a couple of difficulties with Mr .Mitchell's rating system. An anachronistic algorithm is NOT going to provide an accurate determination of the success of a company in a completely new industry without any history of business operations. The algorithm simply cannot apply. Moreover, Bill Mitchell had taken upon himself the sacred task of being a "watchdog" for the CA Bar.

Bill Mitchell is an attorney, but received his law degree from an un-accredited school with a VERY poor reputation coupled with the fact that Mitchell does not even have an undergraduate degree. He has NO knowledge of Finance, or the Banking industry. Begging the question - how is he able to make determinations regarding legitimate complaints, and frivolous complaints from people with unrealistic expectations.

Additionally, Bill Mitchell would use his supposed VAST knowledge of ALL industries and companies and  determine which companies were benefitting consumers as opposed to ones that were not - he would then notify the FTC, and CA Bar of these suspect or fraudulent business practices. What a JOKE!Moreover, Mitchells findings would be used by the FTC and California Bar to often close these companies that had NOT succumbed to their extortive policies.

Most people mistakenly believe that the Better business Bureau is a Government organization protecting consumers - nothing could be further from the truth. Their algorithms that are supposed to determine the legitimacy and effectiveness of a company in a particular industry are antiquated, and anachronistic. Additionally, check the education, and experience of the individuals making these AA, A+, B, D or F ratings and you will be horribly shocked by their LACK of sophistication.



So the next time you see a company on TV, or any other type of media extolling their BBB grade...ignore it; it does not represent the true competency of that firm - GOOD or BAD!!