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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BBB FOOTPRINT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BBB FOOTPRINT
It’s not enough to simply read several reviews on a timeshare exit company’s Better Business Bureau (BBB) webpage. Like a sleuth, you must fit together pieces of evidence to build a more complete picture of an exit company’s reputation, experience and practices.
The BBB is more than a customer review platform. If a company is accredited with the BBB it means the company filed an application which was reviewed and accepted. Additionally, the BBB continually monitors the company to verify compliance with their eight “Standards for Trust” principles. These Standards include: a positive track record, honesty in advertising, an honest representation of products and services and adherence to all written agreements and verbal representations. A company that has been accredited agrees to uphold these principles and more. However, some timeshare exit companies claim BBB accreditation is meaningless and make excuses for not maintaining BBB membership. The truth is, BBB accreditation is an important element in building consumers’ trust. It’s an agreement to adhere to certain ethical business practices—an agreement that should be easy for all companies to make and to work to uphold. It essentially means a timeshare exit company believes in its services enough to be transparent. Because if the BBB revokes a company’s accreditation, consumers know the reason why and see evidence of it in the BBB reviews. In timeshare exit—an industry with little regulation—it’s essential that exit companies be willing to make the commitment to BBB accreditation. BBB ACCREDITATION DOES MATTER
BEYOND THE BBB RATING
The BBB rating system uses an A+ through F grade scale. The letter grades correspond to BBB’s level of confidence in the company’s adherence to the “Standards of Trust” principles. The rating takes into account 16 objective factors, such as number of unanswered, unresolved and/or serious complaints, as well as “actual incidences of a business’ behavior”. But a BBB rating alone does not offer a complete picture of a company’s integrity. Here’s what to look for:
The BBB displays the following timestamps:
BBB open file date (note: a company does not have to be an accredited member for the BBB to open a file and rate a business)
BBB accreditation date
Incorporation date (i.e. filled out the paperwork to be an official business)
Years in business
This is all good information to have, but unfortunately an exit company’s “Years in Business” as listed on the BBB webpage doesn’t necessarily reflect how long that company has been providing timeshare exit services. For example, a business could have filed for incorporation several years before starting active operations.
Need To End Your Timeshare Ownership? Call The Timeshare Exit Hotline At: (877) 323-9923
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