Learning About the BBB

An Outside Contribution Ezar Coopersmith of the

Greater Denver and Central Colorado Better Business Bureau

This month, I have the pleasure of telling you about the organization I work for, Better Business Bureau, and the work we are currently doing to improve the lives of consumers and business owners in the Centennial State and beyond. Some of you probably know BBB as “that organization that rates businesses,” and you’re not wrong. But there’s a whole lot else that we do.

What Does the BBB do?

First and foremost, the Better Business Bureau is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of strengthening trust between buyers and sellers. Our goal is to empower consumers with knowledge that will keep them safe and informed and to build-up businesses by promoting self-regulation and ethical practices. Better Business Bureaus are located across North America and operate independently at the local level, in accordance with policies and metrics set forth by our governing body, the International Association of Better Business Bureaus. There are three BBB’s operating in Colorado: BBB Serving Greater Denver and Central Colorado (Denver), BBB Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming (Fort Collins), and BBB of Southern Colorado (Colorado Springs). In addition, BBB Serving New Mexico and Southwest Colorado (Albuquerque) has a service area that includes Colorado’s Western Slope.

To fulfill our trust-based mission, BBB offers programs that impact both the business world and the consumer protection space.

BBB maintains an online profile of every known local business as a free consumer resource. On BBB business profiles, consumers can view a business’s ratings, complaints, reviews, and a plethora of other information relating to BBB investigations, advertising reviews, complaint patterns, scam activity, and government actions. BBB ratings are based on information such as how the business responds to consumer disputes, and whether they have any advertising issues or recent government penalties.

Speaking Disputes

It’s important to understand that the consumer disputes BBB receives undergo an interactive dispute resolution process through which the business and consumer are entered into a dialogue geared towards constructive problem-solving. Businesses are encouraged to make a good-faith effort to resolve consumer complaints, and those who do so generally do not receive deductions in their business ratings.

In the consumer protection space, we strive to educate consumers and share information with those who need it. BBB’s investigations and advertising review programs deal with problematic business practices brought to our attention by consumers, media, government entities, and fellow businesses. The goal of these programs is to work with businesses to help them improve the way they do things and to share the results with consumers and government partners whenever appropriate. In fact, once per quarter, our BBB hosts a round-table meeting to share information about scams and problem businesses with law enforcement and regulatory agency partners at the local, state, and federal levels. Of course, BBB can provide government entities with complaint data at any time upon request.

BBB’s Scam Tracker

BBB’s Scam Tracker program is an online tool that allows consumers to view and report fly-by-night fraud in real-time using an interactive map. The program also allows BBB to (privately, and with consent) collect data about scam victimization, which can be accessed at any time and organized to give insights based on demographic information, scam details, and location down to the zip code level. This database informs BBB’s scam studies, which come out every few months and detail specific types of fraud affecting North American consumers.

Some of the lesser-known programs our BBB offers are our LIFT youth business ethics certification program, free and low-cost mediation and arbitration sessions for businesses and consumers, and scholarships for Denver Public School students through a partnership with the Denver Scholarship Foundation.

BBB and the Business Community

Finally, BBB is there to support and advise our business community, and that partnership has become even more essential during the current COVID-19 crisis that is putting an enormous strain on so many local businesses. We recently launched an online resource page to bring business owners information about how to adapt their companies to the changing circumstances, as well as to connect them with resources and assistance as it becomes available. Several of our teams have also transitioned to a new project called Restaurant Rescue, designed to help restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops get their messages out to consumers as they operate under limited and adapted circumstances.

I hope this article has given you a small window into the work that goes on at the Denver BBB. At BBB, we are constantly looking to our community partners for ways to team up and address local problems, so please reach out to our office if you are in need of information about a local business or have an idea about how we can improve our marketplace.

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