BBB launches identity change

The Better Business Bureau serving the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany regions recently launched a re-energized brand to benefit consumers and announced a change to the way businesses affiliated with the organization are designated, from "BBB Member" to "BBB Accredited Business."

These changes aim to improve consumer knowledge of the information, resources and services BBB offers the public to help them make informed pre-purchase decisions.

The new "accredited" designation highlights the fact that businesses affiliated with BBB contractually agree to meet and uphold BBB's standards for integrity and reliability when dealing with consumers. BBB reviews each potential accredited business and strictly enforces its standards, rewarding the BBB Accredited Business designation to only those meeting and upholding BBB standards.

"Consumers seek and deserve responsibility from businesses, and accreditation clearly defines what a business has achieved, stands for and promises to them," said David Polino, president of BBB serving Upstate New York.

In a recent survey, two-thirds of consumers say they think the term BBB Accredited Business is a better way to identify a company affiliated with the BBB. The survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International on behalf of BBB, also showed that 70 percent say they would be more likely to buy from a BBB Accredited Business.

BBB Reliability Reports are based solely on factual information gathered by BBB, such as if a business is licensed or not, the number of consumer complaints filed, dispute resolution outcomes and whether a government agency has taken action against a business.

In 2006, BBB serving Upstate New York provided 2 million reliability reports to consumers via the Web and 20,000 complaints were handled, with 50 percent of those generating from outside New York State. "This statistic speaks to the fact that our product is information and when consumers know how to find it, they're better suited to make informed buying decisions," stated Polino.

For more information about BBB and the new BBB Accredited Business designation, visit www.bbb.org or contact Polino at 883-5677.