Contacting the BBB

[biscuitsngravy]

Does anyone have any experience with contacting the BBB about FFXI related issues? Perhaps what the process is in doing so and what you contacted them about and how the results were.

[Kikaru]

Been done dozens of times, SE's BBB rating is horrible and always will be.

[biscuitsngravy]

I'm actually more interested in having BBB assist me with a problem.

[Jingseng]

what you should know about the BBB is that it has no legal authority or force whatsoever.

Better question might be, have you ever dealt with the BBB on any matter before at all?

They act as sort of an intermediary. You submit a claim to them, stating a problem, the facts (as you perceive them), and what your desired resolution is.

Over the course of about 2-3 months, they contact the business in question, stating that a consumer has filed a claim against them in Such and Such matter. The company can respond with the facts as THEY perceive them, anything they have done to remedy the issue, and so forth. This goes back and forth, and at some point the BBB may make a ruling on the matter.

It has absolutely no force. The BBB has ruled for me that a dry cleaner did, in fact, ruin a $800 suit of mine. I can't do jack with that. All that happens at that point is the BBB notes a negative mark on that business' file. Presumably if there are enough negatives, the license to do business within that jurisdiction will be revoked; in practice, I doubt his happens very often. In fact, I would wager that it never happens to large (particularly multi-state) businesses, and is largely used as a means of preventing fly-by-night operations and other small, unrecognized businesses.

The other reality is, the business in question may choose to ignore the BBB entirely. A default is awarded to you, with exactly the same result: Nothing. It's NOT a court judgment and holds little if any evidentiary value in court. Frankly, if the matter were something that COULD be taken court (and more than small claims):
1) you wouldn't be asking this
2) they'd settle with you, and the BBB would be irrelevant anyway.

=/ Sorry...

[ringthree]

I'm actually more interested in having BBB assist me with a problem.

The simple answer is that SE does not deal with complaints through the BBB. BBB's are generally local and large companies have their own dispute resolution mechanisms.

[wabbit]

The simple answer is that SE does not deal with complaints through the BBB. BBB's are generally local and large companies have their own dispute resolution mechanisms.

This isn't true anymore. SE has joined the BBB accreditation family. This means that SE will make a good faith effort to resolve complaints filed with the BBB.

There is only one positive from a BBB complaint against an accredited member. Somebody higher on the corporate ladder will read and respond to the complaint. You get past the morons answering the phones. It gets you to the mythical supervisor that is never available when you call.

Square-Enix still won't do much to actually help customers (it's square-enix we're talking about here), but somebody will read and respond to the complaint.

Interesting that their rating went from an F to a B after they joined the BBB accreditation system. They paid the BBB some money, they got a better rating. That explains all anybody needs to know about how helpful the BBB is to consumers.