Better Business Bureaus

BETTER BUSINESS Bureaus, often referred to as BBBs, are free services developed to provide citizens with alerts to dubious advertising tactics or other similar problems associated with businesses. Better Business Bureaus are better referred to as a system of bureaus than as one bureau, as BBBs are established around the country and are charged with handling regional complaints and maintaining regional memberships.

Businesses may apply for membership with their regional BBB as a means of indicating to their customers that they subscribe to the most stringent of business standards and business ethics. The list of members is then available to interested parties via written requests or via the internet, with businesses being either rated as satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

A majority of the services offered by the BBBs ...