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The Better Business Bureau is an  important force for good in the business community. The Better Business Bureau has no statutory powers, but exerts force on businesses through moral suasion. It is increasingly more important for a business these days to have a good reputation and by being listed with the Better Business Bureau, a business can let everyone know that they are in good standing. The Better Business Bureau supports itself through membership dues and through payments businesses make to them for advertising in their membership directories. A business must commit to certain ethical business practices and adhere to them in order to become and remain a member of the local Better Business Bureau.

When someone checks with the Better Business Bureau about your business, they will then be told that you are a member in good standing, but you don’t have to be a member of the Better Business Bureau to be negatively listed with them. A big function of the Better Business Bureau is to give consumers a place to complain about businesses that they fell have treated them unethically. The consumer can call the Better Business Bureau and lodge a complaint which the Better Business Bureau will make record of and will inform other consumers about if they ask.

The Better Business Bureau has no investigatory enforcement or punishment power, but businesses know that whatever is reported to the Better Business Bureau will be on file and shared with consumers who check a business record with the Better Business Bureau. This negative publicity is usually enough to persuade a business to treat its customers fairly.

It is a very good idea when contemplating doing business with a new company that is unknown to you to check them out with the Better Business Bureau first. The Better Business Bureau may have no information on them which doesn’t necessarily mean that their record is good, but maybe only that the business has had now negative reports to the Better Business Bureau about them yet. But the lack of a bad record with the Better Business Bureau is a good thing. If the business has a record of complaints against it with the Better Business Bureau, you will need to evaluate those complaints and think carefully before doing business with these companies.

The Better Business Bureau provides a vital service to the consuming public with no expense to the government. It helps business be self regulated and demonstrates that laws and government intervention isn’t always necessary in regulating business behavior.