Here's the catch: Debt collectors are in business to reel in profits from their business clients, from debtors, and sometimes from both. Sometimes clients pay and pay but get nothing but excuses and runarounds, and debtors--even those who owe nothing--get hounded and harassed. Those indebted, whether really or only supposedly so, seem to be squeezed onto a sinking ship, while those who have high hopes of getting the pay they've earned through a collection agency come to feel like they can't bail fast enough to keep afloat. Neither has any idea of the rough ride they're in for or the troubled waters ahead.

A number of debt collection companies have been the target of Federal Trade Commission action in the past few months. Several of these have also been the target of Better Business Bureau consumer complaints for some time. Take, for example, Forensi...Click to view full post

Has one of your customers posted a TrustLink review about your business that's less complimentary than you'd like it to be? We gave you some tips for turning negative reviews around a few months ago, but here's one simple way that can be an easy and almost instant way to solve a review problem:

Apologize. That's it.

Why does it work? The answer seems to be that we humans want to forgive, and it's the apology that triggers that desire in us.

Research published in Business Week revealed that an emailed apology, which included a request to remove the negative review, generated a greater positive response than did an emailed offer of a cash rebate, which also included a request to remove the negative review (and which request was, in this case, a prerequisite to receiving the cash).

You can make your apology in a ...Click to view full post

Years ago [Business Link, January 2005] we wrote about Corporate Compliance Recorder, a company that sent out what appeared to be government mailings but what were really only solicitations, informing businesses of the California Corporations Code's requirements relating to corporate minutes and the consequences of not complying with them. The company could collect a minimum of $125 if the recipient accepted its offer to prepare company minutes for them and thereby avoid those consequences.

This solicitation inserted a required statement that they were not a government agency into some 10 lines of fine print, where it could easily be missed by the recipient.

At the time of that article, we had received no complaints about the company. Later, between late 2008 and mid 2009, we received eight complaints, none of which were an...Click to view full post

In the November Business Link article entitled “A Sure Way to Become an Award-Winning Business,” we listed “Talk of the Town Awards” as another name by which US Commerce Association does business.

We have since learned that that company has no affiliation with US Commerce Association. We regret any inconvenience this error may have caused Talk of the Town Awards.

If you buy something on sale at any retail store, you probably don't give a thought to the sales tax you'll pay on the item. Without thinking about it, you know you'll pay sales tax, and that, as with every other purchase you make, you'll pay a certain percentage of tax on whatever price you pay for the purchase.

That may not be true with all transactions, though. Take the case of Jessica Bower, who bought a cell phone from AT&T in January 2009. She paid $199 for a phone regularly priced at $399, on the condition that she enter a two-year wireless service agreement with AT&T. When she went to pay for her phone, though, AT&T charged her sales tax on the full price of the phone, thus costing her an additional $15.50. When she asked why she was paying the extra sales tax, the salesperson told her the tax was a mandatory tax on the unbundled price of the phone and that ...Click to view full post

If you're under the time-worn impression that it takes years of hard work to become a success in business, think again. US Commerce Association (USCA) can make you an award-winning business overnight--or at least as close to overnight as it can get the plaque that proves you've won an award to you.

The Better Business Bureau doesn't have a great deal of information about US Commerce Association, which also does business as Small Business Commerce Association. In fact, part of the reason for its “F” rating with us is that it has never provided the background information we've requested.

We've also not been able to come up with an accurate physical address or phone number for the company. Their website displays a Los Angeles address that is a mail box facility, but promotional materials indicate a New York base. Their website registration lists an address of ...Click to view full post

Here's the catch: Consumers sign up to bid on items sold on online auction sites at claimed savings of as much as 98 percent. Those who do lose money to previously undisclosed fees, “free” bids, merchandise won but never received, and more. Even if you don't count time and frustration, their losses can more than offset what they're supposed to save. Victims of the auction block, they see their money going, going, gone, leaving them losers, rather than winners, and decidedly bitter bidders.

Ordinarily I tell you about a particular company in each column, both to make you aware of what that company is doing and also to serve as an example of the practices you might encounter in doing business with other, similar companies. In this column, though, I want to talk about three penny auctions, all rated “F,” whose complainants have something to say that you should know.

Jum...Click to view full post

Whatever observances or celebrations lie ahead for you as we enter the season of holidays, we, at the Better Business Bureau, wish you fulfillment in your experience of them.

For most businesses, 2011 has been another in a series of less-than-remarkable business years, and we celebrate with you that even though customers may not always be beating your doors down, those doors are still open and welcoming.

We're working all year to help you make your business a thriving success. You've seen continual innovations and new features in TrustLink this year, and we hope you've also seen the positive customer response from those enhancements that is evident to us.

Our wish for you is that wherever your business is as we end the year, you'll have good reason to celebrate with thanksgiving and hope. Our promise to you for 2012 is that we'll keep right on working to make yo...Click to view full post

Want to make a better impression on your business Facebook page? You can do it by using the TrustLink splash page we've created for businesses on Facebook. Indeed, if your business doesn't have a Facebook welcome page, your TrustLink splash page can give you one right now!

Here's how it works: Your splash page replicates the information on your TrustLink storefront, including photos, information about your business, your BBB rating, any special deals and coupons you want to offer, and customer reviews (even a featured review of your choice).

When viewers land on your welcome page, they'll feel like they're getting a smile and a handshake from you. How better could you greet visitors? And when they're ready, they can move on to your other Facebook pages from there.

TrustLink members may contact Daniel Stiner, the Bureau's Director of Online Services, at (818) 401-...Click to view full post

CORRECTION

In the September Business Link article entitled “Easy-to-Swallow Debt Relief Pill Carries Bitter Side Effects,” we erroneously stated that Walter Ledda, founder of Morgan Drexen, did not respond to the Better Business Bureau's request for substantiation of Morgan Drexen's advertising claims.

The company did respond to our request, explaining how consumers could get a free copy of their credit report by calling Morgan Drexen and that such reports are available whether or not the consumer uses their services. They also agreed to discontinue use of “erase” in their claim to “erase bad debt.”

We apologize for any inconvenience to Morgan Drexen caused by th...Click to view full post