4 ms·
Uber Flunks the Better Business Bureau Test
- adrianbg 12y agoGiven that "The Better Business Bureau, which was founded in 1912, is not a government agency, nor does it have regulatory or enforcement power," what implications does this have?
- nknighthb 12y agoNone. The BBB is best ignored.
- sanderjd 12y agoAny good replacements? Anybody I can lodge complaints with and trust to rate businesses? It seems like a useful service!
- t0mbstone 12y agoTry Yelp
- nknighthb 12y agoThere are many "replacements", none obviously "good". The problem space is inherently difficult. Any service that takes any kind of funding from businesses has an obvious conflict of interest (see BBB, Yelp). Any service that relies on consumers for funding will have limited resources and thus limited scope (see Consumer Reports). And of course rating businesses on things like customer service and response to complaints is inherently subjective. For small stuff, you're best off with a quick Google for any major problems, and then just trying for yourself. For big stuff... well, lots more Google. Checking reviews on Reseller Ratings used to be a decent bet for online shopping, but they seem to have gotten awfully far in bed with the resellers. These days I do virtually all online shopping on Amazon, anyway.
- eli 12y agothe most significant fallout is probably this blog post.
- potatolicious 12y agoThere are non-governmental regulatory organizations whose only real enforcement power is that people care what they think. The BBB is one of them. That said, the BBB itself is not an entirely above-board operation, to say the least. I'm no fan of Uber's business tactics - which I consider deeply unethical - but having the BBB complain about its business integrity is the pot calling the kettle black.
- jstalin 12y agoThe BBB sells higher ratings to those businesses that will pay, and will often ignore legitimate complaints against those businesses.
- timmclean 12y agoSource?
- jstalin 12y agoPersonal experience. And ask anyone else who has experience with the BBB (other commenters on here). Just observe their "accredited business" program. Haha, I just found this: Terror Group Gets 'A' Rating From Better Business Bureau? http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/business-bureau-best-ratings-money-buy/story?id=12123843 http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/business-bureau-best-ratings-m...
- sandmansandine 12y agoA few years old but here is one: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_customer/2010/12/busted_watchdog.single.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_customer/2010/12/...
- thomasmeeks 12y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Business_Bureau#Criticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Business_Bureau#Criticis... (there's more citations there)
- Donzo 12y agoLink taken from the article: http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/why-the-better-business-bureau-should-give-itself-a-bad-grade/ http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/why-the-better-business-...
- DannyBee 12y agoWell, the BBB will give an A to anyone who responds to complaints and marks them resolved, regardless of the number of complaints or whether they are resolved to the customer's satisfaction. In that sense, yes, they ignore legitimate complaints, because they don't care ;)
- Igglyboo 12y agoNone, they're pretty much a scam.
- baddox 12y agoIn general, government agencies are not the only agents of consumer or producer discretion. In fact, I'd argue that they are in many cases the least effective of such agents. That said, I get the impression that the BBB has very little relevance, at least with my peers. I don't think I've ever heard someone recommend patronizing or avoiding any company because of its BBB rating. But this certainly isn't the case for other non-government review agencies or individuals.
- aneidon 12y agoYes. Uber flunks the BBB test by not paying up. Why is this news?
- yeehawl 12y agoI think it's a usability problem with the app - you can't easily see how much the trip is going to cost. It's actually not even completely apparent that you've booked a trip. The app should be redesigned to always show the quote before booking and a very clear button that says "Book Now". The pickup location UI could also use some work - the GPS isn't always accurate and noticing that it's wrong and changing it isn't very intuitive. But apart from the problematic app, I've found the service itself quite impressive - somehow they always manage to find me and it always ends up costing less than I think it will.
- dmishe 12y agoNot sure if this was updated recently, but: With surge pricing, they always show the multiplier at the time of booking. And it's easy to tap "quote fare" button to see the price. I agree that it should be there all the time, as soon as you select the destination, but that's the thing, lots of my rides do not have destination before I get into the car.
- gergles 12y agoThe quoted price doesn't include the surge. Uber goes to very very great lengths to not show you how much you're paying when surge pricing is in play, abstracting it away to a multiplier always.
- arjie 12y agoWhen I have to accept surge pricing, I have to jump through hoops. Was this not always the case? At least currently, people shouldn't accidentally accept unless they click Accept compulsively.
- gk1 12y agoThey now require you to type in a specified number (the surcharge factor) before you can even book during surge pricing, so there's no excuse for not knowing.
- cheald 12y agoDoes anyone under the age of 65 actually place any faith in the BBB?
- darkstar999 12y agoI used it to complain about a horrible ISP I had a few years ago. It got the ISPs attention when I otherwise couldn't. Other than that, it has no value to me.
- nemothekid 12y agoUber gets an F, for 90 out of a million customer complaints, for providing a clear service but Comcast has a B-?
- darkstar999 12y agoBBB is bullshit. It's pay-to-play extortion just like Yelp. Clearly Comcast has paid their dues. http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/why-the-better-business-bureau-should-give-itself-a-bad-grade/ http://business.time.com/2013/03/19/why-the-better-business-... http://kitchenette.jezebel.com/a-court-has-ruled-its-totally-cool-for-yelp-to-extort-b-1632255482 http://kitchenette.jezebel.com/a-court-has-ruled-its-totally...
- jmckib 12y agoBBB is bullshit, agreed, but Yelp has made recent attempts to dispel the accusations of extortion, see http://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq http://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq. This includes an independent academic study, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2293164%20 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2293164%2.... I'm not claiming this evidence is conclusive (I haven't looked at it closely enough), but it's worth being aware of before making accusations like that.
- darkstar999 12y agoI only read the abstract of that paper, but it doesn't address the extortion. It only addresses _user_ fraud, such as leaving a bad rating on a competitor. It doesn't address the fact that Yelp can manipulate reviews however they please, as the court ruled.
- jmckib 12y agoYou're right that the abstract doesn't mention it, but check out section 3.4.
- eli 12y agoI believe the grade is about how they respond to complaints, not how many customers complain. I don't see how they could know how many customers use every business in America.
- aberman 12y agoThe BBB gives Uber an "F" rating based on a handful of complaints? Uber serves over a million users a month! And I'd guess most of their customers are repeat - one sign that customers are happy with the service.
- Donzo 12y agoOn the Android app, surge pricing is VERY clearly labeled. You have to agree to the rate before service is dispatched and you have the option to wait until the surge ends if you so choose. The problem with the BBB is that nobody goes there to report positive experiences. Only jaded customers use it to slam businesses with which they have a vendetta. Everybody other than an aging legacy group uses Yelp or other analogs. Uber may fight dirty, but their product is outstanding. I'm firmly convinced that when regulators discover how amazing it is they will attempt to either legislate it out of existence or shake them down until their rates are no better than taxis.
- chimeracoder 12y ago> or shake them down until their rates are no better than taxis. Despite their advertising to the contrary, Uber's rates are not always lower than yellow medallion cabs in NYC. For certain trips it may be cheaper, but oftentimes it is just as expensive, if not more[0]. Uber's pricing structure is different from the ones that the medallion cabs use[1], so it's not a one-to-one comparison. This makes it very easy to pick and choose certain trips which would make Uber look cheaper (which they do), and it's also easy to pick and choose trips which make them look more expensive. In addition, Uber is venture-funded and can easily operate below-cost right now (I would be shocked if they did otherwise). So it's worth keeping in mind that Uber's rates are arguably already be no better than taxis', depending on the city, depending on the trip, and especially if we assume they had to operate in the black. [0] This is hard to verify as Uber explicitly prohibits using their API for price comparison, specifically to discourage this. Though there was a project on HN a few weeks back which did do this, and the results were mixed (Uber won sometimes, but not always). [1] Which are set by the government, not by individual cabbies: http://www.dailydot.com/technology/uber-nyc-taxi-cheaper-price-war/ http://www.dailydot.com/technology/uber-nyc-taxi-cheaper-pri...
- Donzo 12y agoI can say that in Chicago, Uber's rates are much better than taxi's. Enough so that I will accept 2x surge pricing and still feel as though I am saving money.
- 12y ago
- teslaberry 12y agoour ENTIRE FINANCIALIZED WALL STREET economy flunks the better common sense bureau test.
- teslaberry 12y agoour entire financialized wall street economy flunks the bbb test as well.
- Glyptodon 12y agoTo be fair the BBB is mostly a collusive organization of businesses who pay dues to whitewash their problems while pretending to be objective. If you want a laugh look for ratings and reviews on home warranty companies.
- yangez 12y agoThe BBB is basically a protection racket with excellent PR. Get a customer complaint? BBB contacts you to pay for membership. Don't want to pay for membership? You must not care about your customers, so you get an F-. Pay for membership and the score immediately goes up to a B. But with a name like the "Better Business Bureau", it's no wonder that people get suckered into thinking it's a legitimate organization. More info: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_customer/2010/12/busted_watchdog.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_customer/2010/12/... https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110919/14221016016/criticize-better-business-bureau-theyll-pull-your-accreditation.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110919/14221016016/criti...
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- t0mbstone 12y agoThis is ridiculous. Uber clearly details the price of the ride when you request it. People accept the estimated price, get picked up, driven to their location, then complain to BBB and want a refund because the price was "too high"? How dumb are these people, and why is the BBB validating their claims?