Nope! They actually listened to reason. 1st: I showed them how sending an email from a New York office (when I live in Atlanta) with an attachment that was a self-extracting .EXE file wouldn't get opened by pretty much anyone on the planet. 2nd: They let me answer the complaint with the exact same letter I'd sent the customer a year ago. 3rd: Common sense was actually applied. 4th: They gave me a form to update the info on the site. If I'd of paid them it would say "accredited".
I've paid $400 something dollars per year since 2010 for the coveted "Accredited Business" badge from the BBB, and I'm tired of it. Yesterday I told the BBB that I was no longer going to pay them their extortion money. I see no point. I have a great business with an exceptional reputation and a list of stellar online reviews as long as Road America. The representative on the phone tells me that they've had 160 inquiries on my business in the last year. Interesting. I explain that to my knowledge, no one who has ever done business with us has ever mentioned the BBB, and that I don't think their numbers are accurate, nor is their service valuable. She then tells me that we must remove the BBB logo from our website immediately. Fine, fair enough. I get off the phone and immediately call the company who designs and hosts our website. I ask to remove the logo, he says "no problem", he'll do it this week. Today I'm called by a representative from the BBB compliance department. He tells me that we are in violation of BBB policy and trade laws because we continue to use their logo even though our business is not accredited. I tell him that I've made the call to our hosting company and that the change will be made very soon. He tells me that in the meantime, we will be downgraded to an F due to fraudulently claiming to be an accredited business, and that if the logo is not down in 24 hours they will take legal action. I do my best to feign fear and intimidation, and ask if there's anything that can be done to stop the F rating and impending legal doom. He says, "The easiest way would be to renew your accreditation." I just started laughing. How this is legal I'll never understand.