Beware of BBB Better Business Bureau scams...
Warning posted on CanLaw "The scandal-plagued Toronto office of the Better Business Bureau
closed in May 2001 following a decade of
questionable practices and criminal accusations."
Lindsay Royston
From the November 2005 issue of Canadian Business magazine The Toronto market is now covered by the London Western Ontario BBB |
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BEWARE OF YOUR LOCAL BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
BETTER BUSINESS BUREAUX are very profitable Franchises, not "non profit, do gooder organizations." A BBB cannot be objective if it is obtaining its income from the companies it "comments on."
CanLaw refuses to deal with or acknowledge the London Western Ontario BBB or any other such organization. In our opinion, they conceal their real purpose... which is to make money from the members. . . the very companies about which consumers are enquiring.
Your local BBB is a franchise run for profit. The people who take and assess complaints generally are minimum wagers or misguided volunteers who have no special skills, no special knowledge or training.
The London Western Ontario BBB is currently advertising for an administrator. The only qualifications required stated in the ad "Grade 12".
Do you really think a high school drop out is qualified to assess complaints and deal with corporations? They are looking for someone like this because they are cheap to employ (minimum wage?) and easy to control.
CanLaw management personally knew and had business dealings with one of the former presidents. He was a cheat and a fraud. Ads were sold in BBB publications which were never published. That BBB and the owner, still owes our parent company some $3500.00 for services rendered. So much for the BBB.
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Governance: Toronto's Better Business Bureau
Lindsay Royston - - From the November 2005 issue of Canadian Business magazine
"How does an organization that is supposed to promote trust restore it after a low period? The scandal-plagued Toronto office of the Better Business Bureau--whose mandate is "to promote and encourage outstanding ethical relationships between business and the public" -- closed in May 2001 following a decade of questionable practices and criminal accusations.
"But it is finally getting a chance to clean the slate. Ric Borski, president of the financially stable Mid-Western and Central Ontario bureau, based in Kitchener, Ont., recently opened a new BBB office in Toronto and is now taking cases for arbitration.
"It was an obvious shame that we didn't have a proper presence [in Toronto]," says Borski. His group has already spent $100,000 on equipment, leasing and manpower, and nearly doubled its staff. Unlike its predecessor, the bureau plans to make detailed files documenting service complaints available on a website, and meet all BBB operating standards, including improved response time. "By the end of November, the office's roster of local volunteer arbitrators should grow; Borski is planning interviews with half a dozen applicants. As word circulates that consumer/business binding arbitrations are available in Toronto, Borski expects interest to double. Looks like the Toronto BBB is actually getting a second run. Let's hope they don't blow it."
(they blew it.... beware.. ed)
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A Very Questionable Past-
1993 The Toronto bureau's board approves a $1-million severance cheque for retiring president Paul Tuz, then rehires him shortly after. Adding to that, Tuz expenses the BBB--over $45,000 in two years--for the costs of his other job as an honorary consul representing two African countries, Togo and Mali. Charged with four counts of fraud, Tuz is exonerated in a 1998 preliminary hearing.
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1993 BBB hired an ex con as a membership salesman, allegedly after finishing a jail term for fraud.
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1995 Tom Reid, a communications specialist, is appointed interim president. Reid leaves shortly after, complaining of personal attacks by "the ex con salesrep and his cohorts."
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1995 Peter Lalonde takes over as president. During Lalonde's tenure, the debt increases to more than $1.75 million and service standards decline.
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2000 Warren Wall, sitting chairman, is convicted of breaching securities laws. His company, Dual Capital Management, cost investors US$1.5 million.
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May 2001 Canada's oldest bureau is stripped of the right to use the Better Business Bureau name.
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February 2002 Canadian Council of Better Business Bureaus issues a warning that former Toronto bureau staff are still soliciting memberships.
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