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Why is BBB so valuable to Cochise County consumers?
While many people think about BBB in terms of processing complaints, what they don’t know is that BBB processes on average around 250 complaints each month in Southern Arizona, which gives us an incredible database for consumers to refer to when they’re trying to find a business they can trust.
Besides complaints, BBB keeps up to date Business Reviews of more than 28,000 Southern Arizona companies. Our reviews for Southern Arizona businesses have been requested almost 400,000 times by consumers in 2013 alone.
What do BBBs do besides resolve customer complaints?
BBB does a lot more than just help settle disputes, however. Through the support of our Accredited Businesses, BBB works for a trustworthy marketplace by maintaining standards for truthful advertising, investigating and exposing fraud against consumers and businesses and providing information to consumers before they purchase products and services.
Better Business Bureau in Sierra Vista and Cochise County is supported by 169 Accredited Businesses. The support of these businesses allows us to provide Cochise County consumers with a range of completely free services.
In the past we’ve conducted free consumer education courses at Cochise College, and worked alongside the Small Business Development Center to provide Cochise County small business owners with workshops on a range of helpful subjects, including human resources and social media.
We’ve even gone on base to Fort Huachuca to teach free financial readiness classes to service men and women, in an effort to ensure they’re not swindled out of their money by scam artists or unscrupulous businesses.
What does BBB do to maintain trust between businesses and consumers in Sierra Vista, and surrounding communities?
BBB requires businesses that apply for BBB Accreditation to meet a list of standards, and we require that they maintain those standards in order to remain Accredited.
However, a significant number of businesses that apply for Accreditation don’t meet our standards, at first. Many of them are good businesses that may not know, for example, advertising must be worded in a way that won’t cause any confusion to consumers, and that all marketing claims on their websites must be clearly substantiated.
We help educate businesses on what consumers expect of them, and they usually want to comply and make the changes in order to become BBB Accredited.
What can BBB do to stop rip-offs and scams?
Although BBB does not have legal and policing powers, we provide information about marketplace fraud through alerts on scams to the public.
BBB works closely with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, providing them with valuable information on potential fraud. We are often the first organization to know about a developing scam and alert authorities and the public. When a scam develops in one part of the country, the news travels quickly between BBBs in the U.S. and Canada that in turn alert the public in their communities.
Does BBB currently have an office in Sierra Vista?
BBB does not currently have an office in Sierra Vista. However, we maintain a free local hotline- (520) 732-9823- that Cochise County residents can call to inquire about a business- or any consumer issue- without incurring long-distance charges. The hotline is manned by knowledgeable BBB staff members in Tucson from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m each weekday.
Consumers who wish to inquire about a business online, or file a complaint, can visit www.sierravista.bbb.org where they can view more than 28,000 Business Reviews for Southern Arizona businesses. Consumers can also email complaints to complaints@tucson.bbb.org or submit general inquiries at info@tucson.bbb.org
BBB is also available to provide free or very low-cost presentations to your business or civic group. BBB offers courses for employees on ethics and customer service and also has a variety of consumer education courses ranging from how to avoid getting ripped off to understanding credit and debt. It’s as simple as calling or emailing us to schedule a time for us to visit your organization
So whether you have a complaint that you need assistance with resolving, want to inquire about a business, or want to improve customer service, don’t hesitate to call us today!
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