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Standards of Membership
The Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C. was founded in 1939 and is a non-profit membership association of business and professional companies.
We are a public service agency devoted to promoting fair dealing in the marketplace and encouraging the public to utilize ethical businesses.
The Better Business Bureau is professionally managed and maintains a full-time staff. Although affiliated with the Canadian Council of Better Business Bureaus, the Mainland B.C. Bureau is governed by the local business people who serve as volunteer members of its Board of Directors.
The Better Business Bureau provides its basic services without charge to the public, while at the same time providing its members with special services to assist them in operating their businesses.
To qualify for, and maintain membership in the Better Business Bureau, a company must:
1. Be in business not less than one year unless the company meets other standards of Bureau membership, and must comply with the following points:
a. the principals are favorably know to the Bureau from other business(es) in which they are, or have been, involved; or
b. the company is a division of an already accepted member or company; or
c. the business has moved from, or is an expansion of, a company in another Bureau city where it was, or is, a member of good standing; or
d. the business signs an agreement pre-committing it to binding BBB arbitration in connection with any customer dispute, and is not engaged in a type of business that historically generates unresolved complaints or patterns of complaints.
2. Supply general information on the nature of its business, and background information about company principals, or other information deemed essential to the Bureau's responsibility to provide inquirers with factual reports, which bear on the reliability of the business.
3. Cooperate with the Bureau's activities and efforts to promote voluntary self-regulation.
4. Promptly respond to any and all complaints forwarded by the Bureau, and make a good faith effort to resolve all such complaints in accordance with generally accepted good business practices within 10 working days of the presentation of the complaint by the Bureau.
5. Comply with the terms of any and all arbitration awards issued through the Bureau's Arbitration Program.
6. Cooperate with the Bureau in efforts to eliminate the underlying cause of any patterns or trends of customer complaints which the Bureau may call to the member's attention.
7. Fulfill all licensing and bonding requirements by applicable city, province and federal agencies and authorities, provide licence numbers upon application for BBB membership and provide periodic updates on request.
8. Cooperate on advertising and selling practices by substantiating, modifying, or discontinuing advertising that has been challenged or questioned; following Better Business Bureau industry-wide advertising and/or selling standards; and refraining from or eliminating unethical and deceptive selling practices.
9. Refrain from using the name or logo of the Better Business Bureau for commercial sales or advertising purposes in a matter not specifically authorized in writing by the Bureau.
10. Demonstrate that the company does meet its financial obligations, including, without limitation, financial obligations to the Bureau.
11. Take adequate precautions to restrict access by minors to products or services that are sexual, violent or otherwise inappropriate in nature.
12. Maintain a business record at the Better Business Bureau, including information developed from checking reference, other Better Business Bureaus and other sources during the last three years which does not contain any information which would reflect unfavourably on the membership of the Better Business Bureau, public opinion of the Better Business Bureau, or its principles and purposes.
13. Abide by the Better Business Bureau Code of Ethics.
14. Be free from any government action concerning the marketplace and its customers that demonstrates a significant failure of the company to support the principles and purposes of the Better Business Bureau.
Any member may be suspended or expelled for cause for conduct which is at variance with the By-Laws of the Bureau and/or standards of Bureau Membership. Such conduct can result in review of membership status by the Bureau's Membership Review Committee. All final actions of the Board of Directors regarding the exoneration, suspension or expulsion of member companies shall become a matter of public record.
Adopted by the Board of Directors of the Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C. April 14, 1998, and revised June 12, 2001