On first Sundays, The Augusta Chronicle publishes a list of area companies that have unanswered or unresolved complaints through the Better Business Bureau of Central Georgia and the CSRA Inc.
The BBB is an affiliate of the national dispute-resolution organization and operates in a 41-county area between Augusta and Macon.
The information is available from the BBB at centralgeorgia.bbb.org by clicking on "For Consumers."
The organization focuses on consumer-to-business and business-to-business transactions that involve the advertisement or sale of products and services.
The BBB uses complaints to create "Reliability Reports" on companies that consumers can check before deciding to do business with a particular company.
Listed are unanswered and unresolved complaints for area companies over the last 30 days.
"Unanswered" means the company did not respond to the BBB in an attempt to resolve the issue.
"Unresolved" means the company failed to resolve the issue through the BBB's dispute-resolution services.
| Unresolved Complaints | |||
| Company Name | Complaints | City | Business type |
| Artistic Kitchens & Design of GA LLC | 1 | Augusta | kitchen and bath design |
| Barney Carroll Farm & Industrial Painting | 1 | North Augusta | painting contractor |
| Georgia Chiropractic and Wellness Center | 1 | Augusta | chiropractor |
| Unanswered Complaints | |||
| Alliance Service | 2 | Augusta | gutters and downspouts |
| Associated Receivable Consultants | 1 | Augusta | collection agency |
| Bryson Heating, Cooling & Refrigeration Co. | 1 | Augusta | heating and air conditioning |
| Express Auto Sales | 1 | Augusta | auto dealer |
| Kia of Augusta | 2 | Augusta | auto dealer |
| Phoenix-Commercial Printers | 1 | Augusta | printers |
| Quality Paint & Body | 1 | Augusta | auto repair |
| Black Crest Media | 2 | Evans | media consultant |
| First Choice Home Builders, LLC | 1 | Evans | contractor |
| A1 Affordable Appliance & Air | 2 | North Augusta | appliance service, repair |
| Donald Shaw Motorcycles | 2 | North Augusta | motorcycle repair, service |
| Monty's Auto Sales | 1 | North Augusta | auto dealer |
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Before taking any of these companies to task, you should know that many business owners and consumers are growing to distrust the BBB.
Business owners and consumers alike have demonstrated that the BBB favors businesses that have paid fees to be "accredited" when it comes to complaint resolution.
Since the BBB does not open its complaint records to independent audits by outside agencies, it is not possible to verify the BBB's claims of fairness in this regard.
The lack of fairness and transparency in complaint resolution is only one of the issues many have about the way the BBB operates. Among other things, many question the credibility of the BBB's business rating system and claim that BBB sales tactics are deceptive and extortion-like.
Even Wikipedia notes the growing criticism against the BBB, citing BBBRoundUp.com. BetterEthicsBureau.org is another good place to start an investigation into the seedier side of the BBB.
Until the BBB allows enough independent analysis and reporting of its internal operations to earn the trust of an informed public, we all would be wise to take anything the BBB says about a particular company with a healthy grain of salt.