Re:
>As for the Better Business Bureau, they are good for little more than
>collecting complaints about a business.  They have no authority to do
>anything; they simply serve as a central repository to collect information
>so one can go to them and see if people have complained about a particular
>business in the past."
 
Frankly, the BBB where I live doesn't even do that.  If you call to check
on a business, chances are you'll get a machine response saying the BBB
has no record of any complaints against a business unless a legal action
has been filed in the courts -- that's their definition of complaint.
The BBB could have lots of verbal and written complaints from consumers
but you wouldn't know about it as a result of contacting the BBB.  I
personally have found the BBB to be one of the most useless organizations
in existence.  And when I wrote the national office to complain about it,
they never even responded.  I certainly wouldn't base decisions affecting
ferrets on anything the BBB has to say.
[Posted in FML issue 3744]