BBB Accreditation - What does it really mean and should I be Leary of companies that are not

I have had this question come up a  lot. A business does not need to be BBB accredited to be a good business. As a matter of fact PAYING the entity that is running your rating seems a bit bias to me.  I am not accusing the BBB of anything but I have been around a while and see that when you are accredited they do not put the complaints ou have on your main listing until you have not answered them or they are resolved. Non-BBB accredited businesses get it instantly put on their ratings page. So if you see a business with a lot of complaints, and some are not resolved, they may be in the middle of resolving those complaints so don't be hasty to judge, unless of course the amount of complaints is unruly.

Some  national companies do not want to pay for each city so they stay unaccredited. There is a national Accreditation coming out or is already just in place. I would suggest that national companies go that route for the people who place heavy weight on the word 

"Accredited"

Now don't get me wrong. The standards they list for accreditation are very good and should be adhered to by every company. BUT, accredited or not, if a company is doing something wrong or scamming people THERE WILL BE COMPLAINTS ON THEM ACCREDITED OR NOT!

So if you see that a company has been in business for a few years, or even over a year without complaint or has no unsatisfied complaints then generally you can assume they are not having any trouble with their customers because everyone loves to complain on the net these days. As I do!

Here is the statement from the BBB

BBB Accreditation

Storesonline Inc is not BBB Accredited.
Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited because they have not sought BBB accreditation.
To be accredited by BBB, a business must apply for accreditation and BBB must determine that the business meets BBB accreditation standards, which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints. BBB Accredited Businesses must pay a fee for accreditation review/monitoring and for support of BBB services to the public.

Every business has to answer their complaints on their site! So, in effect, to be accredited you pay them their fee and they put the word ACCREDITED next to your name. That is about it.