Normally when looking into dealing with smaller companies I check their standing with the BBB, since they track this whether they are a member or not. Do web hosting companies often register with the BBB for me to do this same checking?

The bigger ones often do.

AFAIK companies don't have to be BBB accredited for reports to be filed, so you can find a BBB record even if the company did not join the BBB (and pay the fee that it entails).

I used to cooperate with many hosting companies,but I never heard about BBB

Oh wow, I actually never even thought about this before!

Great discussion idea Purple!

I have actually heard very very little with web hosts in connection with Better Business, but I imagine that some of the largest ones must do something like that.

You would think that ALL web hosts would want to be registered with BBB, just because it would make them look better.

A lot of the larger ones do, whether they signed up for them or not that is a whole different story.

I don't see how its possible to get every host to be listed on the BBB network..

Problem being, there are companies out there on the internet that aren't even registered with the state...

Sad but true.

You can still be reported to them.

Oh I wasn't debating that but I believe someone has asked if hosts are listed on the BBB.

Because of the fact that hosts come and go, I was merely speculating that would be difficult to track.

Nobody is truly safe from Better Business investigations, but you would think that more web hosts would actually want to voluntarily sign up for Better Business, if only to put on some pretty looking facade of "Hey look everyone! We are totally legit, unlike competitor such and such. Those folks are crooks!"

Then again, almost nothing seems as you would expect it these days.

Yes and that is a wonderful thing that I hadn't thought of either. So many times I have been screwed with one thing or another online, and this at least might make an impact to a company.

The only trouble would be that unless they knew they had recieved a bad report they wouldn't do anything to clean up their act.

I think like most businesses that when they first start out the BBB is not one of the first things they think of. Joining has its advantages and so naturally you would expect the larger more established companies to get membership there.

There are fees to join the BBB (how much? I'd be interested to know), however the IRS recognizes the BBB as a reasonable and necessary business expense, which means membership dues are tax-deductible. You'd think all hosts would participate.

I've noticed a couple hosts out there that have the BBB seal on their website.

I've seen some less-than-honest companies with BBB seals, and know of some internet companies who have really poor BBB reps but don't seem to do anything to clean up their act - so I've learned not to place too much trust in those things.

My first job out of college was working in the QA department for a company undergoing ISO 9000 certification. The most important lesson I took away from that was that with the right paperwork and the proper wording, just about any company can get just about any certification. Whenever I'm researching a company, I speak to friends and acquaintances who have used the service. The feedback I receive from sources *I* trust will help me make my decision.

That doesn't make them free though. Plus, there are people, business owners/managers, who just hate the BBB, for their own reasons.

BBB membership in Saint Louis, MO is around $795 per year.

When talking about internet service type businesses, there are many sites that gather information about a company, such as this site. Since the potential buyer is already internet savvy, at least to some degree, it makes the BBB irrelevant.

Keep in mind that the BBB had it's beginnings in the time before the internet and with regard to information about a company it's far behind the times.