BBB Expels Two Firms For Accreditation Violations

The BBB's mission is promoting trust in business through upholding high ethical standards. Among those standards is a requirement that BBB Accredited Businesses respond to complaints. When they do not, the BBB must act, as it did recently. The release outlining the actions taken is below:

St. Louis, Mo., May 25, 2012 - The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has revoked the accreditation of Treasure Rooms, 17373 Chesterfield Airport Road, Chesterfield, Mo., and Gochanour Construction, Route 1, Box 68,  Shelbyville, Ill., for violations of the BBB's Accreditation Agreement.

The BBB's Executive Committee revoked the companies' accreditation May 23 at the recommendation of its Ethics Committee. Neither company attended hearings held before the Ethics Committee on May 22.

Treasure Rooms was notified on numerous occasions between Jan. 7 and April 17, 2012, of a customer complaint about damage to a product. The firm failed to make a good faith effort to resolve the complaint.

Gochanour Construction was notified on numerous occasions between Aug. 29, 2011, and April 17, 2012, of a customer complaint on failure to give copies of a warranty. The firm failed to make a good faith effort to resolve the complaint.

BBB Accredited Businesses are required to respond to customer complaints, to make a good faith effort to resolve complaints and to honor arbitration decisions. Failure to do so is considered prejudicial to the best interests of the BBB and private enterprise.

Expulsion from accreditation status is unfortunate. However, the BBB takes enforcement of its standards very seriously. The standards are applied to new applicants, who can be denied accreditation if they fail to comply.

BBB Standards of Accreditation are designed to offer consumers confidence before they make purchasing decisions. Consumers are urged to contact the BBB at 314-645-3300 or www.bbb.org, for a BBB Business Review before doing business with any company or charity.

About the BBB

The BBB is a nonprofit, business-supported organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. The BBB provides objective advice, free BBB Business Reviews on more than 4 million companies, 11,000 charity reviews, dispute resolution services, alerts and educational information on topics affecting marketplace trust.  Please visit www.bbb.org for more information.

Contacts:

Michelle Corey, President & CEO, (314) 584-6800, mcorey@stlouisbbb.org, Chris Thetford, BBB VP-Communications, (314) 584-6743 or (314) 681-4719 (cell), communications@stlouisbbb.org