Has the Better Business Bureau Outlived the Usefulness and Protection People Expect from It?

People often think that when a company is a member of the Better Business Bureau ( BBB) that it means the company is committed to being a great company that treats customers with the utmost respect and has the best quality products. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth in many cases.

Like most people I have heard about the BBB and made the previously mentioned assumptions. I first realized that this was not the case when I became the victim of a travel club scam from Serenity Travel in Newark Delaware. I am going to write a separate article on the vacation club scam and how it works. For now I will give some of the basics of it. From what it appears the companies set up in various places offering memberships in exclusive member only discounts if you pay a one time fee ranging from $4,000-$10,000. They reference Costco and how they get hotel rooms, rental cars, condos, and other things in bulk and pass the savings onto the member. It is a today only offer and they really make it look attractive. When you get home and log onto the website you find out the deals that they described were nowhere near what they mentioned in the presentation. One way Serenity Travel (and companies like them Del Rey Travel) makes themselves look legitimate is to have a projection of their BBB rating with an A+. This made me think they must be legitimate. In some cases the companies even say they have an A+ once the BBB finally protects the consumer and takes action. At the close of the sale after most of the paperwork is done they bring out a piece of paper with a no rescission clause in it. This means that you can't cancel the membership. They claim that it is a requirement from the attorney general of the state. Serenity Travel threw our AG Beau Biden's name around a lot. The reality is that this is not true and they do this because they don't want people canceling the membership as soon as they see that they have been scammed. This is what happened to me. Again I will give more detail when I write about vacation club scams in a separate article.

When this first happened I did various research and found out that Serenity Travel actually was affiliated with DreamWorks Vacation Club. This company was being sued in New Jersey and was basically run out of town. Serenity claims it is not the case, but I did find web ownership information linking the two as being owned by one Eric Shuman. I found piles of evidence linking the companies together as well as various things that were in the contract that did not abide buy the law of the state the business was located in. Despite all of this the BBB would do nothing at first. I called and emailed them informing them of what was going on as had other people. All the complaints they closed and Serenity Travel maintained an artificial A+ rating.

In the case of Serenity and DreamWorks it appears that at least six of these companies in New Jersey and Delaware that had the exact same set up. They also appeared to know how to use the BBB to rip people off and the BBB did nothing to help consumers when information was brought to them. All of the A+ ratings were from when the business was relatively new. It seems the company will come into a state like 3-6 months before they actually start peddling their scam. This might help inflate their rating. IT does appear to me that with the BBB that you start at an A+ and then the rating goes down as you get more unresolved complaints. What is unfortunate is that all the company has to do is respond to a complaint (at least it seems) and they will not get hit with a lower rating until huge amounts of complaints come in. Serenity Travel (Del Rey Travel) had been operating since July 2009 and by October 2009 they had three complaints. I would think that should be a red flag for the BBB, but they simply noted that one customer worked it and the other two were cases were the company tried to resolve things and the customer did not accept the resolution. It seems like the customers knew more than the BBB. All of the companies in New Jersey like Bentley Travel, Five Points Travel, and Modern Destinations Unlimited started with A+ ratings and now sit at F, Serenity Travel is lost their accreditation and are rated a C- in part from my tenacity. Think of how many people were ripped off when the BBB could have taken action, but did not. This makes me sick. I don't believe this to be isolated to Delaware or New Jersey. The same set up happened with a company called Harbor Resort Management, which one of the principals of Serenity Travel appeared to be involved with. The company had an A+ was scamming people and the BBB would do nothing despite complaints. These companies usually don't operate very long once their A+ goes away. They usually send a couple mass mailings and then move on. They have (and do in many cases) tell people they have an A+ once they lose the rating or accreditations.

Unfortunately the Attorney General's are not much help either. In the case of Serenity Travel they know the company is crooked and have "boxes and boxes full of complaints and information" yet the company is still in business. I received a generic mail piece from them the other day. It almost seems that the AG's office would do something to keep hard working people from having money stolen. What is really bad is that many victims are older people near retirement age. I don't know about my reader, but losing $4,500 is a lot of money. These companies have scammed teachers, administrators, police officers, and various other professions. I don't feel as stupid now knowing that, but it was really stupid. You should never agree to any today offer unless there is a product that you are holding. If someone is selling you a car today only you can test drive it, but you can't do anything with these memberships until you get home or try to use them. Many people try and try to get reservations and they have a hard time with that. It took almost a week for someone to call me about a car rental I was going to make.

In closing I will say that I don't think the BBB intentionally is aiding and abetting these companies (or various other business entities) in scamming people. I do think the BBB takes a hands off approach though. When their rating is being used to rip people off I think they owe it to the consumer and the dues paying members who are practicing BBB standards to investigate complaints when they get them. I have dealt with very brazen people at BBBs in Delaware, New Jersey, and California that almost have a let the buyer beware attitude. Simply asking the company why they have a no rescission provision in their contract might have gotten them the information that they needed to remove the A+ rating. Also a simple check of the business license (which most BBB's do require members to give them) would verity that Serenity Travel and Destination Vacations International (which appears to be DreamWorks according to net ownership records) were both owned by Eric Shuman, or he was involved with both. Many people could have been saved lots of money. This economy sucks and when people rip off hard earned money that is just horrible. Like I said I will be publishing a more in depth article on the vacation club scam, but I would ask that you tell anyone you know about this being out there so they don't fall victim. It usually starts with a letter offering something free to attend a presentation for 60-90 minutes. Many people don't even get the free gift, but that is were you get hooked when you go. Most of these places don't use the name of the company. Serenity Travel's name only appeared on 2 of the 3 mail pieces that I received from them to go to presentations (yes they keep sending them to me and my wife). The telemarketing company that you call into also doesn't call it Serenity Travel (or whatever the company name might be) they call it SRT Travel. When you try to find information on SRT travel you are not able to. Now they use STC Vacations.

Here are some links. The one by Arnold Diaz is highly informative. This is how most of these operate. The latest incarnations appears to be Del Rey Travel in California. They are an A+ as of this writing. I would bet dollars to dimes that they will be a C or lower in about 3-6 months depending on how the BBB in that state do their job. They have been informed of the scam.

Sources and further reading.

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/shame/090611_Vacation_Club_Lawsuit

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/shame/090715_Vacation_Club_Lawsuit_2

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/shame/091209-Vacation-Club-Lawsuit-3

www.bbb.org

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/serenity-travel-c247108.html

http://www.bbb.org/new-jersey/business-reviews/travel-agencies-and-bureaus/dreamworks-vacation-club-in-gibbsboro-nj-27003221

http://www.bbb.org/new-jersey/business-reviews/vacation-time-share/modern-destinations-unlimited-in-manalapan-nj-90055615

http://www.la.bbb.org/Business-Report/Del-Rey-Travel-100090375

www.ripoffreport.com ( you can type the name of any company you want to check out in it)

www.complaintsboard.com ( you can type the name of any company you want to check out in it)