Thanks Thane.

Although the BBB doesn’t yet offer public reviews and merchant replies, this is what is happening on many other sites and it works. The BBB has been surpassed by companies like Yelp that “get” the online space and are more relevant, but there is still value in these other sites, like the BBB.

cheers,

craig.

It reminds me of a conversation I had with a barbershop owner a few months back. He told me that without Yelp, his business would not be thriving and potentially not exist at all. Because of this, he actively posted ‘merchant reply’ comments to negative reviews, kept a close eye on his public appearance and helped along it wherever possible. When current or potential customers see this sort of connection and accountability from a business, it goes a long way with building trust, spreading word of mouth, and converting those potential customers into revenue.

These concepts can be applied to any ‘customer feedback’ source, and you’re 100% right — people should be taking charge of it.