About BBB Online

Commerce on the Internet is currently an unregulated marketplace, making it difficult for customers to recognize legitimate online offers.  The Better Business Bureau has an 90-year history of public trust, self-regulation and credibility.  Now one of the most widely known and respected trademarks in the fair marketplace has established BBBOnLine, to help the successful growth of ethical online commercial activity. BBBOnLine gives customers the opportunity to quickly distinguish reliable businesses from fly-by-night companies.

The BBBOnLine allows consumers who visit your website to view your BBB Reliability Report through an encrypted logo. This will allow consumers to have confidence that they are dealing with a BBB member committed to customer satisfaction and high ethical standards.

By making your Reliability Report accessible, we give your potential customers confidence by:

• Providing your past marketplace performance.
  
   
• Verifying your commitment to honest advertising and fair treatment of customers.
  
   
• Demonstrating that the Internet can be a safe place to do business.

Stand out from the crowd by identifying your company as a
Better Business Bureau Member.

Using the BBBOnLine Reliability seal will help achieve consumer confidence and trust on the Internet! According to a Greenfield Online survey (2001), almost 90% of online shoppers agreed that the recognition of companies on the Web by displaying the BBBOnLine Reliability seal, would make them feel more confident about buying from companies they do not know.

This program is the only way you can identify yourself as a BBB member your website! Please be aware that all members that wish to have BBBOnLine will have their website reviewed before we can activate your encrypted logo.

Apply for the BBBOnLine Reliability Seal

Step I - Ensure you meet the BBBOnLine Reliability Program Eligibility Criteria

Reliability Program Requirements
	Become a member of the Better Business Bureau where company is headquartered;
	Provide the BBB with information regarding company ownership and management and the street address and telephone number at which they do business, which may be verified by the BBB in a visit to the company's physical premises;
	Be in business a minimum of one year (an exception can be made if a new business is a spin off or a division of an existing business, which is known to and has a positive track record with the BBB);
	Have a satisfactory complaint handling record with the BBB;
	Agree to participate in the BBB's advertising self-regulation program, comply with the BBB Code of Advertising, and correct or withdraw online advertising when challenged by the BBB and found not to be substantiated or not in compliance with our children's advertising guidelines; (Our local and national advertising review programs are described on the BBB's website, and complaints about online advertising brought by consumers, competitors or public officials may be filed online with the BBB.)
	Agree to abide by the BBB Code of Online Business Practices, and to cooperate with any BBB request for modification of a website to bring it into accordance with the Code;
	Respond promptly to all consumer complaints;
	Agree to dispute resolution, at the consumer's request, for unresolved disputes involving consumer products or services. For more information, click here.
However, it is important for you to remember that a business's participation in BBBOnLine does not guarantee you will be satisfied with its product or service. While BBBOnLine participants have satisfactory complaint handling records with Better Business Bureaus, this does not mean that they have never experienced complaints, nor is it a guarantee that they won't in the future.

Step II - Email your website url to: info@bbbnela.org  Your website must be checked to insure it meets our advertising criteria.

Step III - Submit your Signed Business Application with appropriate program fee

 If you are not a member you can apply for BBB membership at the same time as BBBOnLine Reliability. Call 1-800-960-7756 and we will have a Representative that services your area contact you or print off and mail in the forms along with payment for both membership and the BBBOnLine Realiablity Seal.  Pricing information  for BBBOnLine and for Annual Membership to the BBB.

Step IV- Install the Reliability Seal on your website

After your Web site has been reviewed and your company has been approved you will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to install the seal on your website.