Apr 10 2007
Kodak Resigns From BBB
Instead of dealing with mounting unresolved complaints, Kodak simply resigns from the BBB.
That’s the way to do business!
[The BBB] said Kodak has long refused to accept or respond to consumer complaints submitted by the Upstate New York Better Business Bureau, prompting expulsion proceedings in December by the council’s board.
“Every member of the BBB system is required to make a good-faith effort to resolve consumer complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau,” said Steve Cole, the council’s chief executive. “To do otherwise is to abdicate their commitment to helping advance trust in the consumer marketplace, the key focus of the BBB.”
Kodak was advised it could contest the termination but chose instead to resign its national membership in early March. The photography company allowed its membership in the Buffalo-based branch to lapse about five years ago.
“We ultimately decided to resign our membership because we were extremely unhappy with the customer service we received from the local office of the BBB,” Kodak said in a statement, describing the branch’s Web site postings about the company as “consistently inaccurate.”
“The presence of a third-party organization between Kodak and our customers is bureaucratic and unproductive,” it added. “In fact, Kodak’s customer service and customer privacy teams concluded that 99 percent of all complaints forwarded by the BBB had already been handled directly with the customer.
“Our commitment to our customers is unwavering. That will not change. What has changed is that, for us, the BBB’s customer complaint process has become redundant.”
Now that takes a pair of stones. Seriously.
I guess if things were going better with their reputation, that third-party organization in between them and their customers would’ve been a selling point, but as long as they’re getting hammered, it’s a nuisance that should be extricated.
Nice one, Kodak. There’s a reason nobody buys your stuff anymore. If you need it explained, just look inward.