Annual Report BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays

Transcription

1 Annual Report BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays

2 Annual Report Principles for Trust StartWithTrust- Establish and maintain a positivetrackrecordin the marketplace. Advertise Honestly - Adhere to established standards of advertising and selling. Tell the Truth - Reveal all related conditions or exceptions regarding products or services offered. Be Transparent - Openly identify the nature, location, and ownership of the business, and clearly disclose all policies, guaranteesandproceduresthatbearonacustomer sdecisionto buy. Honour Promises - Abide by all written and verbal agreements. SafeguardPrivacy -Protectanydatafrommishandlingandfraud and respect consumers preferences regarding the use of their information. Be Responsive - Address marketplace disputes quickly, respectfully, and reasonably. EmbodyIntegrity-Approachallbusinessdealings,marketplace transactions and commitments with integrity. truth honesty trust integrity promise honour responsive Top Ten Complaints by Type of Business 1. Car Dealership 2. Health Clubs 3. Roofers 4. Home Builders 5. Airlines 6. Furniture Retailers 7. Movers 8. General Contractors 9. Food Products - Organic 10. Tax Return Services Top Ten Inquiries by Type of Business 1. Roofers 2. General Contractors 3. Home Builders 4. Plumbers 5. Home Renovations 6. Car Dealerships 7. Landscapers 8. Movers 9. Auto Body Shops 10. Moving and Storage Companies 2

3 BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays Executive Committee David Steele Bennett Jones LLP Chairman Keith Davis Davis Communications Group Vice Chair Tony Fisher SML Entertainment Treasurer Harper-Lee Overli Gowlings Lafleur Henderson LLP Director Al Searle Emeritus Director Jim Gillespie Calgary Motor Dealers Association Director Nick Sims Sunik Roofing Director Denise Higginson Renfrew Insurance Ltd. Director Board of Directors Lawrence Bates, Stadium Nissan Inc. Norbert Brinkhaus, Brinkhaus Jewellers Helena DeVries, Helena DeVries Productions Inc. Patti Falconer, Falconer Academy of Modelling Ltd. Jim Gillespie, Calgary Motor Dealers Association Dal Lewis, Calgary Sun Sharlene Massie, About Staffing Ltd. Graham Shanks, ATCO Energy Solutions Greg Shannon, Dynamic Circulation Inc. (Miller Thomson) Gordon Smith, Varsity Community Association Charron Ungar, Homes by Avi (Canada) Inc. Paul Williams, Centaur Subaru 3

4 Message from the Chairman Annual Annual Report Report Your Better Business Bureau Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays leads the marketplace in promoting trustworthy business practices and the standard for trust for businesses, consumers, and charities. Trust is our business, integrity is our practice, and ethics is our policy. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Better Business Bureau system which has grown from a single bureau in Minneapolis in 1912 to 114 Better Business Bureaus throughout North America, serving with the strong support of nearly 400,000 accredited businesses who espouse the rigorous standards of conduct, standards of behaviour, and standards of trust of the Better Business Bureau system. The ongoing success of the BBB is the result of its hard-working and dedicated management team and staff led by our President and CEO, Sandra Crozier-McKee and our Vice-President, Nancy Brown. The management team and staff at your BBB offer marketplace information, investigations, advertising review, and dispute resolution. BBB is also supported by a roster of committed volunteers and a diverse Board of Directors with a breadth of business experience and an abiding commitment to BBB s mission. We are pleased that a dedicated director, Harper-Lee Overli became our Vice-Chair at our June Annual General Meeting. Many thanks to my colleague, Mr. Keith Davis, who served as Vice-Chair this past couple of years for his strong and cogent support and advice. I would also like to acknowledge our long serving Treasurer, Mr. Tony Fisher of SML Entertainment, a founding company of this BBB, for his hard-work, and diligent and thoughtful insights. Thank you for continuing to support the ethics, integrity, and honesty in the marketplace that are the heart of the Better Business Bureau. David Steele, Chairman of the Board of Directors President s Message In your BBB not only prepared to celebrate a milestone in our history, we also made history. For 100 years we have provided business reviews, dispute resolutions and conducted ad reviews and investigations and we continue to do so. However, while we are deservedly proud of our past, we have focused on remaining on the cutting edge of technology in order to stay true to our vision of a marketplace where buyers and sellers trust each other. For the first time, the organization united across North America under one Council and welcomed our first interim Council President and CEO, Carrie Hurt, from within our own ranks. Your BBB increased our relevance in the on line space through innovative programs and services and increased our relevance face to face with trade shows and speaking engagements. Our proactive approach to educating consumers finally saw an international decrease in the number of complaints received while we experienced an all time high number of visitors to our website for business reviews and consumer tips. Our BBB website is now among the top 400 most visited websites in North America. We extended our services to our communities by introducing our first smart phone app so consumers can find a trustworthy industry wherever they roam. In addition, we increased our visibility in both traditional and social media. Your BBB cannot advance trust in Southern Alberta and the East Kootenays without the dedication of our team of staff and volunteers. Our Chair David Steele and your Board of Directors continue to guide your BBB team as we face the challenges of a changing market place. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the outstanding contribution made by the accredited businesses that embody the high standards of the BBB. It is with their support and assistance that we look forward to the next century serving Southern Alberta and the East Kootenays. Sandra Crozier-McKee, 4President and CEO

5 BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays Vice President s Message Starting with trust; it is as simple as that. However, is it that simple? Empowering your employees is starting with trust. Believing your supervisor, manager, Board of Directors are confident in your abilities is starting with trust. Additionally, hiring a BBB Accredited Business is also starting with trust. For the last 100 years, BBBs across the United States and Canada have built a reputation for trust. We encourage a marketplace where buyers and sellers can trust one another. Consumers and businesses need each other and ultimately want to proceed with trust. We are all consumers, so it is important to check with BBB before you engage the services of a business. For many reasons it makes sense to Start with Trust and use an Accredited Business. This fiscal year 99 % of Accredited Businesses responded positively to complaints: whereas only 65 % of Non- Accredited Businesses responded favorably to complaints. Clearly an Accredited Business is a more responsible, reliable choice for a consumer. Over the last five years, we have seen a shift in the number of complaints and inquiries. Complaints are decreasing while the number of inquires are increasing. Consumers are becoming more proactive and doing their research before hiring a company. There can be many ways to research a company and we encourage you to use our website as one of them. BBB standards are tougher than ever, not just for our Accredited Businesses but also for all Canadian BBBs. This BBB along with several other Canadian BBBs successful merged with our US counterparts after completing an extensive audit in As we celebrate our 100 anniversary, we believe we are stronger and more relevant than ever. Developing programs, serving our communities, increasing awareness, informing the public, protecting our citizens are part of what we do and we strive to do that by adhering to our values of integrity and trust. Nancy Brown, Vice President BBB Accredited Business Services During the fiscal year, your BBB maintained an average monthly retention rate of 89.2 per cent, in spite of losing 109 businesses due to closures or being sold and 18 for not meeting BBB Standards. We are proud that our BBB Accredited Business roster gained 578 new BBB Accredited Businesses in the past fiscal year, which brings our current roster to over 3,600. Over 34 percent of BBB Accredited Businesses have been accredited for 10 years or more and we now have 19 companies in our 50 Years of Trust Club. A contributing factor to our success was our team s strong customer service experience with Diane Mettlewsky serving Calgary North Area, Roberta Klisowsky serving Calgary South Area, and our newest representative, Ron Riemann, who services Lethbridge and Medicine Hat and now East Kootenays. We were pleased to offer three big networking opportunities for our BBB Accredited Businesses: our annual BBB Stampede Warm-Up and the Business Ethics Awards held in both Calgary and Lethbridge. All three were well attended and feedback from our BBB Accredited Businesses has us planning for even more networking events in the future. We are optimistic that our roster will continue to grow as businesses respond to consumer demands to engage the services of businesses they can trust. Lois Skillen Accredited Business Services Your BBB maintained an average monthly retention rate of 89.2 per cent 5

6 Annual Report Trade Practices The BBB of Southern Alberta and East Kootenays provided 919,863 instances of service to the public and businesses in , which encompasses all inquiries, by direct contact or online, phone calls, s, advice, referrals, and complaint processing. This figure rises substantially to nearly 3.5 million when all web page clicks are included. The increasing access to our services proves the value of the service we provide in helping people find good businesses and dealing with situations that cause them concern. Over the past fiscal year, consultants handled 4,042 written complaints, 880 of which involved BBB Accredited Businesses. Our BBB Accredited Businesses showed their commitment to business ethics with 99% of complaints being closed with positive results. This compares to non-accredited businesses who overall achieved a 65% positive complaint closure rate. Trade Practices also manages the Advertising Review and Investigations programs, which exist to challenge advertisements that may not be truthful, or that may omit material facts that would influence a consumer, and to report to the public findings about possibly doubtful businesses and how they operate. Since we were integrated into the USA BBB system last year, we have to meet significantly increased numbers of both of these activities, according to our newlydetermined size category. Trade Practices has monitored fraudulent business activity and solicitations throughout the year, some of which result in investigations where there are connections to our area. To protect the integrity of the BBB brand, we also contacted 44 companies about misuse of the BBB Seal and unauthorized reference to affiliation with BBB. The simplified Dynamic Seal has resulted in BBBOnline Seal approvals doubling over the year. However, our services still involve personal contact with the public and businesses and we strive to provide excellent service. With all of this increased demand on the functions of Trade Practices, we added another consultant at the end of All the work done in the Trade Practices department is made possible by its consultants, Alison, Kyle and Angela, and our TP volunteers, Derek, Nirmal, Brad, Cathy, Howard and Veronika, whom we appreciate and would like to thank for their contribution to our operations and for their community spirit. Anne Gannon Director of Trade Practices Inquiries 852, , , 149 Complaints 4,042 4,396 4,204 Mediations/Arbitrations The BBB of Southern Alberta and East Kootenays Other Services provided 919,863 instances of service to the Media & PR public and 144 businesses in s & Walk-ins 9,856 8,427 7,686 Total instances of Service 867, , ,880 6

7 BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays Communications and Marketing For 100 years, BBB has been helping consumers find businesses and brands they can trust. As we celebrate our Centennial in 2012, BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays gratefully acknowledges that our Media Partners have played a crucial role informing the public. In our own community, we have alerted the public of scams and educated them with various tips on how to hire the right business. In 2011/2012 this resulted in 144 media interviews. We see this steadily increasing and strive to be the one you turn to to make the right decision. Your BBB also continues to expand its presence in its communities through contests on our social media sites: Facebook ( Twitter (@CalgaryBBB), our website ( and tradeshows. In we had over 2.5 million page views on our calgary.bbb.org website, up from 1.8 million page views in the year. Your BBBs added-value advertising programs; Search Engine Solution, Featured Listings, the Calgary Sun BBB Pages and our new Spring/Summer, Fall and Winter Consumer Guides also helped to bring in revenues to support our services to the public and allow our BBB Accredited Businesses to combine the value of BBBs trusted branding with their advertising. The BBB looks forward to another century of promoting ethical relationships between businesses and consumers and building marketplace trust. Christine Bassit Communications and Marketing Coordinator In we had over 2.5 million page views on our calgary.bbb.org website, up from 1.8 million page views in the year. BBB Accredited Business Relations In your BBB continued to fulfill the BBB vision of an ethical market place where buyers and sellers can trust each other. In order to support our vision, the Business Relations team went through a small overhaul by transitioning out of telemarketing and developing a more professional approach to invite businesses to apply for accreditation. New job descriptions were introduced to our outside representatives. A new framework was developed for Business Relations that included benchmarks to manage and measure our growth and performance. Your BBB welcomed an impressive 574 new BBB Accredited Businesses in the past fiscal year which is a 16% increase over last year. As a result, your BBB reported slight growth over the past year in newly BBB Accredited Businesses. This encouraging performance was inspired by the Vision that motivates our people and was driven primarily by our strong team of Business Relations Representatives. We continue to see an increased number of consumers searching for Accredited Businesses within their own communities. Localized inquiries prompted the BBB business relations team to continue to invite businesses in smaller towns that wanted to be publicly recognized as BBB Accredited Businesses. The past year, 141 businesses from small communities apart from Calgary were welcomed into our roster of trustworthy BBB Accredited Businesses. Our roster continues to grow with businesses that are committed to building trust, ethics and integrity in the marketplace. We want to sincerely thank our Accredited Businesses for giving back to the community of Southern Alberta and East Kootenays and for making our BBB Vision possible. Frank Guido Director of Business Relations 7

8 Annual Report Auditors Report 8 June 18, 2012

9 BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays Statement of financial position 9

10 Annual Report Statement of revenues and expenditures Statement of changes in new assets 10

11 BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays Statement of cash flow 11

12 Annual Report Notes to the financial statements 12

13 BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays Notes to the financial statements (continued) 13

14 Annual Report Notes to the financial statements (continued) 14

15 BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays Notes to the financial statements (continued) 15

16 Thank you to our sponsors: BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenays Calgary and East Kootenays 350, 7330 Fisher Street SE Calgary, Alberta T2H 2H8 Phone: Fax: com/calgarybbb Medicine Hat (by appointment) P.O. Box 302, 97 Carry Drive Medicine Hat, Alberta T1B 3M6 Phone: Toll-free Phone: Fax: Lethbridge (by appointment) 416, 10 Street North Lethbridge, AB T1H 6R4 Phone: Toll-free Phone: Fax: BBB / / /