Better Business

There are fewer things more difficult to find in Tucson than an honest mechanic. If you have one, consider yourself among the fortunate. I on the other hand have not been as consistently fortunate. My recent adventures with some of the wrench wielding pirates known as mechanics have left me looking for recourse when I encounter poor and negligent consumer service.
Something to keep in mind is that your options vary dependent upon whether the business is a local storefront or business located elsewhere that you happen to patronize online. When most people think of dissatisfaction with a business, reporting the establishment to the Better Business Bureau may be among the first thoughts to come to mind. A search of their website, www.bbb.org or www.bbbonline.org, should provide you with the closet branch near you. Although the BBB provides means to report complaints, resolve disputes, and check out both online and offline businesses, many people misunderstand the organization. The BBB is not a government agency so they have no real bite behind their bark as a government agency would have. This means that you need to research a potential business with them for prior complaints before you fork over any money. I believe that many people don’t think of the BBB until things have gone south.
If you just want to warn other people about a business that has provided you with subpar service, then your options are a plenty. I would suggest using www.craigslist.org to get your voice heard. It is a highly popular site that offers two headings to list your grievances. You can post your comments in either the rant and raves section or the Services section. Although the first section allows a more frank expression of your feelings, the Services section would likely reach the potential customers that are the lifeline of the business in question.
If the business is not a local business, then you would need to post your opinions in a location where potential customers are likely to see it. There are a crop of grievance bulletin boards and websites all over the net. Among those frequented is www.ripoffreport.com. The name pretty much tells you what this site is about. What makes this site differ from the craigslist option is that the rip-off report covers businesses nationally.
In the end, I believe that most people who post comments on such sites want is a sense of equity and being dealt with fairly. With this said, if you do decide to air your displeasure online you should at a minimum insure that all of your statements are truthful and not malicious. I can usually tell the difference between a comment written in the height of emotion and one written with calmness of a clear head. Emotion based comments normally attack individuals while clear head postings show the breakdown of customer service. Retelling the breakdown is generally the most effective method.