What is the BBB auto line?
The BBB Auto Line is a free service for vehicle owners with warranty disputes. The BBB Auto Line program offers arbitration to vehicle owners and manufacturers to resolve disputes involving vehicles under the state lemon law. In arbitration, the parties bring their case to an Arbitrator who reviews the complaint and makes a decision.
How many disputes has BBB auto line resolved?
Administered both by BBB National Programs and local BBB’s across the country, BBB AUTO LINE has resolved more than two million disputes in a fair, neutral, and impartial process. What is BBB AUTO LINE? How do I file a complaint?
How do I contact Better Business Bureau auto line?
Better Business Bureau Auto Line (BBB Auto Line) - (800) 955-5100 The BBB Auto Line is a free service for vehicle owners with warranty disputes. The BBB Auto Line program offers arbitration to vehicle owners and manufacturers to resolve disputes involving vehicles under the state lemon law.
Who are BBB auto line staff and arbitrators?
BBB AUTO LINE staff and arbitrators are independent of manufacturers that participate in BBB AUTO LINE, and perform no duties for these manufacturers other than providing impartial dispute resolution services.
How long does BBB Autoline take?
If your claim involves a warrantable defect or non-conformity against one of the automobile manufacturers we work with, once your claim is submitted you will receive an email confirmation within the next business day, along with instructions for creating an online account that can be used to send and receive messages, ...
Which are two functions the BBB Better Business Bureau Auto line service performs?
BBB AUTO LINE® BBB AUTO LINE is one of the largest and longest-running dispute resolution programs in the United States. We help consumers and businesses resolve vehicle warranty, lemon law, and class action disputes in a hassle-free, timely, and cost-effective manner.
What is BBB arbitration?
What is arbitration? Arbitration is a process in which a dispute is submitted to a neutral, trained, and certified BBB volunteer, who hears testimony, examines the evidence, and renders a written, legally binding decision.
What happens if a business does not respond to BBB complaint?
Consumer will be notified of the business response when the BBB receives it and will be asked to respond. If the business fails to respond, the consumer will be notified. Complaints are generally closed within approximately 30 calendar days from the date filed.
Is the Better Business Bureau still relevant?
More than a century later, the BBB is still relevant. Whereas retail storefronts in the pre-internet world proudly displayed the BBB seal in their shop windows, today about 400,000 BBB Accredited Businesses worldwide display the badge on their websites.
Can BBB get your money back?
Getting Your Money Back Having the BBB mediate your complaint can sometimes result in a refund, but the BBB isn't able to force companies to fix the dispute. There are a few other places where you can report a problem that might or might not result in getting your money back.
Can the BBB shut down a business?
While the BBB cannot force a company to do anything, the BBB does offer consumers valuable insight into companies and may be able to resolve issues through arbitration.
Does the BBB help resolve consumer conflict?
If you have a marketplace dispute, BBB can offer you several ways to resolve it. ®We can work with you and the business to reach a solution to your problem using various dispute resolution (DR) processes.
How does BBB resolve a complaint?
Once the customer is in agreement, the BBB will close its case. The resolution is then reflected on the BBB business reliability report positively. If a business has made an attempt to resolve the issue, or feels it was not at fault, the complaint will enter an arbitration or mediation process.
How do I cancel a complaint with the Better Business Bureau?
To remove a complaint from BBB, the customer must send a fax of their original complaint to your local BBB office, with their request to retract the posted complaint. Finding your local BBB office is simple.
What is arbitration?
Arbitration is an informal process in which two parties in a dispute present their positions to an impartial third party, an arbitrator . The arbitrator listens to the testimony, reviews evidence and makes a decision that he or she deems fair and falls within these Rules. In some cases, the arbitrator may take into account legal guidelines (e.g. lemon law standards).
What is the authority of an arbitrator in BBB?
lemon law standards). In the BBB AUTO LINE program, the arbitrator’s authority is defined by the BBB AUTO LINE Rules and the company’s Program Summary.
What is a BBB auto line?
BBB AUTO LINE is a dispute resolution program administered by the BBB National Programs to settle automotive warranty disputes as an alternative to court. BBB AUTO LINE does not charge any fee to consumers. To protect impartiality, funding for staff and program administrative costs of BBB AUTO LINE are committed in advance by ...
How to contact BBB National?
Consumers start the process by providing information to the BBB National Programs via the internet or calling 1.800.955.5100. We send written information to each consumer explaining the program and the requirements to open a claim in BBB AUTO LINE.
How far in advance of a hearing can you call BBB?
If an emergency prevents you from attending a hearing, call the BBB NP at 1.800.955.5100 prior to the scheduled hearing time. We will decide if it can be rescheduled.
How to contact BBB?
You can reach BBB AUTO LINE by calling 1.800.955.5100. All documents, correspondence, notices, and requests for records should be sent to BBB AUTO LINE, BBB National Programs, Inc., 1676 International Dr., Ste 550, McLean, VA 22102. Documents and case-related information also may be faxed to BBB AUTO LINE at 703.247.9700.
What is a single arbitrator?
A single arbitrator, or a majority of the panel if a panel is used, will be a person who has no direct involvement in the manufacture, distribution, sale or service of any product. A single arbitrator will be assigned to the majority of hearings.
What is an arbitrator in auto?
Arbitrators are attorneys and/or dispute resolution professionals trained on the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, California's lemon law, and the specific rules and guidelines of the BBB Auto Line program.
What is BBB auto?
The BBB Auto Line is a free service for vehicle owners with warranty disputes. The BBB Auto Line program offers arbitration to vehicle owners and manufacturers to resolve disputes involving vehicles under the state lemon law. In arbitration, the parties bring their case to an Arbitrator who reviews the complaint and makes a decision.
What does the arbitrator do in a BBB hearing?
The arbitrator will listen to both sides and weigh the evidence presented at the hearing. Then the arbitrator will make a decision about the dispute after the hearing is over. BBB will then send the decision to you and to the other party.
What is binding arbitration?
In binding arbitration , BBB will provide a professionally- trained arbitrator who will listen to both sides, weigh the evidence presented and make a decision on how to resolve the dispute that is binding on all parties.
How to initiate arbitration with BBB?
If you have a contract that requires the parties to use BBB arbitration to resolve any disputes, you can initiate arbitration by submitting a Demand for Arbitration to BBB. If you are not contractually bound to BBB arbitration but wish to arbitrate an existing dispute, BBB will ask both parties to sign an Agreement to Arbitrate that briefly describes the specific issues involved and the scope of the arbitrator's authority in your case. This agreement sets the groundwork for the arbitration hearing.
What is BBB hearing officer?
In informal dispute resolution (IDS) , BBB will provide a professionally trained hearing officer who will listen to both sides and make a non-binding decision on how to resolve the dispute.
What does BBB mean in mediation?
If both sides agree to mediate their dispute, BBB gives them an explanation of the basic rules of mediation and asks each party to sign an Agreement to Mediate.
What is the role of an arbitrator in arbitration?
In arbitration, the arbitrator is asked to consider all relevant factors and to make what the arbitrator considers a fair decision. While the parties in dispute are free to argue legal principles, the arbitrator does not have to follow them strictly in making a decision.
How long does it take to settle a dispute?
If the complaint requires more assistance, the mediation, informal dispute settlement and arbitration processes generally take less than 40 days from start to finish.
What is IDR in warranty?
However, although Congress intended these Informal Dispute Resolution (“IDR”) mechanisms to be an efficient way of resolving warranty disputes without litigation, Congress did not intend to sacrifice fairness for speed. Rather, to ensure the fairness of these mechanisms, Congress empowered the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) to promulgate certain “minimum requirements” a warrantor’s IDR program must meet before that warrantor could require an aggrieved consumer to resort to such a mechanism as a prerequisite to legal action. 15 U.S.C. §2310 (a) (3) (2). These regulations, which must be strictly followed, were designed to ensure that IDR programs “not only look good on paper, but function effectively and fairly in practice” and that a given IDR mechanism “is fair and effective [and] does not just represent another hurdle that the consumer is forced to surmount before being provided a meaningful avenue of redress.”
Why did the FTC create such intricate rules regarding informal dispute resolution mechanisms?
The reason the FTC created such intricate rules regarding informal dispute resolution mechanisms, and the reason warrantors must abide by said “elaborate and burdensome rules,” was to ensure fairness. See Solomon, The Good, the Bad and the Rest: State Lemon Laws and Protection for Consumers, Journal of the American Bar Association (1994) (stating “ [t]he major criticisms of manufacturer-funded dispute programs are that they are comparable to the ‘wolf guarding the chicken coop.’ And that the results are more protective of car makers than of consumer”). There were two primary reasons fairness was a concern for Congress.
Why did Congress encourage warrantors to establish informal dispute settlement procedures?
In an effort to provide consumers a manner to seek relief absent court intervention, Congress encouraged warrantors to establish “informal dispute settlement procedures” whereby warranty disputes are “fairly and expeditiously settled.” 15 U.S.C. §2310 (a) (1). The main reason Congress felt it necessary to encourage these informal programs was the cost prohibitive nature of warranty litigation.
When was the MMWA created?
The MMWA was signed into law on July 4 , 1975 and came into being when President Lyndon Johnson created a “Task Force on Appliance Warranties and Service” prompted by a rising tide of consumer complaints, many of which involved warranties. An FTC investigation found warrantors were not living up to their promises. One theme derived from the FTC study evidenced “ [t]oday’s consumer product warranties are replete with limitations . . . [that] in most cases serve primarily to limit obligations otherwise owed to the buyer as a matter of law. This is done . . . by disclaimers and exemptions.” Congress noted although such limitations “do no injustice to commercial buyers who are sophisticated in the ways of the marketplace and can judge the import of the express warranty and the meaning of the disclaimer of the implied warranty, unfortunately, the ordinary purchaser of consumer products does not know . . . the meaning of words in an express warranty which . . . without his knowledge, be limited rather than expanded.” Congress recognized such disclaimers, limitations and exemptions left consumers with a “growing source of resentment [in] the inability to get many [warranted products] properly repaired and [with] the developing awareness that the paper with the filigree border bearing the bold caption ‘Warranty’ or ‘Guarantee’ was often of no greater worth than the paper it was printed on.” The MMWA was thus enacted as a federal regulatory measure to ensure warranty compliance by providing compensation to consumers of defective automobiles and other products.
Is auto arbitration unfair?
The comments from consumers and consumer groups across the country provide eloquent testimony that case-by-case arbitration, in place of automatic redress to injured consumers, is a bitterly unpopular as well as unfair feature of this settlement. Consumer fury and frustration over the felt injustice of this burdensome remedy explodes from the letters. The hundreds of consumer comments that we received, most of them spontaneous expressions of outrage from unorganized individuals, are to my knowledge unprecedented in Commission history. Over 70% of them are opposed to the arbitration agreement, which they view as a repudiation of their right to automatic redress . . . Moreover, many despair that they will ever recover their losses under this deal, since they feel individual arbitration with an adversary like GM could never be a fair fight. One person, an attorney from Michigan experienced in dealing with GM, the consumer’s chances this way: It will be like sending a team of Chinese, who have never seen or studied or played the game of football, into a contest with the Dallas Cowboys! Comments from consumer groups, such as the Center for Auto safety and Consumers Against GM, passionary [sic] criticized the arbitration settlement as unjust . . . State attorneys general collectively voiced ‘grave reservations’ about the fairness and workability of the Better Business Bureau arbitration system under the agreement . . .Only a handful of individuals and organizations—e.g., GM and the BBB themselves, the American Arbitration Association, and two Attorneys General—took exception to this overwhelming expression of public opposition by favoring the settlement . . .