Linden Lab's Better Business Bureau Rating Upgraded From "F" to "A" (Update: Change Due To T. Linden Intercession)

Last Tuesday I noted the Better Business Bureau's F rating for Linden Lab, a grade that's been extant for at least a year, though at the time, the Lindens told Virtual World News the poor grade "reflects that much earlier in the company's history, our responses to BBB complaints were sometimes not as prompt as we'd have liked." Apparently that must be the case, because a week later, the Better Business Bureau's grade has suddenly been updated to A.

Offhand I'm not sure how the rating instantly flipped, but the reversal was so instantaneous, I'm tempted to imagine a telephone call and someone on the other end slapping their forehead while saying "Forgot to update that, whoopsie!" Linden Lab is not accredited with the BBB (which requires paying a $350 yearly fee), and as the Los Angeles Times reported last year, the service's ratings for non-accredited companies are inconsistent and controversial. (Hat tip: Galatea Gynoid.) So as I suggested in last week's post, the BBB rating does not seem to be a reliable gauge of company performance or customer satisfaction, at least where virtual worlds and MMOs are concerned. Still, as arbitrary as the listings apparently are, maybe someone involved with World of Warcraft should look into the F rating of their publisher, Vivendi Games?

Update, 3:30pm: Chief Product Officer T. Linden explains how he got the Better Business Bureau to change the rating on Gwyneth Llewelyn's blog:

The "F" rating was applied to Linden Lab because of two quite old complaints, one of which we'd actually responded to and BBB misplaced our email. [!] The BBB had outdated data on our size, which made the proportion of complaints seem far worse than it is and that plays into. Since Gwyn's post, we dug into the issues with the BBB, and based on the updated info, they changed our rating. No money changed hands, so put your conspiracy theory to rest.

Hat tip: Gwyneth Llewelyn (who got the BBB ball rolling with a quasi-April Fool's post) via a tip by Caliandris Pendragon.

Comments

[FlipperPA Peregrine]

Wow, and suddenly there are ads appearing on the BBB's web site for Second Life, a la Yelp! ;)

[Galatea Gynoid]

Ah, so they paid the BBB the money... kinda disappointed, actually. Oh well...

[Hamlet Au]

Actually no, Gala, far as I know they didn't -- LL is still listed by BBB as an unaccredited company (i.e. didn't pay to play.)

[brinda Allen]

"Oh the web we weave when first we....."
Cash- as in pay for play? OK, maybe not.
(are ads free?)

[Galatea Gynoid]

Ah cool, thanks for the clarification. Good to know LL didn't give those crooks any money...

[Adric Antfarm]

And so goes the Antfarm family respect for the BBB.