ProGas and Heating’s Services cancelled its accreditation membership out of disgust and outraged because while the Better Business Bureau, claims to operate as advocates of free speech and high moral values such as Tell the truth, Be Transparent, Embody Integrity and more, it has sort to Censor, Persecute and Punish this company for its views. Moreover, attempting via intimidation and nefarious administrative tactics, to take away, to negatively influence this company’s rights to defend its reputation against false, slanderous, and misleading narrative in a court of law.
Because, If you don’t “drink the Kool-Aid” you’re against them.
(If you do not know what the term drinking the “Kool-Aid” means, click here)
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BBB’s rating system Unworthy of consumer confidence |
Better Business Bureau accused of biased ratings |
The BBB NOT Reporting Truthfully? |
Called a “shack down” and “a scam” by business owners. “Pay get an A or face the prospect of an F” Click here to watch what the ABC 2020 News investigation revieled. |
We’re not the only company victimized for not subscribing to the Better Business Bureau accreditation program or having a “mind of our own” on whats fair Vs not. Click here to read what CBC News had to say. |
A mortgage broker charged with discriminating against minority borrowers. A financial firm preying on seniors. A medical testing company paying kickbacks to doctors. And a vitamin maker that allegedly misled parents with claims that its supplements could treat symptoms of autism. All of these companies boasted BBB’s A+ rating |
ProGas and Heating Services believes in providing the best possible service to Customers at a cost that is fair to all.
We care about what happens with our customers and how people feel after we have been in your home. We want our customers to feel satisfied and secure; relaxed when contemplating or remembering service.
When things go wrong, we are as equally disappointed as our customer and given the opportunity will do our best to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of you.
We believe shoddy work and predatory tradesmen and companies should be exposed to the public and have ceased providing work to contractors over the years suspected of such conduct. We believe there should be an avenue for resolution if customers are at an impasse when dealing with a nefarious tradesmen or company. After all, where else is there to turn right!
However, when the reporting agencies themselves are deceptive, bias and participate in tabloid reporting, firing off inflammatory and false narrative like an Ape with a machine gun, narritive contradictory to clarity, truth, fairness and while themselves untruthful with no independent oversight body to rain them in, an often “bent” process; It only does the public a disservice and it’s time to reexamine the process. As you will read below ProGas and Heating Services is very clearly stating the Better Business Bureau (Although not the worst) is such an agency. – Ed Lowe
30+ years of Misleading and False narrative; Punitive Mistreatment at the hands of the Better Business Bureau
We are currently working on our presentation below that shows how, over the past 30+ years, the Better Business Bureau has willfully and repeatedly via omission of fact, misdirection of statement, blatant untruthfulness, and punitive administrative penalty; Targeted, mistreated, punished and employed mafia style tactics and bias against ProGas and Heating Services. Using their power as a trusted source in the community to mislead, to influence the public thereby discrediting this company’s public reputation.
On or about July 1994 we joined the Better Business Bureau and become an accredited member. We were quickly disabused of any notions of impartiality when we discovered, the BBB as a matter of policy did not report positive reviews (as they do now) only complaints, claiming this represented “marketplace activity”. Clearly, an incomplete picture and reporting that was bias. No company is the sum total of a few complaints, the Better Business Bureau failed to recognize that fact, as they basked in the radiance of their own righteous arrogance.
We did not renew our accreditation the following years, instead choosing to have nothing to do with the Better Business Bureau. And that folks… is where all the trouble started!
We informed the Better Business Bureau via letter that if they were going to continue misleading the public with such an unbalanced view of ProGas and Heating Services, (complaints only) that moving forward, any customer complaints from the BBB, ProGas and Heating Services would acknowledge, advise the customer we do not deal with the BBB and why and resolve the issue with the customer directly; effectively removing the Better Business Bureau from the resolution process, which we did.
Well… for these self-anointed folks… there goes the power. We assume the reaction went something like this – “how dare that blankety blank blank company snub us, the mighty Better Business Bureau.”
The BBB retaliated by no longer screening submissions instead publishing every minuscule issue, regardless of relevance. This punitive conduct culminated in a whopping 27 complaints over three years against the company, was a vindictive and deliberate attempt by the BBB to punish and discredit this company and mislead the public, all because we chose not to do business with them.
ProGas and Heating Services and its workers paid the price for 20 years as these cretins punished this company for our independence, both with loss of income and damaged reputation. We responded to EVERY SINGLE customer and resolved most issues while the Better Business Bureau falsely listed every issue as “unanswered” and of course their infamous “F” Rating.
2014 – 2019 Drinking the Kool-Aid to keep our A+ Rating until we had had enough Mistreatment |
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In May 2014 I ended talking with a lovely girl (Samantha) on the phone that wanted nothing more than to help, floored me, I almost dropped the phone, not the usual polished indifference I was use to receiving. This was about as good as I’ve ever had in years dealing with the BBB, so I jump on it. PGHS at that time had about 14 unanswered complaints even though we had responded to all people directly (Read about the BBB falsely claiming complaints “unanswered” click here) “Let me help you clear up these complaints by you answering them” she said. I will note, I bit my togue from saying: what the hell are you talking about (expletive) we’ve already answered and resolved all the issues with these people directly. At some point, if an olive branch is extended and it seems genuine, “give peace a chance” right! So, I sat answering these complaints… Q: Will you call this person at dinner time again? A: No, compliant erased. Q: What about your truck curbing this complainant’s lawn A: Yes, we said “sorry” compliant erased. You get the picture. Some complaints required a written response with approximately 11 nuisance complaints erased just like that. How great was that… well… not so much because it validates my point related to the BBB Mafia style tactics forcing businesses to deal with them, lest they suffer an ignominious F! The next day I checked PGHS’s rating it was A+. As you will read, we spent the next number of years serving the master of BBB opinion, there mighty rating system. We paid to keep our A+ in many ways dealing with the BBB’s Totalitarianism, bias, mistakes, harrasment, mistreatment and more until they finnaly pushed it over the top. I descovered a month later that Samantha no longer worked there.
Harpooning PGHS with other company’s complaints, impeding notifications then dropping our rating stating “unanswered.” |
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You would think, that before the BBB slaps “VERIFIED” on its correspondence and harpoon’s your business with a complaint or review notification that they would at least take some accountability and verify the correct identity of the company in question. Well… they don’t!
The BBB consistently fails to validate its correspondence to PGHS, instead wasting our valuable time and resources doing the job for them, if ignored, we risk an “F” rating and “unanswered” status.
PGHS has frequently been hit with complaints meant for other companies, the most recent being December 2, 2020 and December 21, 2020.
If being harpooned with other company’s complaints was not bad enough, they are equally inept in properly notifying PGHS about said compliant(s), which has seemed quite deliberate. We have for years communicated with the BBB via email however, the BBB has on more than one occation Surreptitiously changed the notification method from email to our PO Box. By the time we get the mail the file is closed as “unanswered” and say goodbye to your A+ rating. This has happened to many times; After numeriouse emails from PGHS which were ignored, it was left to PGHS’s lawyer to put the BBB on notice. here’s what our lawyer said
Publicizing false derogatory marketing propaganda with “accredited” competitor to discredit PGHS
Harassment
BBB Censorship and Double Standards While the Better Business Bureau validates its “right to report” under the Fundamental Freedom of Expression, protected under The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it consistently with business’s and it seems, especially PGHS, removes key explanations/statements in submissions that often change the understanding of events while allowing provocative and untrue statements from customers to remain. This generates a misleading and damaging impression of events against PGHS. If the Better Business Bureau is going to invoke “Freedom of Expression” Should not it be Freedom of Exspession for ALL and not just what the BBB arbitrarily decides to publish on their platform?
Insert emails lawyers’ letters and media related to this subject here
Here’s the point: |
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if you were our customer, how long would you wait for a refund before reporting to the BBB! 1,2,3,4 months?
On March 2, 2020, in a letter to Mr. Amado ********, ProGas and Heating Service cancelled its accreditation membership with the Better Business Bureau and requested our accreditation dues refunded. If you want to know why we cancelled our accreditation membership click here
On March 20, 2020 Mr. Amado ******** of the BBB stated “You will receive a refund of $392″
On April 14, June 10, June 22, we corrisponded with Sophia (Better Business Bureau Accounting Administrator) looking for our refund We were given exsuse after exsuse by Sophia.
On July 14, 2020, 4 months later and after mulipule broken promises by the BBB, PGHS finally recieved a partial accreditation dues refund.
To view the email corrispondance between ProGas and Heating Services and the Better Business Bureau related to this matter click here
Here’s my point:
Does anybody reading this, honestly believe it took a professional organization such as the Better Business Bureau 4 months to write a cheque and mail it! This is yet again another example of the BBB’s bias and bad faith treatment of non-accredited people and Businesses and especialy ProGas and Heating Services that has over the years, refused to “drink the Kool-Aid”.
What do you think? Do you think it’s acceptable that an organization such as the Better Business Bureau that embodies “trust” and holds itself up as the self-anointed pillars of virtue in the business community, harpooning other originations for exactly the very same failures and shoddy treatment as evidenced here, should be in the business of reporting?
Moreover, if you were a customer experiencing similar treatment, would you report it? Good luck with the BBB, these hippocrates do not report on themselves, I’ve tried. why is that? – Ed Lowe
So, before you dive into this, I do want to point out one of the Better Business Bureau’s leading blurbs “Start With Trust” Let’s keep that in mind going forward shall we.
On January 13, 2021, the Better Business Bureau again targeted ProGas and Heating Services for our independence, for asking questions and seeking proof related to their correspondence, by willfully: via omission of fact, misdirection of statement, blatant lying and administrative penalty, posted false and misleading statements on their site and reduced overnight, ProGas and Heating’s Services rating from A+ to F stating the following lies:
Email tracking via ReadNotify reveals, that not only were our emails responding to the BBB, denying trademark infringement, read multiple times by the BBB recipients, they were forwarded to other BBB staff members in Vancouver whom also read our correspondence.
To view the email corrispondance between ProGas and Heating Services and the Better Business Bureau related to this matter click here
The Better Business Bureau falsely claims that “ProGas and Heating’s Services are “Falsely identifying as a BBB accredited Business”
Contradictory to the BBB claims, nowhere on the ProGas and Heating Services website are we displaying a BBB accreditation logo or claiming to be an accredited member. We invite the public to verify this long-standing fact by viewing our site. The question needs to be asked, why does the Better Business Bureau in its “alert” on the BBB, PGHS home page find it nessasary to continue falsely claiming otherwise?
Here’s what our lawyer, Stefan Kruse of Segev LLP had to say to the IABBB about their continued misrepresentations Click here
The Better Business Bureau falsely claims that “ProGas and Heating’s Services “continues to display BBB logo”
Contradictory to the BBB claims, nowhere on our website is ProGas and Heating Services displaying a BBB logo.
Moreover, any reference to the BBB on this site, such as our popup text link “BBB A+ rating 2014-2021” is truthful content and sadly a necessary defensive measure, to rebut the demonstrably false claims of the BBB’s alerts posted on the BBB’s ProGas profile. Were setting the record straight for our customers and the public wherein, between 2014 and 2021 ProGas and Heating Services maintained an A+ rating and it was only after this company withdrew from the BBB accreditation program did the BBB retaliate against PGHS by dropping our rating from A+ to F. (To learn more about why PGHS cancelled its accreditation click here)
Here’s what our lawyer, Stefan Kruse of Segev LLP had to say to the IABBB about their continued misrepresentations click here
Here’s my point:
The above is verifiable proof that the Better Business Bureau is deliberately waging a campaign of misinformation and abuse against ProGas and Heating Services and there prepared to lie to do it. It is outrageous that any organization bestowed with the public trust, that preaches core principles for Standards of Trust such as Build Trust, Tell the truth, Be Transparent, Embody Integrity and more, would themselves abandon these fine attributes to discredit any company. They should be ashamed of themselves. – Ed Lowe
The Better Business Bureau reports on businesses, weather or not their members or the business agrees to reporting. This is a dictatorship approach, bootstrapping a business’s reputation to the subservient nature of the Better Business Bureau’s arbitrary bureacracy and rating system; all in the name of Freedom of Expression.
Let us be clear here, it’s not “Freedom of Expression”, its no freedom at all. It’s a dictatorship process and like all dictatorships, if your outspoken, have a mind of your own or decide not to spend money on accreditation or withdraw from the accreditation program as ProGas and Heating Services did or do not participate in the BBB resolution process (even though you may have responded directly to the customer and even resolved the issue) if you don’t play along your punished, (regardless of right or wrong) as the BBB harpoons your business will an unwarranted “F” rating.
The BBB makes a mockery of “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms” with its Mafia style tactics. How about a business’s Rights not to do business with the Better Business Bureau and the Freedoms not to be punished for it!
“it is free to report on businesses because what we report on is truthful and without malicious intent to harm the reputation of a business”.
“it is free to report on businesses because what we report on is truthful”
Here is a link related to an email received from Malinda *** of the BBB, Vancouver 2020 to ProGas and Heating Services acknowledging that the BBB does not have the manpower to follow-up on complaints to confirm details, The above email was spawned as a result of the BBB mistackingly harpooning PGHS for another companies complaint. The BBB makes these grandios claims of “truthful reporting” yet their corperate resorces are such that they dont even have the manpower to identify the correct company related to said complaint.
Moreover, If the BBB doesn’t even have the man power to get the company right, how on earth are we to trust them to guard against the following:
Here’s my point:
The Better Business Bureau’s “right to report” is in part, premised upon “truthful reporting” but what if the BBB’s reporting is not truthful? How does the BBB “REALLY KNOW” what they recieve is correct? There is no evidence to support the BBB’s claim that their reports are always truthful. Moreover, while the BBB clearly, lacks the ability to properly support a more through and balanced system of investigation and resolution, the BBB should refrain from such lofty and absoulute claims as to the truthfulness of there reporting, least the BBB receive a false complaint and the fallibility of the BBB “truthful” reporting is showen for the over inflated self-serving rhetoric it is. – Ed Lowe
“without malicious intent to harm the reputation of a business”.
The Dictionary definion of “Malicious” is – characterized by malice; intending or intended to do harm.
The Dictionary definion of “Harm” is – something that causes someone or something to be hurt, broken, made less valuable or successful
Are we to believe, that when the Better Business Bureau reports your business with an “F” rating, theirs no harm to that business, the BBB can not concieve harm, that customers are going to use an F rated company the same as they would an A+ rated one?
Since our days at school and exams we have all understood the meaning of A+ Vs F. It has been bred into our DNA by Mom, Dad and the rest of society. A is good and F damn-well, does not mean Fabulous! That the Better Business Bureau would recuse themselves from the realization of a rating system that places one company above or below another and the ensuing consequences thereafter while claiming: “without malicious intent to harm” is simply absurd.
The Better Business Bureau knows or ought to know the implications related to A+ Vs F within there reporting and rating system.
Here’s my point:
Its not that the public should not know about predatory or unprofessional workmanship, that’s not the point here. The point is – if you’re going to state that your postings are “truthful” and “without malicious intent to harm the reputation of a business” at the same time peddling to the public claims of “truthfulness, Honesty and Integrity” like it’s a commodity, on your BBB soap box, the BBB damn well better get things correct and there’s no excuse for not, when dealing with peoples lives and incomes! Its clear that the BBB are “as fallible as the entities they report on” which is completely unacceptable. Let ye whom cast the first stone “watch the hell out”
Thus, we must reasonably conclude that the Better Business Bureau can envisage harm to a business and indeed have been told of the harm they cause. PGHS has complained to the BBB for 30+ years about its agregiouse conduct and failings as I am sure have many other companies, whom have fallen victim to the BBB’s indifference, Mafia style tactics and arbitrary rating system.
Since there conduct is “knowing” their intent must be considered willful, thereby confirming the Better Business Bureau’s malicious intent to harm and there claims to the opposite, a selfserving load of c**p. – Ed Lowe
ABC News reports – Called a “shack down” and “a scam” by business owners. “Pay get an A or face the prospect of an F”
Coming next
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