BBB Pacific Southwest, Central & Inland California - Fresno - Fresno, California

Nina M.

The BBB provides mediation services to the small claims dept of the Fresno Superior Court. I sued my former landlord. Our court date was the last day before the court closed due to Covid. I decided on mediation because I thought there would be less contact and less chance of catching Covid. H (not going to embarrass anyone by saying his name) was our mediator and I was immediately made to feel uncomfortable with how very, very friendly he was with the person I was suing. It was obvious that I was facing an uphill battle and also that my landlord had been there many times before.

My case revolved around being on a shared utility. I had rented a ranch house and I was being charged for the electricity to pump the water to irrigate a walnut grove at the front of the property as well as all of the energy to keep the shop in the back powered, including running lights 24/7. I was not informed I was on a shared utility and it took me several months to figure out what was going on.

My problem was two fold. My PG&E bill was several hundred dollars more than it should have been every month and, because of the amount of energy being used, I could not afford to use my AC when I needed it not only because my bill was already too expensive, but since energy usage was already in the highest tier, I was being charged nearly twice the base rate. I was miserable. The temperature in my house was in excess of 90 degrees. I felt that not only was I entitled to a refund for the energy I did not use, but also a partial refund of rent due to the miserable conditions I was living in created by the shared utility I was not informed of. The conditions I am describing were documented by the county inspector, so these were not mere allegations, they were provable facts.

H, the BBB mediator, argued that I had chosen not to turn the AC on, that it was solely my choice. It was not. He also suggested I get solar panels. I am not making this up. I realize that suggesting I spend $30K to put solar panels on a house I was renting for one year sound so stupid, I must be making it up, but that is exactly what he suggested.

People choose mediation because they want their problems solved in a fair way. It was obvious that H was ill suited for any sort of job that required any sort of critical thinking skills. In spite of this, he behaved with an air of arrogance and a tone as though he were insinuating that I was the most intellectually unsophisticated person in the room. He was also super chummy with my former landlord, cracking jokes and making small talk. This is extremely unprofessional. The whole process was a joke.

I ended up settling for a fraction of what I feel I was entitled to, a sum that did not even cover my out of pocket expenses for the ranch energy usage. BBB, for a company that stockpiles information intended to protect consumers, I am astounded that you would hire someone as ill suited as H and that you would allow the mediation process to turn into such a fiasco.

NewsTodayWorld O.

BBB Fresno’s conduct with guidelines they publish themselves is questionable. Our investigative reporter found out that the clause: “a truthful account of my experience with the business” is not upheld. So false, defamatory business reviews can be published on BBB without any consequence and fake-reviews are not worth their lines obviously. Be aware negative reviews are not trustworthy there, as BBB Fresno would not redact fake-reviews at all: whatever is put online stays on.

Ron M.

To whom it may concern,  I am writing to express my disapointment of the BBB in terms of at least giving equal consideration as a resorce that I thought was created to help consumers address quality issues with businesses.  My thought was it is the Better Business Bureau's job to investigate and help to inform other unsuspecting consumers of unfavrable actions of various companies. I feel so disapointed in the response I received when I filed in good faith a complaint against a timeshare company with the BBB.

The response from Bertha Bejarano at the BBB to my complaint was that I provide a copy of my contract with the timeshare but, I was told I only had 3 days to produce it. Not very realistic.. When I asked her for more time she responded by closing my case before my original 3-day deadline.  I worked on obtaining the contract and was able to send her a copy as she requested and ask that the BBB move forward with my complaint. Again, my request was shot down by Ms. Bejarano as she states  "We do not process complaints beyond the 12-month purchase date. I am so sorry we are not able to assist." and recomended I persu other options.

I want to suggest that a contract with a timeshare is perpetual, I pay them EVERY YEAR technically making the purchase date renew EVERY YEAR. With these perpetual contracts, it takes a while to figure out that you are being taken advantage of by the timeshare. It doesn't seem fair that the BBB is allowed to pick and choose which complaints they send to the companies. It seems to me that maybe this timeshare company has some prior relationship with the BBB based on the lack of receiving fair considerstion. My qiestion: Is the BBB not supposed to protect consumers in this case it seems more like they are protecting certain businesses.
Regards my fellow consumers.

Joi D.

The BBB in Fresno California provided excellent customer service regarding my compliant against the Residence Inn. The BBB was instrumental in resolving my case.

I sent an email to BBB on December 26, 2018 and received a response December 27, 2018. The BBB contacted the Residence Inn on December 27, 2018 regarding my complaint and requested for the hotel to review/respond my complaint. Just one day after I filed the complaint I received a response from BBB. I must say this was impressive.

On January 2, 2019 I received an email from the Residence Inn granting me my orginal request and the issue was resolved.

I emailed Residence Inn on December 13, 2018 to resolve my case and did not receive a response. It was not until I emailed BBB December 26, 2018 that I was able to have my matter resolved.

I would like to thank the BBB for their outstanding customer service. Because of you the Residence Inn provided me with the due diligence I deserved.

Edith C.

David was very unprofessional and rude to me. Went I called him he was to busy at AT&T getting his phone fixed. He told me to send him my information and he would give me a call as soon as possible. I waited over an hour and decided to go to where they store the cars. Two other people were waiting and were told to wait until Monday to come back. I called the police. After getting off from calling the police, David calls me and said a guy will come down and open the gate to get my car down. I asked him how much is it going to be to get it out. He said, it would cost 130 to get the gate opened on top off other fees. I asked how much is that going to be. He answered rudely, “don’t ask stupid question. ” I never raised my voice to him and he said if you get mad at my driver he will come back on Monday. I ended paying 505. Yes it was a lot of money I payed, but as a customer I felt attacked by David. That is not how you treat customers.

Black B.

PSA BBB ; I’ve sent several emails in regards to the situation with a company that may not even be a company and possibly selling refurbished products as new, I’ve called for weeks trying to speak to anyone at the bbb and for weeks I’m getting the automated messages which is stating that I’m calling during none working hours yet I’m calling the working hours. Since the pandemic all business have taken advantage of the fact people are working from home and not working. Months have gone by and I still haven’t received anything back thru email or phone call .This is disgusting how I’m not able to get the help I desperately need in a timely fashion and the company that has done me wrong and sent me none working products claiming they were new yet they had problems from the moment I got them tell me to send them back they would fix it, I send both back several times and they sent back none working products and them tell me to buy some more.. I need to be able to attach emails and videos to show how these products didn’t work and how many emails that went back and forth with them about this and how can I get help when help isn’t making themselves available? So meanwhile more customers buy this product and have issues and just not get help because there’s no help to be had? PLEASE HELP ME! what number can I call and have a real person help with my dilemma. Sincerely a lost consumer 😭😭

Raul H.

A False compliant was posted about my business and it didn't provide me the ability to respond. However, I contacted them via email. They asked me to email them my version of the story and they would then update the complaint. I sent them my version of what had really occurred with these customers and they ultimately ended up deleting and removing their complaint. They were great about resolving my concern. I am not accredited through them either.

victoria G.

This is my second time contacting the BBB to help me in situations when the company or customer support didnt bother to to help. Now the BBB cant force anyone to resolve any problems if they choose not too all they do is contact the company when you file a claim with them. I had a problem with stanton optical I ordered contact lenses and they never called me that they were ready and months passed and I was trying to get a hold of them by phone and email and the lenses werent ready and they took a long time to respond to me by email and soon after that they stopped replying and about 5 months later I decided to contact the BBB because they helped me with a situation before with another company. A couple days later stanton optical called me in regards to my contact lenses they told me the lenses should be ready in a week and they would deliver to my home and they gave me a years worth of lenses instead of 6 months which is what I ordered. I am satisfied with the solution. Thank you BBB for helping me out here. God bless Jesus is Lord!