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Often when shopping online or at your local mall you will see 'Member of the Better Business Bureau, or BBB' and right away you feel good about shopping at the site or store. But what is the Better Business Bureau and why does it is inspire confidence, especially when shopping for a web hosting company?

The Better Business Bureau has been tracking complaints and keeping tabs on both profit and non-profit web hosting companies for more than 15 years now. Each year millions of consumers rely on the Better Business Bureau rating reports to tell them whether or not a web host is trustworthy or not.

The Better Business Bureau is unlike the local Chamber of Commerce in the fact that it does not promote any web host over another. The BBB gathers information on hosting companies both private and non-private then publishes its findings in their reliability reports. The whole idea is to keep the consumer informed and let them read through all the available information to better formulate which web hosting company is one they want to deal with.

One of the main functions of the Better Business Bureau is to try to help resolve complaints from customers against businesses. If a customer is unsatisfied with the company that they have dealt with they can file a claim with the Better Business Bureau and they will then contact the business on the customer's behalf and try to help resolve the matter. Many people think that the Better Business Bureau only helps with companies that are members of the local BBB or accredited by the BBB, but the fact is that they help with complaints from both accredited and non accredited businesses. According to the Better Business Bureau, they are able to successfully resolve about 70 percent of all the complaints that are filed.

How does a web host become an accredited member and should it lend to your confidence?

To become an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau, a web hosting business must have been in operations for at least one year. They must then fill out an application and pay member dues. Part of the application process is proving to the Better Business Bureau that the web host can adhere to the standards that the BBB requires to become a member which could include proving that the business is fully licensed an provides the level of service that they advertise.

At any time a web host can lose its accreditation for any number of reasons. The main reason for losing accreditation is too many complaints from customers. So when you see that a host is accredited by the Better Business Bureau it should indeed lend a vote of confidence to your decision to use that particular company. That is not to say that non members are all shady, but the stamp of approval certainly helps. The easiest way to know you are dealing with a web hosting company that you can trust is to check out the Better Business Bureau's website.