Given that "The Better Business Bureau, which was founded in 1912, is not a government agency, nor does it have regulatory or enforcement power," what implications does this have?
Haha, I just found this: Terror Group Gets 'A' Rating From Better Business Bureau?
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/business-bureau-best-ratings-m...
In that sense, yes, they ignore legitimate complaints, because they don't care ;)
That said, the BBB itself is not an entirely above-board operation, to say the least. I'm no fan of Uber's business tactics - which I consider deeply unethical - but having the BBB complain about its business integrity is the pot calling the kettle black.
Any service that takes any kind of funding from businesses has an obvious conflict of interest (see BBB, Yelp).
Any service that relies on consumers for funding will have limited resources and thus limited scope (see Consumer Reports).
And of course rating businesses on things like customer service and response to complaints is inherently subjective.
For small stuff, you're best off with a quick Google for any major problems, and then just trying for yourself. For big stuff... well, lots more Google.
Checking reviews on Reseller Ratings used to be a decent bet for online shopping, but they seem to have gotten awfully far in bed with the resellers. These days I do virtually all online shopping on Amazon, anyway.
That said, I get the impression that the BBB has very little relevance, at least with my peers. I don't think I've ever heard someone recommend patronizing or avoiding any company because of its BBB rating. But this certainly isn't the case for other non-government review agencies or individuals.