I. PURPOSE
Through its Better Business Council (BBC), the Melbourne-Palm Bay Area Chamber of Commerce desires to promote consumer confidence in private businesses within our area. As a service to both the consumer and the business community, it desires to protect the reputation of legitimate business from the unethical and unscrupulous businesses that may infiltrate our area.
II. LIMITATIONS
1. The BBC will not intervene in a complaint unless the customer assures us that the complaint has been discussed with the management of the business.
2. A complaint can not be processed against a business when the consumer has entered into a binding contract and the nature of the complaint is in violation of any of the terms of the contract. IMPORTANT: Before submitting a complaint to the BBC, please make sure that you have not agreed to anything in writing that would obligate you in the area you are complaining about.
3. If the BBC believes that the complaint is not valid, it will not be processed and the complainant will be so advised.
4. The BBC has no legal status and cannot force any business to make an adjustment of any kind. The BBC can attempt to intervene between the complaint and the business so that both sides of the story can be discussed and a possible solution may be found.
5. If a complaint has sought legal advice or places the matter in the hands of an attorney, the BBC cannot, under any circumstances, intervene in the matter.
6. Staff members of the BBC are not attorneys and cannot offer any legal advice to complainants.
7. The BBC cannot act as a credit bureau or a collection agency. If this type of service is needed, we will advise accordingly.
8. The BBC cannot normally judge quality of products, work or services, nor can we enter into negotiations concerning price.
III. PROCEDURE
If a complainant, after reading the above information feels the complaint is justified, the following steps are necessary.
1. The complaint must be submitted in writing, in duplicate, on the forms provided. IMPORTANT: A Complaint Filing Fee of $10.00 must be included and made payable to: “The Melbourne-Palm Bay Area Chamber of Commerce” in order to be processed.
2. Submit the report to the BBC office and allow a minimum of two weeks for a reply. At times, investigation into a complaint can take from six to eight weeks.
3. The BBC will notify the complainant of the results of its inquiry as soon as a reply from the business has been received in our office.
Download Consumer Complaint Forms
