We belonged to the BBB years ago when my Dad ran the business.

We paid dues for years with no disputes, etc. We get a call one day from a BBB rep. The guy laid into my Dad. First wrong move. Dad doesn't like someone telling him how to run his business.

Turns out the customer had issues with the work performed on the car, and didn't even bother to contact us first! He called the BBB and the rep called us, threatening to remove us, etc... He didn't even get the full story from the disgruntled customer. Second wrong move. The BBB guy pissed my Dad off pretty bad. My Dad explained we never saw the car again, how could we fix what was never brought to our attention? We cancelled our membership immediately and never looked back.

A simple phone call to the customer fixed the problem, as he thought we charged him for something we didn't do.

So in a word, we paid hundreds of dollars over the years to be harassed.
We still have a clean record according to the BBB's website, after 31 years.

I got a call about a year ago from the BBB asking why we weren't a member, as we had a good rating. I told the woman our story, and she did acknowledge there were some issues in the past, and a lot of members left the BBB because of their past conduct. She promised it'd be different now. Yah, right.

I put the BBB in with Tom Martino. I have a problem paying someone to "recommend" me. That screams of conflict of interest.

The BBB will mediate problems, but they have no teeth in enforcement. They cannot force you to do anything. They will make suggestions, but it's up to the business to make the adjustment/repair, etc. Oh that's right, I do that already.

I don't know about buying a good rating, but knowing their past it wouldn't surprise me.