3. Written by Chris, on 14-05-2008 23:21
Actually, you're looking at it all wrong. The ability to look up your own scores is a free service once you use the online e-update service at www.dnb.com However, to use any of there services there is a fee that is easily payable by any small business owner. And the fact of the matter is, it's incredibly important to have a solid credit history and report in today's economy. DNB spends MILLIONS of dollars to collect information and paying them to manage YOUR business's credit is only fair.
Now, you can try to sue DNB, but they've been around for over 180 years and if what they were doing was in any way illegal or monopolistic, they would not have lasted as long as they have. Now, I do understand exactly what you're saying and agree they could give out a free comprehensive report a year to benefit the consumer, but at the same time they've been providing a free service to you the entire time you've been in business, allow me to explain how business credit works.
Personal credit is reported automatically by anyone you do business with, such as any loans you take out, etc. Business credit is not the same way. You may work with 10 vendors, but only 5 may report. If three of those five companies have had a dispute with you, it'll effect your credit rating negatively, so then it would be the business owner's responsibility to get the other people to report on their behalf. So it's completely reasonable that DNB asks that the business owner pays for these references.
Now, the DNB report will exist whether or not you pay for their services, and your listing will -always- exist and be pulled by other companies. The people your business works with report to DNB, so the information on the report is considered to be truthful, as all reporters went through the DUNSright verification process, so it's only people you legitimately work with that's reporting.
Now as for the price: Paying the $449 for a self-monitor is a ridiculously good deal. It's more than seeing a bunch of useless numbers, it's managing your credit profile. Insurance underwriters pull a report on a business once a year to help determine premiums no matter how long you've been with them, all banks will do the same for interest rates, and people may also be looking just to determine if they can do business with you by the people you work with. Sometimes, your credit references aren't enough, they have to do a background check on your business just like you would before hiring an employee.
So if I could spend $449 that would save me thousands of dollars over the course of the life of my business, give me a new promotional tool, something to negotiate better terms/rates/premiums with, you bet I'm going to pay it. Especially in the construction industry when I have thousands of dollars worth of bids being considered by other businesses, it's worth every penny. Mistakes get made all the time, and I'm not willing to allow my business to miss out on the best opportunities it could have available because I'm too stingy to pay for a service that is CRUCIAL for my business. It's about the price of a cup of coffee day, and anyone can afford that.
So next time you get angry, just learn the facts and how benefical and helpful the service is. ***, they have over 100 million businesses in their database. It's worth every penny.
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