BBB move disrupts better business

Erica Johnson

Wednesday, May 23, 2001 | 8:33 a.m.

Phones at the Better Business Bureau rang off the hook Tuesday after three days of being missing in action during its move from its office on Spring Mountain Road to a new location on Palomino Lane.

Calls to the bureau -- an entity designed to protect the public from scams -- from Thursday through Tuesday morning were met with a recording saying that the phone was out of service.

The bureau's location of three years, 5595 Spring Mountain Road, was an abandoned brick structure. No sign directed customers to the new address, 2301 Palomino, near Rancho Drive.

"We are responding to the onslaught of calls as fast as we can," Sylvia Campbell, president and CEO of the local bureau, said Tuesday afternoon. "We're sorry for any problems consumers may have had and any inconvenience this may have caused."

Campbell said the bureau is currently working with the phone company to get things back on track.

Gene Cataneo said that when he needed it, the bureau was nowhere to be found.

The local business owner tried calling the bureau to investigate what he said was a false complaint filed against his company, Ultra Mat Solar.

"We've been calling them since last Thursday, three or four times a day," said Cataneo, who said that calling directory assistance also proved unsuccessful.

According to Campbell, the move shouldn't have been a surprise. She said the bureau put a full-page ad in the Review-Journal alerting customers about the new location. The ad, however, ran Sunday-- two days after the move.

According to Campbell, while the switch was under way, customers could have still reached the bureau by mail or could have logged onto its website (vegasbbb.org).

Campbell said her staff has a busy few days ahead. She said employees at the new location, along with Sprint, would spend Tuesday evening installing data lines, setting up the voice response system, and making sure the computers are functioning properly.