Perpetuating Misinformation

Mis-information can be big business.
This came to light recently when a company that my company
buys from heavily told us that our rating in Dun & Bradstreet
had dropped precipitiously! WHAT? We don't subscribe to
Dun & Bradstreet!
Later, checking over the report that was obtained by a
friendly third party, the facts of the 'misinformation' came
to light.

But first - many years ago, I was charged with the duty of filling
out a D & B report at the request of the company that employed
me at that time. One thing that stood out in my mind as strange
about the report was the actual lack of factual information
that was being requested by D & B. On that particular
form, I even ignored some of the questions.

When one considers these reports in light of large, multi-million
dollar corporations, I suppose the information can be quite good
at sizing up someone with whom you want or don't want to do
business. When coupled with small companys of 1 to 10 employees,
the lack of specific information can be quite damaging.

For example: at the time I filled out the report, I noticed
that the questions did not allow for actual dollar amounts
to be entered. They only asked for ranges of dollars, as in
$1 to $100 would be the answer to one question. In some cases,
the amount that should have been plugged in was between $1 to
$10, but that was not a choice on the form.
A contested amount of $10 or less, which could be a disputed
discount amount, generally 1 or 2 percent for paying within
10 days of the date of the invoice, or an inaccurately
applied sales tax to a non-taxable sale not being paid, is shown
by D & B as $100 past due! RED FLAG!
For a small company of 3 or 4 employees, this type of reporting
can send your blood pressure to the ceiling, especially when one
of the people you buy from considers it of sufficient importance
to point it out to you!
In the instance of my filling out one of their reports, amounts
between $1 and $45 were ignored and not recorded. Also, I knew
what the disposition of each case was and they were being
resolved, ergo, not reported to D & B.

All of the above "$1 to $100" is honestly reported information,
but it just isn't accurate. If you were reading a D & B report that
said your potential customer had a past due balance with one of
D & B's customer for "$100 or less," will you assume it to be $1.09 or
will you assume it to be $99.99?
From the person not paying sales tax on an item being legitimately
purchased for resale, to the bookkeeper who sees the outstanding
amount of $3.56 in sales tax, to that same bookkeeper filling
out a D & B form provided by the service to which his/her
company subscribes-that a particular customer has a past due
balance over two months old of $1 to $100, to D & B passing that
information on to one of its good customers, also a subscriber
and causing them concern, to that concerned vendor passing along
that information to its buyer, us, because they revere a D & B
report sufficiently to call their customer and voice their concerns.
It is all honestly reported, as it appears on paper.
What isn't being asked and reported on in a D & B form is the
equally important questions:

"Do you also purchase as well as sell to this customer?"
"Do you owe this customer any money?"
"Is that amount from $1000 to $5000?"
"Is that amount past due?"
"How long?"

You see, if you are not a subscriber to D & B, your side of the
story doesn't get told. You don't fill out a report on the company
who lists you as a "Past Due" account.

And misinformation marches on.