Quick Facts

Accounts may be deactivated and later reactivated through the subscriber's Control Panel. None of the SBTRUST services are available to either the business or to consumers when an account is deactivated.

Subscriptions are not automatically renewed. Within 30-days of expiration, the subscriber will receive an electronic mail indicating the need to renew. The expiration date is also be noted in the Control Panel. Another e-mail will be sent when there is just 10 days remaining and then on the final day of the subscription. Subscribers are given a two week grace period in which to renew their account without any interruption in service. When a subscription is not renewed, the account will be deactivated and the subscriber will need to renew in order to reactivate the account.

Subscribers are able to add notes to their Status Record. These notes will be viewable by consumers who view the firm's status. This can be a valuable tool in providing more information to clients out a firm's operation or to respond to issues and/or complaints that may have arisen on the web about a firm.

An SBTRUST subscription is required for each domain that is supposed to be monitored so a firm that operates multiple web ventures, each with their own domain, will need to have a subscription for each domain. While this may seem cost prohibitive to small firms, it does allow for different divisions of a firm to be rated and managed differently. Different products and services should be rated differently.

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Using the SBTRUST services is easy and virtually all management of an account is done through the subscriber's Control Panel (opens new window). Once you subscribe and receive your access information, you can then tailor the system to meet your needs.

1. Initial Settings and Beginning Status

Once an account is activated, SBTRUST will begin the process of building the firm's status record. SBTRUST will attempt to verify the existence of the firm and contact it by the methods allowable by the firm. The status of the firm will be available for consumers to see once the account is activated by the firm and SBTRUST has completed its initial investigation. At this time, the firm can use the basic Status Seal on their web site and have it link directly to their record.

2. Participating in Seal Programs

Once the account has been activated and the initial status building procedure completed, the subscriber can choose to participate in one or more seal programs. These currently are:

    1. Rating Seal - this allows client to rate the firm. When this seal is used, the customer rating of the company will be displayed in the status record.

   2. Privacy Seal - if a firm chooses to abide by the privacy guarantee rules then this seal may be used. Its usage will be indicated in the status record.

   3. Monitoring Seal - for any policy, or other web page, that the company wants SBTRUST to monitor for later authentication, this seal may be used. Of course, a firm can request a policy be monitored without demonstrating that fact through the seal. Use of this seal does not have to be recorded in the company's status record.

   4. Data Protection - for companies willing to accept close inspection of their operations by SBTRUST, this seal's usage will be recorded in the firm's status record once all conditions have been met.

Using a seal is easy - just make then necessary selections through the Control Panel and add the necessary HTML to your web site. In some cases, there may be some required feedback from SBTRUST before a valid seal link is permitted. For details on the HTML required for the links, please read the seal documentation.

3. Consumers, SBTRUST and Subscriber Interactions

Once a firm's status has been set and the firm is particpating in Seal programs, consumers will most likely utilize SBTRUST for several reasons. The most used service is simply to see the firm's status. Through this mechanism consumers are getting immediate feedback from a trusted third party about the company -- an important trust building step. Additionally, consumers will use SBTRUST to obtain clarification on policies posted by the firm; to view a firm's rating if participating in the rating firm; and for certain advocacy reasons.

Advocacy comes in the form of using SBTRUST as an intermediary for communication; as an authenticator for communications; and as a participant in resolving disputes. This is to the benefit of both consumers and subscribing firms. For consumers, knowing that SBTRUST is here enhances their trust in doing business with a firm and, for the firm, it helps to have SBTRUST cool passions and assists in ensuring that bogus complaints are not taken seriously by others, such as a State Attorney General. Rather than operating in a vacuum, both consumer and firm have a neutral partner in resolving issues.

During a subscription term, SBTRUST will communicate with subscribers for various reasons but usually for ongoing verification of contact methods and in response to consumer requests. This communication normally will be done through electronic mail but may also be done through postal mail if preferred by the subscriber.

If you have questions regarding how SBTRUST works, please contact us.