The Better Business Bureau is pretty much a household name, having provided everything from dispute resolution to truth-in-advertising reports since 1912. Today, the bureau receives all of its funding from businesses, but it is well-known as a place where consumers will be treated fairly should there be a need to lodge a complaint.

More than two million businesses are on file with the bureau, and you can research many of them online — for free — just by typing in their names. A Reliability Report will pop up for any company in the nationwide database, and the report will tell you not only how long the company has been a Better Business Bureau member, but also whether it has a satisfactory rating and how many complaints have been filed against it. Major timeshare companies, including Resort Condominiums International and Interval International, are included in the database, as are some developers such as Disney Vacation Development (all three companies have satisfactory ratings, by the way). Learn more about all the Better Business Bureau offers by logging on to www.bbb.org.