In a continuing crackdown on members who don't meet its standards, the Better Business Bureau has revoked the membership of four companies for failing to respond to consumer complaints. They are:

Stahl Plumbing Heating and Air-Conditioning of Swissvale.

R\T Roofing & General Contracting of McKeesport.

Careassist Technologies Inc. of Mt. Lebanon.

All American Ice Cream & Donut Shops of Somerset.

The bureau's board of directors said Stahl failed to promptly respond to complaints the BBB forwarded to it and also failed to make a good faith effort to adhere to an informal dispute settlement decision.

The board said Careassist Technologies and R/T Roofing each have an unanswered complaint and also failed to promptly respond to complaints.

And it said All American Ice Cream failed to fulfill all licensing and disclosure criteria required by applicable state and federal agencies and authorities. It said the company's Web site and marketing materials offer a franchise opportunity and that it is not registered and/or licensed in states where it sold franchises.

BBB President Warren King said the organization takes its membership standards "very seriously" because they "are designed to offer consumers confidence before they make purchasing decisions." Companies that don't comply will be expelled.

The bureau, founded in 1931, serves 28 counties in Western Pennsylvania and is part of a network of BBBs in the United States and Canada. It provides voluntary self-regulation and consumer and business education programs, dispute resolution, advertising review, consumer resource library and maintains reliability reports on more than 26,000 local companies.

In telephone interviews yesterday, Mr. King said the bureau gave each of the companies numerous opportunities to respond to consumer complaints and/or requests for information from the BBB.

During a 60-day period, he said the bureau contacted each company by e-mail and/or letter, by phone and then by certified mail -- twice. The first certified letter warned the companies that their membership status was in jeopardy and invited them to appear before the board. The second certified letter said they had been expelled.

Mr. King said Stahl, founded in 1950, joined the BBB in July 2002. He said the bureau received 11 complaints against the company in the past three years that dealt with sales practices, repairs, service and guarantees or warranties. Although most of the complaints were resolved, two weren't, including one that dealt with a $2,600 dispute.

Roger Newman, Stahl's executive vice president, said the bureau didn't treat his company fairly. He described its contractor dispute resolution process, which he said was nonbinding in his case, as "very unprofessional. I was very disappointed in it." He said 11 complaints in three years isn't a bad record, especially since all but two were resolved.

"We receive more than 20,000 service calls a year," he said. "We are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We have thousands of satisfied customers. We have a customer base of 30,000, many of whom are repeat customers. We are a company in very good standing in the community."

Mr. Newman said the BBB "wants to exert power as though it's a government agency. But it's not a government agency."

Mr. King said Mr. Newman and his company "are familiar with our standards. They responded to previous complaints and all of a sudden failed to do so in a timely fashion. We ask our members to abide by whatever decision a hearing officer makes. He has indicated that he won't. He brought this on himself."

Mr. King said the bureau has a duty to its 2,800 members and to consumers to enforce its membership standards "because our reputation is on the line. We want to make sure consumers feel confident in using our members."

Calls left for Ryan O'Rourke, the listed owner of R/T Roofing; John Dryfka, the listed owner of Careassist Technologies, and Wolfgang Knapp, president of All American Ice Cream & Donut Shops, were not returned.

The BBB also expelled the following companies this year:

Alico Mortgage Corp. of Carnegie, All Pro Auto Mall of Canonsburg, American Family Legal Plan of East Liberty, A Safe Chimney Service Inc. of Seward, Westmoreland County, Asturi Landscaping Contractor of Monroeville and Automotive Market Report of Monroeville. Also, Blue Knob Auto Sales Inc. of Duncansville, Blair County; Carpets by Carl of Hampton, Elite Homes & Elite Remodeling Inc. of McDonald, Gans Custom Carpentry of Bridgeville, Mid Atlantic Data Services of Bridgeville, Page One Printing of McKees Rocks and Steeltown Services of East Liberty.

For more information, go to www.pittsburgh.bbb.org or call 412-456-2700.