Just received this from Teresa Tidball at RABQSA:

 I have checked our system and do not have any record of a Del Straight being or having been certified with us.

For years, Del Straight has advertised himself as a RABQSA Certified Lead Auditor, including using the RABQSA logo on unaccredited ISO certificates given to his customers. For months, he has refused to provide a copy of his certificate, or merely the RABQSA certificate number.

Now that he has been outed as intentionally misleading the public, likely in violation of Michigan consumer law, how long will it take before Mr. Straight corrects his website with a proper update?

It’s likely not to happen. When confronted with the usage of the RABQSA logo on a cert that appears on a former client’s website, Del appears to have merely accused — and then “punished” — his client of fraud. From LinkedIn:

The client in question – Parts Finishing Group – has been asked for a copy of the actual certificate handed to them by Del to see if it matches the scan included on their website. I’ll report back when we hear from them, but I suspect we already know the answer.

You have to love it when an unaccredited registrar just throws their client under the bus, and accuses them of fraud.

 UPDATE 4/23/2013: In response to our reporting, Del has updated his website to read, “Mr. Straight is a Trained Lead Auditor with a certificate from a training firm with RAB/QSA [sic] credentials.” I am still maintaining that it is deceptive, although less so, because the capitalization of the term implies that there is a “Trained Lead Auditor” certification offered by RABQSA, which there is not. He also indicated on LinkedIn that any certificates bearing other language alleging he is a RABQSA Lead Auditor are “expired.” RABQSA is still investigating his improper usage of their logo.

About Christopher Paris

Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 30 years' experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the author of Surviving ISO 9001 and Surviving AS9100. He reviews wines for the irreverent wine blog, Winepisser.

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