BBB Reviews and Complaints: The Complete Guide for Businesses

By the Expert Reputation team · Updated September 30, 2026

The Better Business Bureau runs two separate feedback channels: customer reviews (1 to 5 stars, opinions good or bad) and complaints (a customer asking BBB to help resolve a dispute). They work differently, and only complaints feed into your BBB letter grade. This guide explains both, how accreditation fits in, and what you can do when a BBB review or complaint is unfair.

Why BBB still matters for local businesses

BBB profiles often show up when people search a business name plus "reviews" or "complaints," and a letter grade is easy to read at a glance. For contractors, auto repair shops, dealers and clinics, a customer checking a BBB profile before signing a contract or booking a visit is common.

BBB publishes profiles for accredited and non-accredited businesses alike, so you may already have a profile, a rating and reviews whether or not you ever signed up. You can search for your business and claim its free profile, or ask BBB to add one, through BBB's get listed page.

BBB customer reviews vs. BBB complaints

BBB's FAQ draws the line this way: a consumer files a complaint when they want BBB's help resolving a dispute (usually, but not always, involving money). A customer review lets a consumer share an opinion, good or bad, about a business they dealt with.

A consumer has to choose one or the other. BBB says a consumer can file either a review or a complaint about the same experience, but not both.

How BBB verifies reviewers

BBB is candid that it can't guarantee every review is real. It says that is "nearly impossible to guarantee." Here is what it does do, according to its review-handling page and FAQ:

• Validates the reviewer's email address or phone number.
• Shares the reviewer's name with the business so you can confirm the interaction and respond.
• Lets the business confirm an interaction with that consumer.
• Rejects anonymous reviews and reviews where the consumer was compensated, directly or indirectly.
• Scrubs reviews to remove inappropriate language or personal information before publishing.
• Lets the reviewer comment on your response. Comments from third parties are not allowed.

Only the original consumer who had a marketplace interaction can file a review, and money doesn't need to have changed hands. Reviewers must certify that the review is their genuine opinion, that they have no personal or business affiliation with you, and that they weren't offered or given any incentive by your business. BBB may also ask consumers to substantiate their experience.

BBB rating vs. BBB Accreditation

These are two different things, and people often mix them up.

The BBB rating (A+ to F)

BBB describes a rating as its opinion of how a business is likely to interact with customers. It is built from seven elements: complaint history, type of business, time in business, transparent business practices, failure to honor commitments to BBB (such as mediation settlements or arbitration awards), licensing, and advertising issues. Each element adds or deducts points on a 100-point scale. For example, 97 to 100 is an A+, and anything below 60 is an F. "NR" means BBB doesn't have enough information yet or is updating the file. BBB says NR is not a grade and not negative.

Most of the points come from complaints. BBB's published point table gives up to 40 points for answering complaints and up to 30 for resolving them, and deducts points for failing to address a complaint pattern. Customer reviews are not used in the letter grade.

BBB Accreditation

Accreditation is a paid program. The fee depends on factors including business size. Accredited businesses commit to BBB's Standards for Trust (build trust, advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, honor promises, be responsive, safeguard privacy, embody integrity). Among other requirements, they must:

• keep at least a B rating in all company-owned locations and headquarters, and
• have been actively selling for at least six months (or have a comparable track record).

Accreditation doesn't buy a rating. A non-accredited business can earn a high grade by handling complaints well, and an accredited business that lets its rating fall below B no longer meets the standards.

How the BBB complaint process works

Complaints matter most for your grade, so it helps to know BBB's timeline:

1. BBB works to process the complaint and forward it to you within two business days.
2. You're asked to respond within 14 calendar days of the filing date. If you don't, BBB sends a follow-up.
3. The consumer is told about your response and asked to reply.
4. If the consumer is still unhappy, BBB may ask you for a second response and may offer mediation or arbitration (services vary by local BBB).
5. Complaints are generally closed within about 30 days. Each gets a status: Resolved, Answered, Unresolved, Unanswered or Unpursuable.

BBB states that failing to respond to a complaint may hurt the rating of any business. Complaint text may be published once the complaint is closed, and complaints stay on your profile for three years from filing. BBB also lists complaints it won't handle, including employer/employee disputes, complaints based only on price, buyer's remorse, anonymous complaints and cases already resolved in court.

How to get more BBB reviews without breaking the rules

You're allowed to ask customers to review you on BBB. What you can't do:

• Offer an incentive. BBB rejects reviews tied to a discount, a gift or any compensation, and reviewers must certify they received none.
• Have employees, relatives or other affiliated people post reviews. Reviewers certify they have no personal or business affiliation with you. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews (16 CFR Part 465, in effect since October 21, 2024) also restricts undisclosed reviews by insiders and bans fake reviews.
• Ask only the customers you think are happy. The FTC's Q&A on the rule says this could violate the FTC Act even though the rule has no specific ban on it. Ask every customer the same way.
• Use contract clauses that ban negative reviews. BBB says non-disparagement clauses conflict with its standards, may be noted on your profile, and are often illegal under the federal Consumer Review Fairness Act (15 U.S.C. § 45b).

Our guide to how to ask for reviews by email, SMS and in person has request wording you can adapt.

How to respond to a BBB review

Because the reviewer's name is shared with you before the review is published, you can often find the job in your records and respond with specifics. BBB's own advice: don't take offense, identify what went wrong, acknowledge the concerns, respectfully explain your position or what you'll fix, apologize where appropriate, and thank the customer for the feedback.

Example: negative review, home services

Thank you for taking the time to share this. We're sorry the cleanup at the end of your project didn't meet your expectations. That isn't the standard we hold ourselves to. Our operations manager would like to make this right. Please call us at [Phone] and ask for [Name]. — [Business Name]

Example: healthcare practice (HIPAA-safe)

A medical, dental or chiropractic office must never confirm that the reviewer is a patient or mention any health detail, even if the reviewer did.

Thank you for your feedback. We take every concern seriously, and privacy rules prevent us from discussing any individual's care here. We'd welcome the chance to talk. Please call our office manager at [Phone]. — [Practice Name]

For more patterns, see how to respond to negative reviews.

How to dispute a BBB review you think is unfair or fake

BBB's help pages don't describe a removal request that a business can file. What they do describe is the opportunity to confirm the interaction and respond. BBB's instruction to businesses that disagree with a review is to "provide a response to BBB explaining your position." A practical approach:

1. Check your records using the reviewer's name BBB shared with you.
2. If you can't find the customer, say so in your response to BBB, factually and without accusations, and include what you searched (job records, invoices, appointment logs).
3. If the review contains personal information or offensive language, point that out. BBB says it scrubs this before publishing.
4. If the reviewer seems to have been compensated, is a competitor or is affiliated with you, explain why. Those reviews break BBB's submission terms.
5. Contact your local BBB if you need more help. BBB's pages point businesses to their local office.

BBB states it "cannot guarantee the accuracy or truthfulness of a review," and it decides what to publish. No agency, including ours, can promise a BBB review will come down. Be wary of anyone who charges to "remove" BBB reviews. See review removal scams and what to do about fake reviews.

What to do if BBB publishes the review anyway

• Post a calm, factual public response. Future customers will read it alongside the review, and BBB lets the reviewer reply to you.
• Try to resolve the issue offline. If you fix the problem, you can ask the customer whether they'd like to update their feedback. Don't pressure them or offer anything in exchange.
• Keep the complaint side clean. Since complaints, not reviews, drive the letter grade, responding to every complaint within 14 days protects your rating most.
• Get legal advice for serious cases. If you believe a review is defamatory, talk to an attorney. Laws vary by state, and this guide is general information, not legal advice. See defamation vs. opinion.

Common BBB mistakes businesses make

• Ignoring complaints because "we're not accredited." Unanswered complaints can cost up to 40 of the 100 rating points no matter your accreditation status.
• Assuming accreditation will fix a low grade. Accreditation requires at least a B. It doesn't produce one.
• Offering a discount for a BBB review. BBB rejects incentivized reviews.
• Arguing in public. A defensive reply to a one-star review usually reads worse than the review itself.
• Leaving an unclaimed or outdated profile. Wrong addresses and missing ownership details can count against you under "transparent business practices."
• Filing reviews as the owner or asking staff to. Affiliated reviews break BBB's terms and can violate the FTC rule.

If you also collect reviews on a platform that runs its own invitation system, see our Trustpilot guide. Its rules on who you may invite are stricter than BBB's.