How to Check Better Business Bureau Reports & File a Complaint

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Plus, a look at how the BBB rates businesses and resolves complaints
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The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a non-profit consumer protection agency in the United States and Canada that collects information about businesses of all sizes to prepare publicly available reports on each business. In this article, we’ll show you how to find and understand these reports to determine if a company is trustworthy before you agree to hire them. We’ll also walk you through how to file a complaint and explore how the BBB works (and just how trustworthy it is).

Better Business Bureau Lookup: Quick Links

Section 1 of 4:

Finding & Understanding a Business’s BBB Report

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  1. Visit the BBB's homepage and enter your search criteria. On the homepage, you’ll see 2 fields: “Find” and “Near.” In the “Find” field, enter the name of a specific business or a category of business you’re searching for. In the “Near” field, enter your city, state, or zip code (if you’re in Canada, click the drop-down menu to the right and select “Canada”). Don’t worry if the business you are searching for is located in a different city or state; searching through your local BBB’s webpage still allows you to search the entire BBB database. [1]
    • If you’re looking up a specific business, use its exact name and spelling. The BBB may have the report filed under their parent company’s name. Check the company’s website to see if it is a subsidiary of a larger parent organization and to confirm the spelling.
    • You can also search by a specific industry category to find new businesses that you may be interested in engaging with.
  2. Look through the search results until you find the business you’re looking for. Click on the company's name to arrive at their profile page. From here, you can access all the information that the BBB has made available about the company. The information on the report is provided by the companies and is not directly verified by the BBB unless they’ve gone through the accreditation process. [2] You can either click to:
    • Read the BBB's report on this business.
    • File a complaint.
    • Submit a customer review.
    • Note: There is a toggle button near the top of the results page that says “Show BBB accredited only.” Toggle this button on if you only want to see BBB-accredited businesses.
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  3. The rating, which will range from A+ to F, will be displayed prominently in a box to the left under the “BBB Accreditation & Rating” heading. The box contains a “Reasons for Rating” subheading to show you the factors determining the company’s rating. Occasionally, businesses will be listed on the BBB website but will not have a rating. This means that the BBB has not gathered enough information on the company to issue a rating. The BBB ratings grade is based on a business’s: [3]
    • Type of business and time in industry.
    • Complaint history with BBB, including whether complaints have been resolved.
    • Engagement in transparent business practices.
    • Failure to honor BBB commitments.
    • Known advertising issues.
    • Licensing and government actions brought against the business.
  4. Consumers can file official complaints against a business with the BBB, and these complaints (and their status) are available on the “Complaints” tab on the profile page. Complaints are listed for the last three years.
    • Enrolled agent Hannah Cole explains that this is where “consumers can file official complaints against a business with the Better Business Bureau.”
  5. Consumers can post reviews outlining their own personal experiences with the business. Customer reviews are great for learning about how the business delivers specific services. In addition to being able to read customer reviews, the BBB website also allows consumers to rate their customer experience on a scale of 1 to 5 stars.
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Section 2 of 4:

Filing a BBB Complaint

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  1. Filing a complaint may prevent future consumers from having a similarly bad experience. Part of the reason why the BBB is so respected is that it allows consumers across the country to report businesses through the use of the same complaint filing formats and procedures. Once the complaint is received, the BBB acts as an impartial mediator and provides access to dispute resolution tools to resolve the complaint. [4]
    • The BBB logs complaints in 5 different areas: advertising and sales issues, billing and collection issues, problems with product or service, delivery issues, and guarantee or warranty issues.
    • The BBB suggests, but does not require, consumers try to resolve the issue with the business before commencing the official BBB complaint filing process.
    • The additional value of the BBB, aside from just mitigating the complaint process, is the BBB's ability to collect information and data regarding consumer interactions with specific businesses and make it public.
    • Note: The BBB handles complaints between consumers and businesses. They do not handle employment law disputes, discrimination or healthcare claims, or matters currently or already litigated.
  2. Submit your complaint from the business’s profile or the online complaint form . From the business’s profile, click the “Complaints” tab and then the “Submit a Complaint” button to begin your complaint. Or, use the general complaint form to file a complaint and request BBB resolution, share experiences or warnings about a business, or file a complaint about a vehicle warranty dispute. Within two business days, all information that you submitted is forwarded to the business, which will then have 14 days to respond. [5]
    • If the response is not received within 14 days, the BBB will send the business a second complaint. BBB will provide you with an update regarding whether a response has been received.
    • BBB complaints are typically resolved within 30 business days.
    • The BBB cannot force a business to reply to complaints, since it has no legal authority. It can cancel BBB memberships for business members who do not adhere to the standards that BBB members voluntarily agree to follow.
  3. The BBB collects information from both parties in the complaint and employs various dispute resolution tactics to prevent the dispute from going to court. The different dispute resolution processes that the BBB facilitates include: [6]
    • A trained mediator to assist both you and the business in coming to mutually-agreed-upon solutions for the dispute at issue.
    • Informal dispute resolution provided by a professionally trained hearing officer who listens and makes non-binding decisions aimed at resolving the dispute.
    • Binding arbitration provided by a trained arbitrator who listens to both parties, weighs the evidence presented, and renders a decision regarding dispute resolution, which all parties must follow (in order for arbitration to be binding, both parties must agree to accept the arbitration decision).
    • Will my complaint get resolved? There’s no 100% guarantee that your complaint will be resolved, as the BBB has no legal authority to resolve disputes. However, your chances are good—about 75% of all complaints are resolved. [7]
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Section 3 of 4:

Is the BBB the best option?

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  1. Though the BBB is a great resource for accessing detailed information about a business, the BBB has been criticized for how much weight the public places on the BBB accreditation process. This is because the process only requires an application and a fee paid to the BBB, as well as the business's agreement to adhere to vague standards such as operating with transparency.
    • In fact, the BBB has been scrutinized for giving high grades to businesses with active government regulations violations. The fact that these businesses pay for membership leads some to distrust the BBB. [8]
    • Consider BBB accreditation like a club membership, as opposed to being a true certification of business excellence. Though BBB accreditation indicates that a business values its relationship with the public, this does not mean that the BBB has conducted a substantial, in-depth, on-site review of the company and its operations.
  2. Unlike the BBB, some companies, such as Angi , rely on membership fees from consumers and not businesses. As a result, there is less of an incentive for Angi to inflate ratings or benefit the listed businesses. Though all of these companies also rely on business advertisements, using multiple websites to check out a company is a great way to get a clear picture of a business, their practices, and interactions with the public. [9]
    • Credit advisor Derick Vogel recommends looking “at all the reviews from Google to Yelp to the Better Business Bureau to see if they are all consistent. Consistency is key.”
  3. The BBB provides mostly general information about companies, and sometimes, specific information you’re looking for gets lost. Look for industry-specific sources that review and provide information about businesses. For example, if you are checking on a computer parts company, consider looking at reviews on sites like PCWorld.com, or other sources related to computers.
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Section 4 of 4:

About the Better Business Bureau

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  1. 1
    What is the Better Business Bureau? The BBB is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve trust between consumers and businesses. It encourages businesses to adhere to strict codes of conduct to remain accredited and allows consumers to leave public reviews and file complaints to hold businesses accountable. The BBB is comprised of over 100 independent local organizations in the US and Canada and reports on over 4 million businesses in both nations (including brick-and-mortar and e-commerce businesses). [10]
    • Contrary to popular belief, the BBB is not a government agency and has no legal authority to resolve disputes or enforce arbitration.
  2. 2
    What services does the BBB offer? The BBB offers 2 primary services to the public, free of charge: [11]
    • It maintains a public, searchable database of businesses with basic information about each company, how many complaints have been filed against it, and what consumers think about the business through reviews. The amount of available information varies from business to business.
    • It offers dispute resolution by letting consumers file complaints and facilitating resolution from the business.
  3. 3
    What are the accreditation criteria for businesses? To be eligible for BBB-accreditation, a business or company must: [12]
    • Be in business for at least 6 months.
    • Have all required licensing and bonding for its area.
    • Resolve any BBB customer complaints.
    • Have no government ethics violations.
    • Follow all advertising laws and BBB best practices.
    • Follow through on all contracts and promises made in practice and advertising.
    • Have a website that provides and follows a privacy policy and uses secure financial transactions (if applicable).
  4. 4
    How does the BBB’s rating system work? Businesses are rated on a scale of A+ to F based on factors like customer complaints, transparency, and responsiveness (customer reviews are not factored into the rating). In total, the BBB assigns point values to 13 criteria and tabulates the final grade or ranking based on the total point values. [13]
    • Companies typically receive bad ratings when they fail to do things well or follow guidelines (like not responding to complaints promptly) or make a direct mistake (like violating government regulations).
    • Companies can improve their rating by resolving complaints and sending the documentation to the BBB.
    • For a deeper look at the BBB’s grading criteria and the point value of each grade, visit their Overview of Ratings page .
  5. 5
    How influential is the BBB? Consumers tend to strongly trust the BBB. The BBB’s website is one of the top 1,000 websites visited in the US, and they answer over 100 million inquiries about local businesses per year. This traffic indicates that many consumers see the BBB as a trusted, valuable resource. [14]
    • For businesses, this means that having a consistently bad rating can have a significant and negative impact.
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Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    How can I check whether an online company is legitimate or not?
    Michael R. Lewis
    Business Advisor
    Michael R. Lewis is a retired corporate executive, entrepreneur, and investment advisor in Texas. He has over 40 years of experience in business and finance, including as a Vice President for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. He has a BBA in Industrial Management from the University of Texas at Austin.
    Michael R. Lewis
    Business Advisor
    Expert Answer
    Legitimacy is a legal question about whether a business is properly registered with the appropriate authorities. Refer to WikiHow's "How to Check if a Company is Genuine" for the process to follow.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
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  • Question
    What can I do about a business who uses BBB as advertising but is not a member?
    Michael R. Lewis
    Business Advisor
    Michael R. Lewis is a retired corporate executive, entrepreneur, and investment advisor in Texas. He has over 40 years of experience in business and finance, including as a Vice President for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. He has a BBA in Industrial Management from the University of Texas at Austin.
    Michael R. Lewis
    Business Advisor
    Expert Answer
    Only those companies accredited by the Better Business Bureau have the legal right to use the organization's seal or marks and only under certain conditions in their advertising. If you have reason to believe that the BBB's name or seal is being used improperly, file a complaint with your local Better Business Bureau .
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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      Warnings

      • The BBB is a nonprofit organization supported by fees from its member organizations. It has no legal powers other than publicity and cannot force any business to rectify a complaint. The BBB's main value to consumers is its ability to publicize and track the unfavorable practices of specifically identified businesses.
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      • Many, especially small local businesses, are not members of the BBB and do not provide information. Lack of membership by itself should not be a cause for alarm.
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      • While being a paid member of the BBB is not a factor in the ratings according to the BBB, there have been complaints that non-members do not receive the high scores of paid business members.
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      • Anyone can file a complaint or review, whether justified or not. Consider carefully before placing too much reliance on any single complaint or customer review.
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      Tips

      • You can compare the reports of similar businesses through the BBB website. Just search for a general term such as “plumbers” to see a list of all plumbing businesses in the area specified.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.bbb.org/
      2. ↑ https://sbtdc.org/blog/bbb-accreditation-worth-the-cost-or-just-another-business-expense
      3. ↑ https://www.bbb.org/all/overview-of-ratings
      4. ↑ https://www.bbb.org/all/customer-reviews/complaint-reviews-process
      5. ↑ https://www.bbb.org/process-of-complaints-and-reviews/complaints
      6. ↑ https://www.bbb.org/all/bbb-dispute-handling-and-resolution
      7. ↑ https://www.bigcommerce.com/glossary/what-is-the-better-business-bureau-bbb/
      8. ↑ https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/30/news/better-business-bureau/index.html
      9. ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/checking-company-reviews
      1. ↑ https://www.bigcommerce.com/glossary/what-is-the-better-business-bureau-bbb/
      2. ↑ https://www.bigcommerce.com/glossary/what-is-the-better-business-bureau-bbb/
      3. ↑ https://www.bbb.org/all/newbiz/eligibility
      4. ↑ https://www.bbb.org/all/overview-of-ratings
      5. ↑ https://www.bigcommerce.com/glossary/what-is-the-better-business-bureau-bbb/

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      To check a business at the Better Business Bureau, navigate to the BBB's homepage and type in the name of the business you want to look up. Next, click the link to read the BBB's report on that company. The report includes the BBB rating, which will range from A+ to F—you can click "Reason for Rating" to learn more about how it was calculated. You can also view customer reviews and any consumer complaints that have been filed against the business. To learn how to file a complaint with the BBB from our Entrepreneur co-author, keep reading!

      Did this summary help you?
      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 743,194 times.

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