How to Respond to a BBB Complaint: Process, Timeline and Wording

To respond to a BBB complaint, reply within the window BBB gives you, which is 10–15 calendar days from the date the customer filed. Read the complaint and your own records first, then write a calm, factual response that addresses each issue and makes a specific offer. Contact the customer directly if you can. Your aim is a complaint the customer marks as resolved.

How the BBB complaint process works

A BBB complaint is a request for help with a dispute. According to BBB's page on how BBB complaints are handled, the process usually runs like this:

BBB also says its staff consider whether to offer mediation or arbitration, and that these dispute resolution services vary by region. Under BBB's complaint submission terms, the complaint goes to the business together with the customer's contact information. That means you can reach out to them directly as well as replying through BBB.

What each closing status means

Every closed complaint gets a status, and that status is what later readers see. BBB defines five:

• Resolved: the customer confirmed the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
• Answered: the business addressed the issues, but the customer did not accept the response or did not tell BBB whether they were satisfied.
• Unresolved: the business responded but did not make a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute.
• Unanswered: the business did not respond.
• Unpursuable: BBB could not locate the business.

Notice that only the customer can turn a complaint into Resolved. Answered is a fair result when you made a reasonable offer and the customer still disagrees. Unanswered is the one outcome that is fully under your control, so avoid it.

BBB complaints vs BBB customer reviews

BBB handles complaints and reviews separately. Its process of complaints and reviews page explains the difference: someone who files a complaint wants BBB's help resolving a dispute, while someone who leaves a review wants to share their opinion and isn't asking for help. BBB sends both to the business before they are published.

The BBB customer reviews page says BBB verifies that a marketplace interaction took place and lets the business respond before a review is published. The customer review submission terms add that if a customer files a complaint about the same business, their review on that business will not be posted.

How to respond to a BBB complaint, step by step

1. Note the dates. Write down the filing date and the response window BBB gives you. Put a reminder in a shared calendar, not one person's inbox.
2. Pull your records. Find the order, invoice, contract, messages, call notes and any earlier refund or repair attempts. Check what the customer is actually asking for, because BBB asks complainants what resolution they want.
3. Contact the customer directly if you can. A phone call often settles things faster than written back-and-forth. Keep notes of what was agreed.
4. Write the response. Address each point the customer raises, state the facts you can confirm, and say exactly what you will do and by when.
5. Submit it the way BBB's notice tells you to. If BBB asks for a second response, answer that too, even if you think the first one covered everything.
6. Deliver on what you promised. Then let the customer and BBB know it's done. Whether the complaint is marked Resolved is up to the customer, so don't pressure them.

Tone and wording: write for two readers

Your response goes to the customer, and because the complaint text may be published, it may also be read by future customers on your BBB profile. Write so that both would find you fair. Thank the customer, acknowledge the problem without arguing over adjectives, give facts rather than opinions, and end with a concrete offer and a named contact.

Avoid things that make a dispute worse: blaming the customer, sarcasm, internal jargon, and details the customer didn't share themselves. If you work in a regulated field such as healthcare, keep personal information out of the reply altogether; our guide to responding to patient reviews without violating HIPAA explains why.

Example (illustrative): Thank you for contacting us through BBB, [Name]. We're sorry the repair on [date] didn't fix the problem. Our records show the part was replaced under order [number], and we understand the same fault came back within a week. We'd like to send a technician at no charge, or issue a full refund for the repair if you prefer. Please reach [manager's name] at [manager's email] or [phone] so we can arrange either option this week.

If you disagree with the customer's account, say so plainly and without accusing them.

Example (illustrative): We've reviewed the order and our records show the item was delivered on [date] and signed for at the address provided. We understand that doesn't match your experience. We'd like to open a claim with the carrier on your behalf. Please contact [manager's email] so we can start it.

Getting to Resolved and accepting Answered

Your chances of a Resolved status improve when your offer matches what the customer asked for, or explains clearly why you can't and what you can do instead. Follow through quickly and confirm in writing once the refund, replacement or repair is complete.

Some disputes can't be settled on the customer's terms. If you made a clear, good-faith offer and they declined it, the complaint may close as Answered, and readers can see both sides. That's a reasonable result. Don't make a refund or discount depend on the customer withdrawing the complaint or saying something positive about you.

When a complaint seems outside BBB's guidelines

BBB's complaint acceptance guidelines list complaints it does not accept. These include employer/employee disputes, anonymous complaints, personal injury claims for bodily injury or emotional distress, and matters that are in litigation or have already been decided by a court. The guidelines also require a prior marketplace relationship and limit complaints to one per business per three-month period.

If a complaint looks like it falls outside these rules, for example a former employee's grievance, tell BBB politely and factually in your response, and still address the substance. BBB decides whether to accept and publish it. The terms also say BBB may edit complaints to protect privacy or remove inappropriate language, and that the customer can withdraw consent for the text to be published. That decision belongs to the customer. If the dispute involves a lawsuit or a legal claim, this article is general information, not legal advice; consult a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction.

How complaints affect your BBB rating

BBB's overview of BBB ratings lists the complaint factors it considers: the number of complaints, the size of the business, appropriate and timely responses, good-faith efforts to resolve, patterns of unresolved issues, and the age of resolved complaints. Unanswered and unresolved complaints are among the larger deductions in BBB's point system, so check the current point values on that page. The same page says customer reviews are not used in the letter-grade calculation.

In other words, responding on time and making a good-faith effort are things the rating takes into account. Patterns of unresolved issues also count, which is why the next step is fixing the cause.

Build a routine so nothing goes unanswered

Most unanswered complaints happen because the notice went to an old email address or to someone who left. Keep the contact details on your BBB profile current, name one owner for BBB responses and a backup, and decide who can approve refunds without delay. A short written policy helps; see our guide to who replies and who escalates.

The same customer may also post on Google, Yelp or Facebook. Keep your answers consistent across platforms, as explained in handling the same complaint on several platforms, and set up alerts for new reviews so you see them early. Once a quarter, read your closed BBB complaints together with your other reviews and look for repeated causes. If you'd like an outside view of how your business appears across review sites, the free BRANDprotecto reputation audit is a place to start.