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A BBB review is held to a verification standard that most owners never see. When a review fails it, there is a documented path to raise the issue. When a review passes it, the options are different, and we say so plainly before you spend anything.
Only if the review breaks the BBB's published standards or the reviewer retracts it.
The BBB verifies that a marketplace interaction took place, allows no anonymous reviews and none written by someone who was compensated. It also says it cannot guarantee that any single review is accurate. A published review is generally retracted by the reviewer, or removed by the BBB when it fails those standards. Source: BBB reviews process.
A review that is only harsh, one-sided or unwelcome does not fail any standard. A review from someone who never bought from you, or one that exposes personal details, may. Our first task is to tell you which of those you are holding.
The BBB says customer reviews are not used in the letter grade, yet they sit on the same page as the grade.
The BBB's rating overview states that customer reviews are not used in the letter-grade calculation. Its FAQ repeats that reviews do not affect the rating. So a one-star review cannot pull your grade down by itself.
That is only half of the picture. A buyer who searches your name lands on a profile that shows a grade, a star average and written reviews together. Search results and AI answers can quote the text of a review long after the grade has changed. We treat reviews as a reputation problem and not a rating problem, and we keep the two workstreams separate. The grade side is covered in how BBB ratings work.
Five checks run before a review is published, and the business gets a turn in the middle.
The reviewer's email address or phone number is validated, so a review cannot be posted from nowhere.
The BBB verifies that a marketplace interaction took place between the reviewer and a business.
The business has an opportunity to confirm the interaction and respond before publication. This is the step most owners miss, because the notice can land in an unwatched inbox.
Inappropriate language and personal information are removed before the review appears.
The BBB states that there are no anonymous reviews and none where the consumer was compensated, directly or indirectly.
Both sides can comment on a review, and third parties cannot. If your first sight of a review is its publication, check the address the BBB holds for you. Confirming it now is cheaper than disputing later.
Four situations cover nearly every review an owner wants gone.
| Situation | Does it break a BBB standard? | Realistic path |
|---|---|---|
| Reviewer never dealt with you | Yes, the interaction check should have failed. | Report it to the BBB with proof that no record exists. |
| Reviewer was paid or rewarded | Yes, compensated reviews are not allowed. | Report it with whatever evidence of the payment you hold. |
| Review shows personal information or abusive language | Yes, those are removed before publication. | Ask the BBB to edit or remove the offending text. |
| Real customer, bad experience, harsh wording | No. | A public reply, a real remedy, and the reviewer's own choice to retract. |
The last row is the one we meet most. The audit will tell you so, because a challenge that has no rule behind it only wastes your time and the reviewer's.
A review challenge is built from the standard it breaks and a record that shows the break.
We search order systems, booking tools, email and call records under every name and address the reviewer used, and we document what is absent.
Messages, offers or payments that tie a review to a benefit. We submit only what exists and never guess.
Where the identity cannot be matched to any person you dealt with, we flag the verification gap.
We mark the exact lines that expose a private detail and ask for an edit.
We quote the offending words against the standard that bars them.
We separate a false statement of fact from an opinion, because the BBB acts on the first and not the second.
Verification catches many fakes, not all, and the FTC limits how you may respond.
A rival who posts as a customer has to pass email validation and an interaction check, which stops a lot of attempts. It does not stop a determined one. The BBB is clear that it cannot vouch for the accuracy of any single review, so a suspicious review is a case to document and not a conclusion to announce.
The FTC's final rule, 16 CFR Part 465, covers fake and AI-generated reviews, paid reviews tied to a positive tone, undisclosed insider reviews, and efforts to bury honest reviews by baseless legal threats or intimidation. That last item is the boundary owners cross by accident. A cease and desist letter with no real legal basis sent to a genuine reviewer can itself be the problem. Source: FTC announcement.
We do not write reviews, buy them, ask for positive ones on condition of tone, or pressure a reviewer. We do not threaten anyone. The only retraction that counts is one a real reviewer chooses to make, and only the reviewer can make it.
Answer it in public, fix the problem if it is real, and build the record around it.
A review that meets the BBB's standards stays unless the reviewer retracts it. Your best tools then are a calm public reply and a genuine fix. Readers weigh how a business handles criticism, and a measured reply often reads better than silence. Our wider approach to what buyers see sits on the reputation management page.
If you want the process in plain terms before deciding, read whether a BBB review can be removed. It covers the same rules with no sales pitch.
We agree the result in writing first, and you pay when it is delivered.
The result is put in writing before any work, such as one named review removed. Payment is due when that result lands, and the audit is free with no obligation. We cannot remove a review ourselves, we cannot promise the BBB's decision, and we do not claim any link to the BBB.
Reputation Resolutions, our parent company, also describes its own handling of reviews on its review management page. For the formal path we use when evidence supports a challenge, see our dispute service page.
In general the reviewer can retract it, or the BBB can remove it when it fails the BBB's own standards. A business cannot delete a review on its own, and neither can we.
The BBB says customer reviews are not used in the letter-grade calculation. A review still appears beside your grade, so buyers see it even though the score is untouched.
Pull every record you hold under their name, email and phone, and note that none exists. Then report the review to the BBB as one with no confirmed interaction. We build that file when you want help.
The published process gives the business a chance to confirm the interaction and respond before publication. If you missed the notice, check which email the BBB holds for your business and update it.
No. Rewards and conditional offers are the kind of conduct the FTC rule targets, and the BBB bars compensated reviews. Any retraction must be the reviewer's own free choice.
A baseless legal threat made to suppress an honest review is one of the practices the FTC's rule addresses. Speak to a lawyer before sending anything, and do not rely on us for legal advice.
It validates the reviewer and confirms a marketplace interaction, but it states that it cannot guarantee the accuracy or truthfulness of any single review.
Usually yes. A short, factual and courteous reply shows readers how you handle a problem. Keep personal details out of it and offer a way to continue offline.
The audit is free. Paid work starts with a written target, and the fee is owed only once the target is met.
No. Business Rating Fix is run independently by Reputation Resolutions, with no endorsement or license from any BBB.
A BBB rating specialist reviews your profile against every rating element the BBB publishes, then calls you with what is costing you points and the order to fix it in.
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A BBB rating specialist will review your profile and call you. If a complaint response deadline is close, call now:
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