A business cannot delete a BBB customer review. It can dispute one from its BBB business account by stating that the reviewer was not a customer, and BBB then asks the reviewer to show proof of an interaction. Only the reviewer can retract a review they wrote, so the dispute route exists for reviews that cannot be verified, not for reviews a business disagrees with. Complaints run through a separate process with a response window and a published outcome.
Is a BBB review the same as a BBB complaint?
No, and the difference decides what you can do. BBB's customer review FAQ describes a complaint as asking BBB to help resolve a dispute, usually one involving money, and a review as a customer sharing an opinion, good or bad, about a marketplace interaction. A customer cannot file both about the same issue. They also count differently: "Unlike complaints, customer reviews are not considered as part of a business's BBB Rating."
Most of this post is about reviews, where the dispute route is narrow. Complaints have their own process, covered further down.
How does BBB verify a customer review?
Before it goes live. BBB's review FAQ for consumers says reviews are "vetted by BBB and sent to the business before they are published online", and BBB says it "makes every effort to verify that a review is based on a real marketplace interaction", using a proprietary algorithm to help spot fakes. Its rules close the obvious gaps: BBB "does not accept anonymous customer reviews", it "does not accept incentivized customer reviews", paid mystery-shopper arrangements included, and only the original consumer who had the interaction can file.
The business is part of that check. Reviewers give BBB their name, "which is shared with the business to help confirm the interaction and allow a response", and BBB alerts the business when a review is filed. BBB's guidance for businesses says that if you doubt a reviewer is legitimate, you can tell BBB so it can investigate before posting the review. That is the best moment to raise a problem, because the review is not public yet.
How do you dispute a review from someone who was not a customer?
BBB's help center answers this in an article titled The customer isn't a customer of mine, how can I remove the review? The steps:
- Log in to your BBB Business Account.
- Select "My Complaints and Customer Reviews" and click "Manage BBB Customer Reviews".
- Use the option to "Indicate that the individual was not a customer of your business with this form."
- BBB takes your information and asks the reviewer to provide proof of the interaction.
The same article is plain about the limit: "Customer Reviews can only be removed/retracted by the customer." BBB does not delete a review because the business asks. What the dispute does is ask the reviewer to prove that an interaction took place. The article gives no timeline for that step and does not say what happens if the reviewer never responds, so do not plan around one.
Before you file, check what "customer" means to BBB. Its standard is a marketplace interaction, and for complaints BBB says money does not have to change hands. Someone who asked for a quote, sat through a consultation or called your office may count. A dispute that says "never a customer" when your own records show an inquiry is the wrong dispute.
What stays up on BBB?
Everything that rests on a real interaction. A verified customer's opinion, a low star rating, a review you consider unfair, a review that criticizes your prices: none of these gives the business a ground, because only the customer can retract a review. The reviewer does that from their own BBB account, under My Reviews, by choosing "Remove my Review" and giving a reason. BBB's help article on removing a review says it asks for that reason to help make sure businesses follow ethical practices, which is a clear signal that it watches for pressure. Never offer anything in exchange for a removal.
How does the BBB complaint process work?
Complaints run on a published timetable. BBB's complaint page says a complaint is forwarded to the business "within two business days", and the business is asked to respond within 10 to 15 calendar days of the filing date. BBB follows up if there is no reply and generally closes a complaint about 30 days after filing, after which "the text of the complaint may be publicly posted." Complaints stay on the business profile for three years from filing, closed as Resolved, Unresolved or Unanswered.
Two points on that page matter to a business. BBB does not accept every complaint: its list includes anonymous complaints, buyer's remorse, issues based solely on price, and the collection of a payment owed, and a separate help article adds that "BBB does not accept third party complaints". And silence has a cost: "Failure to respond to a BBB complaint may have a negative impact on the BBB rating of any business."
| Question | Customer review | Complaint |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An opinion about a marketplace interaction | A request for BBB's help with a dispute |
| Counts toward the BBB Rating | No, in BBB's words | Yes, and failing to respond may hurt the rating |
| Who can remove it | Only the customer who wrote it | Outcome set by BBB's complaint process |
| What the business can do | Dispute the customer relationship, respond | Respond within BBB's window, resolve, or show BBB should not have accepted it |
| Published timeline | None for disputes | Yes, on BBB's complaint page |
How should a business respond on BBB?
In public, briefly, and without claims you cannot back up. BBB's guidance for businesses says "Responding to customer reviews can help secure your reputation online." Two examples, with the specifics left for you:
On a review you cannot match to a customer: "We take every review seriously, and we cannot find a record of working with you under this name. Please contact us at [your email] with your [order or job number] so we can look into it."
On a complaint: "Thank you for raising this. [What you found, and what you have done or offered.] We have contacted you directly to put it right."
The same principles hold on every platform, and our guide on responding to a fake review while removal is pending sets out what never to say.
How DeleteGoogleReviews.com files BBB cases
DeleteGoogleReviews.com, a San Diego based review removal service, starts with your records. Where a reviewer has no marketplace interaction with the business, we prepare the dispute BBB's process asks for; where a complaint falls outside what BBB accepts, we document why. You pay only after a removal is confirmed, with a 98% documented success rate across the cases we accept, and BBB decides every case.
Open complaint sites work differently. ComplaintsBoard takes anonymous posts, often with no verifiable transaction behind them, which is why our ComplaintsBoard removal work runs on different grounds. For BBB, see our BBB complaint and review removal service, our process and the guarantee.
Frequently asked questions
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