A trusted-looking letter grade sold alongside paid accreditation and paid ad placement; BBB now says plainly that dues don't buy a rating, but it still won't publish how the grade is calculated.
What it's really for A business-reputation rater funded largely by the accreditation dues of the businesses it grades.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its A+ to F business letter grades and accreditation seal, not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
The businesses BBB rates are the ones who pay it, and BBB now states that directly: "Dues paid by Accredited Businesses fund our work, which is how we keep our information free for you." It denies the money reaches the grade - "Accreditation dues do not buy a rating, and they do not remove a complaint" - and its accreditation standards run the other way, requiring an applicant to "Maintain at least a B rating." Businesses can also buy labelled ad placements above BBB's own directory results, which BBB says "don't influence BBB ratings, reviews, or Business Profiles." Historically, a 2010 ABC News 20/20 investigation reported that a $425 payment obtained A-minus/A-plus grades for fabricated entities while non-paying firms received F grades; BBB removed accreditation status as a rating factor after that episode.
Source →- Operating since
- 1912 (114 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- A nonprofit federation of local bureaus funded, by its own account, by annual accreditation dues paid by the businesses it rates - fees scaled to company size - plus advertising sold on BBB.org itself.
- What they do
- It publishes business profiles with A+ to F letter-grade ratings, posts and mediates consumer complaints, and sells a paid "BBB Accredited Business" seal.
- What to watch for
- A high BBB grade does not mean a business is independently vetted as good; by BBB's own description it is built from complaint history, complaint responsiveness, transparency about practices, and government action. BBB does not publish the formula or the weights: the link it labels "See how we calculate ratings" leads to a page that describes the rating in general terms and does not show the calculation. On a business profile the paid accreditation seal and the letter grade sit side by side with no mention that accreditation costs money.
- Composite score
- 1.80 / 5.00 → grade D+
- Last verified
- September 1, 2026 — when a human last checked this entry's facts, links, and grade against the live site.
- Citations checked
- September 1, 2026 — our automated check re-fetched all 10 sources cited on this page. All resolved. 1 block automated visitors and are checked by hand. This is a link check, not a re-grade — the “Last verified” date above is the one that covers the facts and the grade.
- Site confirmed live
- September 1, 2026 — our monthly automated check reached Better Business Bureau and got a normal response.
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- BBB's public FAQ (read 2026-09-01) carries a 'Trust and neutrality' section it introduces as 'The hardest questions people ask us, answered directly.' It states: 'Dues paid by Accredited Businesses fund our work, which is how we keep our information free for you'; 'Accreditation dues do not buy a rating, and they do not remove a complaint'; and, on whether an unaccredited business can hold an A+, 'Yes. Accreditation is voluntary and separate from the rating. We base the rating on the business's complaint history and its interactions with customers, not on whether it pays dues.' It describes the rating inputs as 'a business's complaint history, how it responds to complaints, how transparent it is about its practices, and any licensing or government action against it,' and confirms 'Customer reviews do not affect the rating.' Source: BBB Frequently Asked Questions →
- The FAQ's link 'See how we calculate ratings' resolves to BBB's Overview of ratings page, which as read on 2026-09-01 runs under 2,000 characters and does not publish the calculation, the factors' weights, or the formula. It says only that 'BBB ratings represent the BBB's opinion of how the business is likely to interact with its customers,' that the rating is 'based on information BBB is able to obtain about the business,' that 'BBB Business Profiles generally explain the most significant factors that raise or lower a business's rating,' and that 'BBB ratings are not a guarantee of a business's reliability or performance.' The page makes no statement either way about whether accreditation affects the rating. Source: BBB Overview of ratings →
- BBB's accreditation-standards page states 'BBB charges a fee for BBB Accreditation. This fee supports BBB's efforts to fulfill its mission of advancing marketplace trust. BBB accreditation fees are based on several factors, including the size of business.' The same page sets the direction of dependency the opposite way from the 2010 findings: eligibility requirement D is to 'Maintain at least a B rating in all company-owned locations and its headquarters.' Re-read 2026-09-01. Source: BBB Accreditation Standards (bbb.org) →
- BBB sells advertising on its own ranking surfaces. Its Dallas roofing-contractor directory returns paid listings above the organic results, each labelled 'Ad' and 'advertisement:' with a link to an explanation page, and each showing a BBB Rating alongside. That page states: 'The ads on BBB.org are paid for by businesses, non-profit organizations, and other partners' and 'Sponsorship keeps BBB resources free to use. Advertisers pay to support our mission; they don't influence BBB ratings, reviews, or Business Profiles.' It reports 220M visits to BBB.org in 2024 and 5.5M businesses with Business Profiles. Checked 2026-09-01. Source: Why are there ads on BBB.org? →
- On the business profile itself - the surface where a consumer actually meets the grade - the paid seal and the letter grade appear together with no disclosure that accreditation is paid. A live accredited profile checked 2026-09-01 showed 'BBB Accredited Business,' 'A+ Rated by BBB,' 'This business has committed to upholding the BBB Standards for Trust,' and a 'Become BBB Accredited' call to action, with no mention anywhere on the page of dues, fees, or payment. Source: BBB Business Profile (accredited business, placement check) →
- ABC News 20/20 (2010): paying $425 obtained an A-minus for a fake company named 'Hamas', an A-plus for a fabricated skinhead website, and flipped real businesses from C/C-minus to A-plus immediately after payment, while the Ritz-Carlton Boston and Wolfgang Puck's restaurants got F grades after declining membership. BBB conceded the Hamas listing was a sales-staff error. Source: ABC News: Terror Group Gets 'A' Rating From Better Business Bureau? →
- BBB is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit founded in 1912, run by ~92 local bureaus under the International Association of Better Business Bureaus, and depends almost entirely on accreditation dues from businesses; as of July 2022 nearly 400,000 businesses were accredited. Accreditation status initially contributed four points toward higher ratings until that was removed after the 2010 scandal. Source: Wikipedia: Better Business Bureau →