- The clock starts on the filing date, not the day you notice the complaint.
- BBB acts as a go-between. It cannot force you to act and it does not rule on who is right.
- Aim to answer by day 10. BBB's range runs to day 15, and a follow-up goes out if there is no response.
- After closing, the complaint text may be posted, and it appears on your profile for three years from filing.
- You can resolve the matter directly with the customer, then tell BBB. BBB asks businesses to report any resolution.
On this page
The Short Answer: A 30-Day Clock Starts at Filing
A BBB complaint moves through five stages in about 30 calendar days, and the first deadline is closer than most owners expect.
The BBB describes its complaint process in a handful of steps. Everything is counted from the date the consumer files, which is why a notice that sits unread in an inbox uses up days you cannot get back. This guide walks through each stage from the business side. If you already have a complaint open, jump to the BBB complaints hub for the response tools, or open the deadline calculator and enter the filing date.
| Stage | What BBB says happens | What you should do |
|---|---|---|
| Filing, day 0 | The consumer submits a complaint, a formal request for help with a marketplace problem | Nothing yet. You may not know it exists |
| Within two business days | BBB forwards an exact copy of the complaint to the business | Find it, write down the filing date, and read every allegation |
| Days 10 to 15 | BBB asks the business to respond within 10 to 15 calendar days of filing | Send a complete response. Aim for day 10 |
| After the response | BBB tells the consumer and invites a reply. BBB may ask the business for a second response | Answer the second request fast and stay factual |
| No response | BBB sends a follow-up letter. The complaint can close as Unanswered | Respond now. See what happens if you do not respond |
| About day 30 | Complaints are generally closed about 30 calendar days after filing, with one of five statuses | Check the status, then read the five statuses explained |
Local BBB pages sometimes print different numbers. One local BBB page we reviewed asks for a response within 10 days and describes a second request, while the national page says 10 to 15 calendar days. We use the national range and tell owners to move by day 10, so the difference never costs you.
Step One: BBB Screens the Complaint Against Its Guidelines
A complaint has to meet BBB's acceptance guidelines before it becomes a case against you.
BBB's FAQ says a complaint must meet its acceptance guidelines. It defines a complaint as a formal request for help with a marketplace problem, and its how to complain page says a consumer should file when there was a marketplace relationship with the business and the consumer wants BBB's help resolving a dispute. BBB may also ask the consumer to substantiate the marketplace experience.
This matters for you because some complaints do not belong in the process at all. BBB publishes a list of complaint types it does not handle, such as anonymous complaints and complaints from people with no marketplace relationship with the business. The full list is in our guide to complaints the BBB does not handle. If your complaint fits a category, say so in your response rather than assuming BBB already noticed.
BBB does not print its acceptance guidelines on the FAQ, so treat the published exclusion list as the floor and ask your local BBB about anything it does not cover.
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Step Two: You Receive an Exact Copy
BBB sends the business an exact copy of what the consumer submitted, within two business days of filing.
The copy goes to the contact details on your BBB business profile. That is where many owners lose time. In our work since 2013, a frequent reason owners discover a complaint late is that the notice went to an old email address or to a person who left the company. BBB cannot reach you at an address you stopped reading, and the clock still runs.
If BBB cannot locate the business at all, the complaint can close as Unpursuable. That status has its own place in the five statuses, and it is the one status that is almost always avoidable with a ten minute profile check.
Log in to your BBB business account and confirm the email, phone and mailing address are ones a person actually monitors. Add a shared mailbox if you can, so a notice never depends on one employee.
The BBB says both complaints and reviews are sent to the business before they are published. The FAQ separately says a filed complaint becomes part of the business's public profile, while the complaint page says complaint text may be posted after closing. Read together, the safe assumption is that a future customer will see the complaint and your response, so write for that reader.
Step Three: Your Response and the Follow-Up
You respond through BBB, and if you do not, BBB sends a follow-up letter.
BBB asks for a response within 10 to 15 calendar days of filing. If none arrives, it sends a follow-up. It also tells the consumer when a response is received, or that none was received. Our guide on how to respond to a BBB complaint covers the six-part structure, and the response templates give you wording to adapt.
You are also free to contact the consumer directly. BBB's page says the business may contact the consumer to resolve the dispute, and BBB asks businesses to report any resolution they reach and encourages consumers to report it too. Resolving first and reporting second is a legitimate route, but report it, because BBB only knows what it is told.
What BBB asks of you
- Respond within 10 to 15 calendar days of filing
- Answer a second response request if BBB makes one
- Report any resolution you reach directly
- Take part in mediation or arbitration where your local BBB offers it
What BBB does not ask of you
- To admit fault you do not accept
- To pay a consumer who is not owed anything
- To agree with the consumer's version of events
- To respond on a schedule other than the one on your notice
Step Four: The Consumer Replies, and BBB May Ask for a Second Response
Once you respond, BBB shows the response to the consumer and asks whether it settles the matter.
The consumer decides whether the issue is resolved to their satisfaction, and that answer drives the closing status. If the consumer remains dissatisfied, BBB may ask you for a second response. BBB staff also consider whether mediation or arbitration should be offered, and availability varies by region, so ask your local BBB.
The practical lesson is that your first response is not your only chance, and it is also not your last. Write it as if the consumer will read every word, because they will. Offer a specific next step, with a date, and keep every promise you make. A resolution you announce and then do not deliver can produce a worse outcome than a plain, honest answer.
Step Five: The Complaint Closes With a Status
BBB closes complaints as Resolved, Answered, Unresolved, Unanswered or Unpursuable, and your actions decide most of them.
| Closing status | BBB's definition in short | Where owners usually land here |
|---|---|---|
| Resolved | The consumer confirmed the issue was resolved to their satisfaction | A real fix, followed up and reported |
| Answered | The business addressed the issues but the consumer did not accept or did not confirm | A good answer the customer left open |
| Unresolved | The business responded without a good-faith effort to resolve | Arguing, blaming or ignoring the allegation |
| Unanswered | The business did not respond | A missed notice or a decision to stay silent |
| Unpursuable | BBB could not locate the business | Outdated profile contact details |
Two lines on the published rating scale are tied to these outcomes. BBB's overview of ratings lists unanswered complaints at 40 to 0 points and unresolved complaints at 30 to 0. BBB does not publish how it converts a status into points, so we never claim a specific gain from any one response.
A Worked Example With Dates
A complaint filed on March 1 gives you until about March 11 to respond comfortably, and the window closes at the edge of the range on March 16.
For example, a hypothetical roofing company, Hillside Roofing, has a customer who files a complaint on March 1 about a repair that leaked after a storm. The business never checks its profile inbox.
| Date | What is happening | Cost of acting or waiting |
|---|---|---|
| March 1 | Complaint filed | The clock starts, and the owner does not know |
| By about March 5 | BBB has forwarded the copy to the profile email, an old address | Notice sits unread |
| March 11 | Day 10, the date we advise responding by | A response here leaves five spare days |
| March 16 | Day 15, the far end of BBB's range | After this, a follow-up is sent and an Unanswered close becomes likely |
| About March 31 | Generally closed, about 30 calendar days after filing | The status that posts reflects the response, or its absence |
Now compare two owners. One finds the notice on March 3 and responds on March 9. The other finds it on March 20 and sends the same answer after the follow-up. Same company, same facts, different position. The difference is the profile check.
What Happens After the Complaint Closes
After closing, the complaint text may be posted publicly and it stays on your profile for three years from the filing date.
BBB may publish the complaint and your response, and may edit out personal information or inappropriate language. For businesses with high complaint volumes, BBB may publish a representative sample and disclose the percentage published. Submitted complaints cannot be deleted, although the consumer can add or edit information through their BBB account.
The complaint also feeds the rating. BBB says complaint history considers the number of complaints, the size of the business, timely and appropriate responses, good-faith efforts to resolve complaints, patterns of unresolved issues and the age of resolved complaints. How long each stays and what it does to a grade over that time is covered in how long a BBB complaint stays on your profile and in how BBB ratings work.
One caution. One local BBB page we reviewed counts the display period from the closing date, not the filing date, so confirm timing with your local BBB.
Your First 48 Hours: A Checklist
The first two days decide whether you respond early or scramble near the edge of the window.
- Open the complaint and write down the filing date, not the date you found it
- Count 10 calendar days forward and put that date in your calendar
- Read every allegation and mark each as accurate, inaccurate or unclear
- Pull the order, contract, invoice, messages and photos behind it
- Decide what you can honestly offer, and by what date
- Check whether the complaint fits a type BBB does not handle
- Confirm the profile email and phone are monitored
- Draft the response, have a second person read it, and send it
If the complaint looks outside what BBB handles, still respond. Responding and challenging are not opposites. If the facts are messy, our complaint resolution service reads the file and the first step is a free audit.
What You Can and Cannot Do
You can shape the response, the timing and the resolution, but you cannot control how BBB or the consumer closes the case.
What you can do
- Respond on time with specific facts
- Resolve directly and report the result to BBB
- Ask your local BBB about mediation or arbitration
- Point out in writing when a complaint fits a type BBB does not handle
- Fix profile contacts so notices reach you
What you cannot do
- Delete a submitted complaint
- Choose the closing status
- Make the consumer confirm satisfaction
- Extend the window by asking for time
- Change what BBB posts, beyond what BBB itself edits
Business Rating Fix, the BBB rating division of Reputation Resolutions, works inside this published process. We agree the result in writing before work starts, and you pay when that result is delivered.
We are not affiliated with the BBB. We cannot delete a genuine complaint, close one with a status you want, or change a rating. Only the BBB does those things, and no one can promise a particular result.
Anthony Will
Founder and CEO, Reputation Resolutions
Anthony Will founded Reputation Resolutions and has worked in online reputation management since 2013. Reputation Resolutions is BBB Accredited with an A+ rating and is a Google Partner. Business Rating Fix is its Better Business Bureau rating division.
- In online reputation management since 2013
- Reputation Resolutions: BBB Accredited, A+ rated
- Google Partner
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Fact-checked against bbb.org · Updated November 2026
