A BBB rating is a letter from A+ to F, scored on a 100-point scale from the information in a business's BBB file. BBB publishes the elements it scores and the point range of each. Customer reviews are not part of the grade. Complaints and how you handle them are.
BBB assigns grades from A+ to F. An A+ is 97 to 100 points and an F is below 60, with a band for every step between. The score comes from the information in your business's BBB file, and BBB publishes the seven elements it looks at: complaint history, type of business, time in business, transparent business practices, failure to honor commitments to BBB, licensing information and advertising issues.
The point ranges are published too. The widest positive ranges belong to unanswered complaints at 40 to 0 and unresolved complaints at 30 to 0. That is why a low grade so often traces back to complaints that were never answered, rather than to how a business treats people.
BBB states that customer reviews are not used in the letter-grade calculation. It also states that accreditation is separate from the rating and that dues do not buy one. If you want a deeper walk through, start with how BBB ratings work.
If you already know your grade is lower than you want, the next step is to see which element is costing you. Our free BBB audit checks your file against every published element. Remember that only the BBB assigns a rating, and nobody can promise a specific grade. What can change is what is in your file.
This hub collects our guides on the rating system. Each one stays inside what BBB publishes, with sources, and says plainly what is unknown.
A practical way to use this hub is to read the rating guide first, then pick the element that matches your situation. If complaints are your problem, go to the complaints hub. If you are weighing membership, go to the accreditation hub. If you only know that your grade looks wrong, begin with the audit. Throughout, we separate what BBB publishes from what nobody outside BBB can know, such as an exact formula. When a number is published, we quote it with the source. When it is not, we say so.
What is a BBB rating and how does it work? The 100-point scale, every published element and point range, what reviews do not do, and what moves a grade fastest.
Read →BBB builds a rating from the information in a business's file, scored on a 100-point scale. It publishes seven elements and a point range for each, with complaint-related elements carrying the widest ranges.
A+ is 97 to 100, A is 94 to 96.99, A- is 90 to 93.99, B+ is 87 to 89.99, B is 84 to 86.99, and so on down to F, which is below 60.
No. BBB states that customer reviews are not used in the letter-grade calculation.
NR means not rated. BBB assigns it when there is not enough information to rate a business, or while its file is under review or being updated. BBB says it is not a grade and not negative.
No. BBB states that accreditation dues do not buy a rating, and the rating is not based on whether a business pays dues.
The rating methodology is published nationally. Accreditation decisions, fees and dispute programs are local.
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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