BBB Serving Central Ontario will be expanding our offered services by launching a new Customer Review program. Starting on November 10, 2014, customers will be able to share their marketplace experiences by posting reviews on our website. These Customer Reviews will create a platform for the general public to provide feedback regarding the experiences they have had with local businesses. They will appear directly on your company’s BBB Business Review.

For years, consumers and business have asked the BBB for ways to commend businesses on their admirable practices and service. BBB Customer Reviews will give them that option. The reviews will also function to provide additional insight into your company’s behaviour, ethics, and marketplace activities. This is something consumers have told us is important to them when they research companies, and many of you, our BBB Accredited Businesses, have asked for this feature in order to showcase your positive interactions with others. Of the BBBs who are already offering customer reviews, a substantial majority (80% of Accredited Business reviews) have been positive.

All Customer Reviews will be facilitated by the BBB in a fair manner. In addition, they will not, under any circumstances, affect the grade of your company.

Similar to the BBB’s complaint process, customer reviews will be verified by a BBB professional, cleansed of personally identifiable or sensitive information, and verified for legitimacy by confirming whether your business actually dealt with the customer in question. Your business will also be granted the opportunity to respond to the review in detail, before it is posted publicly. Once posted, the customer review will remain on your company’s BBB Business Review for 36 months. You and the customer will have access to add more comments to the review at any time; however, third parties will be barred from posting comments or criticisms regarding the posted content. If you have, for any reason, paid a customer, or are offering a discount on services in exchange for a testimonial, this information will be fully disclosed in the review.

There is no time limit for when a customer review can be filed, regardless of when the marketplace interaction occurred.

What is the process for submitting a review?

1. User submits a review
2. User receives an email and must click to validate email address
3. Business is notified of review by email or mail
4. Business has 3 options: - Confirm Customer - Deny Customer - Ignore -
• If business confirms it is their customer, the review is posted immediately
• If business denies it is their customer, BBB alerts the customer and asks for evidence of a marketplace transaction (review not posted until evidence is provided)
• If ignored, review is posted after 10 days

What safeguards are in place to avoid falsified reviews?

1. User must use an active email address and verify their submission.
2. User must certify that the review is truthful and accurate, and reflective of their personal experience.
3. Businesses that dispute whether the customer had a marketplace interaction can have review suspended while BBB seeks further evidence.
4. If a complaint and a customer review are filed simultaneously by a consumer with the same email address, the customer review is suspended. Consumers cannot submit both a complaint and customer review.
5. IP addresses are tracked and monitored for repeat users, and can be blacklisted if necessary.

Ultimately, consumers are going to be encouraged to make their experiences public by submitting BBB Customer Reviews. We hope this will assist in the BBB’s mission to help consumers find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust, while further promoting the development and maintenance of an ethical marketplace.

For more information on the BBB Customer Review process, visit bbb.org.