The BBB Tried to Extort Me—Now I'm Fighting Back

My Story: A $800/Year Shakedown

I once believed that the Better Business Bureau was a pillar of consumer trust and integrity—a government-like institution that stood ready to protect small business owners. My faith was shattered when I discovered the true face of the BBB. What began as a straightforward accreditation process quickly turned into an expensive and bewildering ordeal.

I eagerly signed up for their accreditation, expecting that the BBB's seal would bolster my company's reputation. However, as I moved through the process, I encountered an unexpected—and frankly outrageous—surprise. The final step demanded an annual fee of $800. At a time when my business was thriving with loyal customers, excellent reviews, and a professionally designed website, this fee felt less like a validation of quality and more like a financial trap.

The following day, I received a call from Julie S at BBB Southeast Florida (julies@bbbsefl.org). With practiced charm, she extolled the benefits of the accreditation, emphasizing my company’s size and success. But beneath the polished sales pitch was a clear intent: to secure another revenue stream from small business owners already burdened by everyday challenges. I stood my ground, asserting that $800 for a badge that changed nothing about my business’s quality was simply unacceptable.

Mere hours later, I received an email that would seal my disillusionment:

Good afternoon Brooks,

Thank you for your interest in BBB Accreditation.
At this time you dont qualify as you have an F rating with us.

See your profile

Thanks,
Julie S, Accreditation Specialist
Better Business Bureau
4411 Beacon Circle, West Palm Beach, FL 33407

An F rating—completely unwarranted and previously unseen—was now permanently affixed to my business profile. It wasn't a mere glitch or administrative oversight; it was a calculated move designed to pressure me into paying the exorbitant fee.

As I absorbed the shock, I began connecting the dots. My experience was not isolated; countless small business owners shared similar stories of arbitrary ratings and relentless financial demands. This wasn't about ensuring quality or consumer trust—it was about money.

The BBB's Game: Pay or Get Slammed

The deeper I dug into the BBB's operations, the more disturbing the reality became. The organization purports to safeguard marketplace trust, yet its practices reveal a system designed to extract fees from businesses rather than support them. Ratings can change overnight, seemingly without any objective criteria—leaving businesses with a tarnished reputation unless they fork over cash.

I reached out to several fellow entrepreneurs, and a common narrative emerged: the BBB consistently tags businesses with unjust ratings, then dangles a financial lifeline in the form of a steep fee to clear those ratings. The process is opaque, with no clear standard or accountability. Instead of fostering genuine consumer protection, the BBB's system effectively turns reputation into a commodity—one that you must buy to preserve.

This pay-to-play model is a catch-22 for small business owners. Do you accept a damaging rating that could hurt your credibility, or do you pay an outrageous fee that strains your finances? Either way, you end up losing. The system is rigged in favor of revenue generation, not fairness.

The more I learned, the clearer it became: the BBB isn't an impartial watchdog—it's a profit-driven entity that exploits the very businesses it claims to protect.

BBB’s Finances: Where Does the Money Go?

While the BBB brands itself as a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing consumer trust, a closer look at its financial records paints a very different picture. Despite enjoying 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, the organization allocates a staggering portion of its revenue to executive compensation and operational expenses—hardly what one would expect from a charity-focused institution.

Consider the numbers: CEO Matthew Fehling earned nearly $600,000 in salary last year, supplemented by additional compensation that brings his total earnings even higher. Other top executives, such as VP & CAO John Ponder and VP of Strategy Chad Frank, contributed to a collective compensation package that exceeds $2.7 million. These figures are astonishing, especially when juxtaposed against the BBB's stated mission of promoting fairness and trust.

But executive pay is just the tip of the iceberg. Employee salaries alone account for roughly 74% of the BBB's total revenue of around $17.5 million. In a typical nonprofit, you’d expect a significant portion of funds to be reinvested in community programs or direct consumer support. Instead, the BBB funnels most of its revenue back into payroll and administrative costs.

Moreover, the organization spent over $340,000 on travel expenses in a single year. For a nonprofit whose mission is to “advance marketplace trust,” such lavish expenditures on travel raise serious questions about priorities. Where is all this money really going? If not towards enhancing consumer protection or supporting small businesses, then what purpose does it serve?

Perhaps most egregiously, unlike many nonprofits that issue grants and provide external funding to drive positive change, the BBB does not offer any charitable disbursements. Its primary source of revenue comes from business accreditation fees and sponsorship programs. This revenue model creates an inherent conflict of interest: businesses are essentially paying the BBB to avoid a punitive rating, rather than to receive genuine support.

When you examine these financial practices alongside the arbitrary rating system, the truth becomes undeniable: the BBB operates less like a nonprofit championing consumer rights and more like a profit-driven enterprise. Its mission is compromised by its financial incentives, leaving small businesses caught in a cycle of extortion.

For those who want to see the numbers for themselves, you can view the BBB's IRS filings on ProPublica. In the United States, all nonprofits are required by law to file Form 990 with the IRS. These filings provide a transparent look at how they allocate funds—from executive compensation to operational expenses—and ProPublica makes these records easily accessible. Check out the BBB's full financial record here.