Encourage - don't prohibit - customer complaints and reviews

Everyone knows that businesses crave customer feedback to ensure they continue to meet the needs of the marketplace. It’s also true that no business is perfect, and some number of complaints or negative reviews from customers is inevitable. But as consumers more frequently express their opinions or seek help with unsatisfactory experiences, some businesses have tried to limit their exposure to negative comments through contract clauses that ban complaints or negative reviews. These contract clauses, called non-disparagement clauses, can declare that negative published comments are defamatory and subject to legal sanction, or the clauses can define any information about the transaction to be confidential and impose penalties for public disclosure.

No matter how they might be structured, these non-disparagement clauses and overly-broad confidentiality provisions are inconsistent with BBB’s Standards for Trust, and they are often illegal. The U.S. Consumer Review Fairness Act invalidates clauses in standardized consumer contracts that prohibit or restrict the ability of the consumer to publish a review of the goods, services, or conduct of the business. The Federal Trade Commission can enforce the Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, and state Attorneys General can also bring civil actions for violations.

BBB believes that consumer opinions, whether positive or negative, can be valuable information for the business and its prospective customers. BBB discourages businesses from using non-disparagement or confidentiality clauses in customer contracts to prohibit or penalize complaints or negative reviews filed with BBB or elsewhere. Using these clauses to stifle expression is contrary to BBB’s vision of “an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers can trust each other.”  Businesses that do use them may find this information disclosed on their BBB Business Profile on BBB.org to inform the public of the practice. In addition, BBB Accredited Businesses cannot use these clauses consistent with their commitment to the BBB Accreditation Standards.

If businesses shouldn’t discourage complaints and reviews, how should they handle them? In a word, respond. BBB provides businesses with the opportunity to respond to complaints and reviews and demonstrate their customer relations principles to the public. In this way, we let visitors to the BBB Business Profile evaluate the full circumstances of each transaction and determine the value of the complaint or review along with the business’s response.

Responding to complaints and reviews can actually improve a business’s reputation. An analysis published in the Harvard Business Review found that businesses who respond to negative reviews increased their ratings in subsequent reviews. Our recommendation: first, don’t be offended, but identify the aspects of the transaction that the customer found unsatisfactory. When responding, acknowledge the customer’s concerns, respectfully explain the business’s position or corrective measures it will take, and if appropriate, apologize. Even combative customers can sometimes be turned around with grace and understanding. And finally, consider thanking the customer for the valuable feedback.

Read BBB's Business Tip: How to handle negative reviews.

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