How to Cancel a Complaint With the Better Business Bureau
Supported by local businesses, the Better Business Bureau is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering ethical business practices between consumers and businesses. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website, in 2009, the latest year for which statistics have been compiled, more than 62 million complaints were filed against businesses in the United States alone. Of these 62 million complaints, 73.8 percent were settled, 22.8 percent were not settled, and 3.4 percent were unable to be pursued. Each complaint is handled by the local office nearest to the complainant's home ZIP Code. Since there are so many complaints that are filed daily, the official stance is that once a complaint is made, it can not be cancelled. In actuality, it depends on how fast you contact the office to stop the process after the original complaint was made.
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Things You'll Need
- Short synopsis of your complaint
- Contact information of the disputed company
Instructions
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Retracting the Complaint
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1
Gather the information about the original complaint. You will need the case number that you were assigned.
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2
Phone the local Better Business Bureau office where you filed your complaint. Explain that you want to "retract" a complaint; the word "cancel" is not used. Once received, it generally takes one to five business days for a complaint to be examined and assigned to a service representative. If you contact the BBB during this phase, you can stop the procedure. Once the written communication to the company has been processed, you can not retract.
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3
Contact the company in question if you cannot retract the complaint through the BBB. The company can respond to the BBB that you have withdrawn your complaint and accepted whatever offer it may have made you. In this instance, the complaint would be considered settled.
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Tips & Warnings
Write down the name of anyone you speak with during your BBB inquiries.
Keep a record of all your communications with the company in dispute and the BBB.
Do not file a BBB complaint unless you have exhausted all other options.
Be aware that a mediation and arbitration service is available from the BBB for a fee.
Do not be verbally abusive in any of your communications.
