Business Debt Relief Reviews: 5 Things a Star Rating Cannot Tell You

If a business debt relief company has five stars, it must be good, right? In the case of five star reviews, that may not tell the full story. Although their star rating is not completely meaningless, it will not tell you everything you need to know to determine if a particular company is the right fit for your company.

Five stars on a website cannot tell you whether these reviews are real. They cannot say what a BBB grade actually means, or how and when the company gets paid to do their work. Five stars cannot tell you what a business debt relief program will do to your business, or who actually does the work.

The five stars next to a company may not be real. This means that if you are choosing companies based on their star rating, you could be relying on reviews that were written by people who don’t exist, were not written by actual clients, or were made up by the company.

Now there are rules that apply to what reviews can and can’t say, and how they’re collected. It’s a federal rule from the FTC. These rules have been in effect since October 21, 2024. A reviewer who doesn’t exist (AI-written too), who never used the business, and insiders who don’t say they are, are all forbidden. A review site the company controls but presents as independent is also banned.

Sadly, a good review site with current rules against this type of activity is still not a guarantee. Rules like this can’t stop every possible maneuver. It can be very hard to know if a business debt relief company who has 5 stars actually delivers. Rule of thumb: don’t use star ratings, whether at Google or social media, as a definitive guide to a business. Instead, look for evidence that the reviews come from people who really used the business and know what it did and are real people with a real point of view.

BBB Rating

Just like star ratings on a website, a company’s BBB rating doesn’t actually tell you very much. That’s not to say that the information they report is meaningless; it is not. A BBB rating can give you information regarding the company’s complaint history and how the business responded to those complaints. They also track what government or licensing actions have been taken, if any. But since reviews don’t mean anything for grades, one can’t always tell how good the business is.

In some cases, a business debt relief company may be listed as accredited. Accredited in BBB language does not in itself affect the BBB grade. Accreditation is paid for, and BBB accreditation is voluntary. Likewise, accreditation doesn’t mean a company is better than a non-accredited company.

Charged Fees up Front

How and when the company gets paid to do the work they say they will do is an important consideration. In the past, some debt relief companies have charged fees up front, before they did the work they said they would. For consumer debts, this practice has been barred for phone sales for several years (since October, 2010). A serious consumer debt relief company should not try to get fees from a client who is dealing with consumer debt, before they actually settle or reduce a debt. However, when dealing with businesses, these protections are often not available. Be sure to read a contract very carefully, to find out what exactly a company says it will do.

What They Can Really Do

A business debt relief company may claim to lower your debts, but without serious review, it’s hard to say if it will or if it can do all it says it can. The CFPB has pointed out that many debt settlement companies ask clients to stop paying their debts while saving up money for a settlement. This practice can have a serious impact on their finances, and lead to lawsuits by their creditors. And if most of your creditors don’t settle, the ones left over can generate a lot of penalties and fees. If this happens, it can wipe out the savings on your other debts. When you settle a debt, you may have to pay taxes on the amount you were forgiven. Usually, the forgiven amount is taken to be income. If a company tells you you won’t have to pay taxes or that your credit won’t be hurt, they may not be telling you the truth.

Too often, a company may offer to solve all your problems without saying what they really can and can’t do. If a debt relief company claims to lower your debts, make sure they are describing what will really happen in detail. But if they don’t state what they will do clearly and in detail, it may be wise to say no.

A business debt relief company may say it will review documents from a funder, or talk with that funder. Don’t let a website make you think the company will completely manage things for you. The presence of legal terminology doesn’t make a business a law firm. Instead, ask for details about who will be handling your work. Does the business debt relief company have lawyers on staff who would defend your business if its debts go to court?

A company’s rating and ranking do not determine if they are the best option for your company. Instead, use these ratings as a jumping off point to figure out if they’re worth looking into further. Ratings on websites, BBB ratings, and star ratings do not let you know what a company can actually accomplish, how well it does the work, or what the actual work will be. For all these factors, an upfront contract review, and written document review, are probably a better guide than a star rating.

Reviews are not actual proof that a company will be able to handle your work. A top-rated company may be good at getting good reviews, but they may not be good for you.

Does the company provide meaningful details about what they do, how they do it, who does the work, who you will be working with? Look at the contract in full. What happens if you have to stop using them, or if you are unhappy with their service? Check for complaints filed against the company with the Better Business Bureau, as well as government action that the company has faced. And even when you’ve checked, check again.