The Better Business Bureau is an intermediator between people and companies when a company decides they don’t want to give users the time of day.
Seeing how millions of people rely on BBB for major decisions, dating apps seem to have no other option but to respond to their complaints!
How does BBB help in getting Match Group’s attention?
The number of monthly complaints centered around Match Group closed by BBB is astonishing, reaching 3,000 over the last 12 months. You’re not alone.
BBB’s usefulness starts and ends with the fact it can get a response from Match Group’s dating apps (Tinder, Hinge, Grindr, OkCupid, PoF, Coffee meets Bagel, etc.), which is more than enough.
Many people rely on BBB to get intel regarding a US-based business they’re thinking of trying out, which means it’s in Match Group’s best interest to oblige.
Should there be any unprofessionalism on their end, Tinder’s BBB reviews would cause their sales to plummet…theoretically.
What do you need to complain to BBB?
Not just anyone can, or rather should make a BBB complaint or they’d be wasting their time waiting for an unban that’s never going to happen.
– A pretty dang good case!
BBB is merely here to confirm dating apps aren’t wronging people by banning them without a reason.
If you got banned for clearly violating the guidelines (e.g. bullying other users), BBB won’t do anything about it as the dating app in question is well within its rights to protect its users.
– A VPN if you cannot access the website.
BBB can only be accessed by people living in the US, EU, UK, Switzerland, Canada, and other similar countries.
You can install them both on your phone and computer as extensions, for free (such as VeePN or Hotspot Shield) or paid (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, etc.)
In other words, you’re accessing the BBB site from the comfort of your home while they think it’s someone from one of the countries they allow!
– Patience…
When you contact BBB, they’ll forward your complaint to the dating app that banned you, giving them 14 days to reply and then additional time if they don’t.
At this point, you best think if it’s truly worth it. If you recognize it’s your fault, maybe it’s time you try out a different dating platform or overthrow your ban.
The steps to filing a BBB complaint, effectively. There’s a method that ensures your complaint makes a splash even with BBB.
I will be showing you a step-by-step guide to filing a complaint on BBB:
1. Go to BBB.org and scroll down to ‘File a Complaint’.
Now that you have access to the site, you can scroll down to the ‘File a Complaint’ section like I did:
- You can also file a complaint against a dating app by visiting its official page on BBB (e.g. BBB Tinder, BBB Grindr, BBB Hinge, BBB Bumble (is not part of match group) etc…)
After this, I was asked a couple of questions regarding the nature of my complaint.
The first one was about how BBB themselves can help with this, for which I chose ‘I'd like to file a complaint against a business, and have BBB help me get a resolution to my problem’.
Then I chose the business I wanted to complain about (I picked Hinge for the sake of this experiment):
After picking the right business, you might want to answer No to the follow-up questions as BBB might think of your complaint as one they cannot help.
2. The second and final step: Give your specifics about the complaint.
The last, but most important step of this whole process is giving BBB the necessary info to take the next step.
This is divided into 3 sections:
- Personal information.
After everything, BBB needs to know whose complaint it’s intermediating, so I had to provide my name, phone number, and other details:
- Information on the complaint.
Perhaps the most important section, I was then asked to explain why I was complaining in the first place.
When the ban occurred needs to be specified (more or less than 12 years ago) and a more elaborate explanation needs to be given.
Under ‘Tell us about your problem’, I’d write something going over the fact I was banned despite being a well-behaved user with no chance at appeal.
As for the ‘Desired Settlement’, it’s best to pick ‘other’ so that you can explain to BBB you want to get unbanned.
- Review your complaint before it goes out.
When you’re finished with everything else, you’ll get one last chance to review your complaint and fill out some more boxes.
Different BBB complaint templates — Which approach should you take to get unbanned?
Believe it or not, the Better Business Bureau isn’t going to help just anyone get unbanned from a dating platform. It has to be someone who was treated unfairly to some degree.
Based on this very notion, there are 4 approaches you can try out:
Weaponize the unfairness you went through.
“Weaponize” might be too harsh of a word, but you’re better off emphasizing the unfairness you went through if you want BBB to sympathize with you.
“Hi. I am writing this complaint in the hopes of getting unbanned from [dating app]. The ban that took place is groundless, as there’s nothing regarding my profile or behavior that breaks Community Guidelines. Hence, the excuse provided by [dating app team] does not make any sense. They are claiming I broke [specific rule] because I did [specific thing] although it has no correlation to the rule whatsoever because I did that with the purpose of…”
Be as clear and respectful as possible, and try to explain which rule you’re getting banned for “breaking” (and why you think you’re innocent).
Highlight the inequality.
If the dating site you use treats users differently in terms of bans in the sense they tolerate some more than others, then you got yourself a case!
“Thank you for taking the time to hear me out! I got banned from [dating app] not too long ago for something I’ve seen multiple people get away with. When they allow this much wiggle room, users cannot help but interpret certain Community Guidelines in their own way. Not too long ago, I got matched with someone who also does [something] and got away unscathed, and not to throw them under the bus, but this kind of unprofessionalism is unacceptable. They told me [dating app] revoked their ban, and it’s suspected the reason is that [person] is a paying user…”
You want to make it known how confusing it is for certain dating apps to not treat every user equally when it comes to rules. Tell BBB just how often you see people not get banned for the same mistake.
Be oblivious as to why you got banned.
Many people who file a complaint with BBB choose the route of appearing clueless as to why they got banned with no warning at all.
“Greetings. I am filing this complaint against [dating app] because they banned me for no reason (that I know of), no warning, and no follow-up. They are ignoring my appeal requests and I honestly have no idea what to do, hence I am asking for your help. I just woke up one morning to my dating app inaccessible. As for as I’m concerned I’ve both read AND respected the rules, so it’s very possible I might’ve accidentally rubbed someone the wrong way. But the lack of response from the [dating app] staff is truly making this worse…”
Keep in mind that if there is actually a reason for your ban, BBB may or may not choose to side with the dating app. Let’s hope they don’t.
Offer your sincerest apology.
If you know you’re in the wrong and you really want your dating account back, own up to your mistakes and vow to never make them again.
BBB might just see how deeply regretful you are.
“Hello! I need your help getting unbanned from [dating app], whose team is refusing to answer my requests. I truly regret doing what I did and that I won’t deny. Seeing how many of my peers have earned a second chance, I don’t see why I shouldn’t. I’ve used this platform for years and years, and I must say I quite enjoy it. As I said while submitting a request to [dating site], I won’t repeat the same mistake again, but I also need cooperation on their side as well. Thank you…”
Only if you cannot access the BBB website: Start by installing a VPN.
I will be demonstrating how to install and utilize a VPN in order to enter the BBB site, by using VeePN as an example.
Since I use Chrome, I first went to the Chrome Web Store to install VeePN and clicked on Add to Chrome:
After that, it took me to the official VeePN site to confirm my plan, for which I chose the free one with 5 countries available and accessible to only one device!
Since I’m on PC, I thought adding it as an extension should make it easier to navigate for the sites I need it for. It is recommended you do the same.
I clicked on the puzzle piece in the upper-right corner like so:
After having pressed it, I pinned VeePN to my toolbar, and pressed the big, round button to activate it!
If you’re not sure whether the BBB site is available for you, just type BBB.org on your search bar to go to the main site. Should it not work, you’ll see this:
What to do if BBB can’t help you?
With all this being said, you need to make an entirely new account to overcome a dating platform’s ban.
However, you need to start from square one by restarting your phone, opening a new Apple ID or Samsung Account, and installing the dating app on a new Internet connection (or phone data).
You’ll also need a new phone number as dating apps tend to store banned users’ data to ban them whenever they decide to make new accounts.
DatingZest’s phone numbers are perfect for this as they appear as regular numbers—you can do this for Grindr, Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, etc.
FAQ:
– How long does it take to get unbanned on dating apps through BBB?
You first need to wait a few days for BBB to respond to your claim, then an additional 2 weeks given to said dating app.
All in all, be prepared to wait for a week or two to get an answer from BBB!
– I got unbanned. Now what?
If BBB managed to unban you, congratulations! That means your device, profile, phone number, and email are all also unbanned.
– Will I remain banned if my complaint is rejected?
I’m afraid so. If BBB can’t help you get unbanned from the dating site of your choice, you’ll have to look into alternatives.
The alternatives are either making a new account with DatingZest’s phone numbers or switching dating platforms.
Good luck.
Liam.
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