Business Terms of Service

Effective: 2026-05-09 Last updated: 2026-05-09 Applies to: any person or entity that claims a business profile, purchases an accreditation subscription, files a paid review Appeal, or otherwise pays for or uses any business-side feature on consumerdisputes.org

You are also bound by our Consumer Terms of Service. These Business Terms apply in addition to the Consumer Terms, not instead of them. Where the two conflict on business-specific matters (such as service fees, refunds, or appeal submissions), these Business Terms control. On all other matters, the Consumer Terms apply.

1. Acceptance, scope, and authority

These Business Terms of Service ("Business Terms") are a contract between consumerdisputes.org, operated by Consumer Disputes LLC ("we," "us," "our"), and the person or entity using our business-side features ("you," "Business," or "Business Account holder"). By claiming a business profile, purchasing a subscription, paying an appeal fee, or otherwise using business-side features, you agree to these Business Terms.

If you are accepting these Business Terms on behalf of a business entity, you represent that:

You are an authorized representative of the entity
You have full authority to bind the entity to these Business Terms
The entity is a real business currently operating, registered with all required authorities, and not on any government denied-parties or sanctions list

You and the entity are jointly bound. We may rely on your representation of authority without further verification.

2. Words specific to these Business Terms

In these Business Terms, the following words have specific meanings (all definitions in the Consumer Terms also apply):

"Business Account" means an account on our Service that is associated with a Business, claimed through the verification process, and used to access business-side features.
"Claim" means the verification process by which a Business establishes ownership of a business profile on the Service.
"Service Fees" means any fee we charge for a business-side feature, including Appeal Fees and Accreditation Subscriptions.
"Appeal Fee" means the flat fee paid to file an Appeal of a Review.
"Accreditation Subscription" means an annual recurring fee paid in exchange for the Accredited Business badge and associated features described in Section 9.
"Premium Features" means features available to Businesses on a paid basis as separately offered, beyond the Accreditation Subscription.
"Reviewer" means a consumer who posts a Review.
"Decision" means an Agent's resolution of an Appeal, identified by a policy code.

3. Eligibility and Business Account creation

To create a Business Account, the Business must:

Be a real, currently operating business or sole proprietorship
Be registered with the Secretary of State (or equivalent authority) in the jurisdiction where it operates, if registration is required for businesses of its kind
Hold any licenses required to operate in its industry (for example, contractor licensing for HVAC service providers in jurisdictions that require it)
Not be on any U.S. government denied-parties or sanctions list, and not be controlled by anyone on such a list
Be operated by a person at least 18 years of age authorized to bind it

If at any time the Business no longer meets these criteria, you must notify us promptly, and we may suspend or terminate the Business Account.

4. Claiming a business profile

To use business-side features for a specific business profile, the Business must complete our Claim process. The Claim process verifies that the person creating the Business Account is in fact authorized to manage that business's listing.

We offer one or more of the following verification methods, at our discretion:

DNS or website verification — adding a record we provide to the business's domain DNS, or hosting a verification token at a path on the business's primary website
Phone verification — receiving a call or text at the publicly-listed business phone number
Postcard verification — receiving a postcard at the publicly-listed business address with a verification code

We may, at our discretion and in our sole judgment, refuse a Claim, require additional verification, or revoke a previously-granted Claim if we have reason to believe the Claimant is not authorized.

A successful Claim does not transfer ownership of the business profile to you. It grants the Business limited rights to manage the profile content (subject to Section 5) and to use business-side features.

5. What you can and cannot do with a claimed profile

A claimed Business profile can:

Update profile content fields (logo, hours, services, description, contact information) within the categories we make available
Post a single public response to each customer Review, subject to the standards in Section 7
File Appeals on Reviews subject to the terms in Section 8
Access analytics and lead-routing features included in the Business's current subscription tier

A claimed Business profile cannot:

Edit, hide, suppress, or remove any Review posted by a consumer
Modify the per-Business statistics displayed on its profile
Communicate directly with Reviewers outside the platform's structured tools (see Section 11)
Use the Service to identify, locate, contact, or retaliate against a Reviewer
Offer, suggest, imply, or arrange compensation, discounts, or any other consideration in exchange for posting, modifying, or removing a Review
Coordinate with any other party to manipulate Reviews, ratings, or rankings
Use any automated tool, bot, or script to interact with the Service
Misrepresent the Business's identity, ownership, location, or capabilities on the profile
Display our Accredited Business badge or claim Accreditation status without an active Accreditation Subscription

6. Service Fees, billing, and refunds

6.1 Appeal Fee

When a Business files an Appeal, the Business pays a flat Appeal Fee at the time of filing. The current Appeal Fee is $35.00 per Appeal, published on the Service and may be updated by notice on the Service.

The Appeal Fee buys our process — not an outcome.

The Appeal Fee compensates us for:

Notifying the Reviewer and managing the 14-day defense window
Receiving and preserving evidence from both parties
Routing the matter to a trained Agent
The Agent's review of the record under our published Removal Taxonomy
Communication of the Decision to both parties
Recording the Decision in our audit log and updating the public statistics

The Appeal Fee is not refundable based on the outcome. Whether the Agent upholds the Review or removes the Review, the Appeal Fee is retained. We refund Appeal Fees only in the following narrow circumstances:

We were unable to commence the Appeal because of a technical failure on our end and the Appeal could not be processed
We declined to process the Appeal because the matter was outside our jurisdiction (for example, the targeted Review had already been removed for an unrelated reason)
An applicable law requires the refund

You acknowledge and agree that:

The Appeal Fee is for our review process and is earned upon commencement of that process
A Decision unfavorable to your Business is not a basis for refund, chargeback, or dispute
Initiating a payment-card chargeback for an Appeal Fee on grounds of an unfavorable Decision is a breach of these Business Terms and may result in immediate suspension or termination of the Business Account, forfeiture of any unused subscription value, and recovery of chargeback costs

6.2 Accreditation Subscription

The Accreditation Subscription is an annual recurring subscription. The current price tier and term are disclosed at the time of purchase and may be updated by notice on the Service.

Auto-renewal disclosure. The Accreditation Subscription automatically renews each year on the anniversary of the initial purchase, at the then-current price for the same tier, unless the Business cancels at least three (3) days before the renewal date. We will send a renewal-reminder email to the Business at least seven (7) days before each renewal. The Business may cancel through the Business Account dashboard or by contacting us at the address in Section 17.

6.3 Refund of Accreditation Subscription

Accreditation Subscriptions are non-refundable except:

Within 14 days of initial purchase, if the Business has not used any Premium Features and has not had its Accredited Business badge displayed on its profile
On a pro-rata basis if we materially reduce the features of the Accreditation Subscription mid-term
On a pro-rata basis if we terminate the Business Account without cause

The following do not trigger a refund:

Termination for cause
The Business's voluntary departure or non-use
A change in the Business's circumstances (sale, acquisition, dissolution)
An unfavorable Decision in any Appeal during the subscription term

6.4 Taxes

You are responsible for any taxes that apply to your purchase. If we are required to collect tax, we will add it to your invoice.

6.5 Payment processor

Payments are processed by a third-party payment processor (currently Stripe). By providing payment information to us, you also agree to that processor's terms. We do not store full payment-card numbers on our systems.

7. Public response to Reviews

A claimed Business may post one public response to each Review on its profile. The Reviewer may post one reply to the Business's response. After that, neither side may continue posting publicly on that Review thread.

A public response must:

Be civil and professional
Address the substance of the Review
Be the Business's own words, posted by an authorized representative
Comply with the standards in the Consumer Terms regarding prohibited content (no threats, no doxxing, no defamation, no PII of the Reviewer, no off-topic content)

A public response may not:

Identify, name, or describe the Reviewer in a way that could identify them
Threaten legal action, demand withdrawal, or pressure the Reviewer
Offer, suggest, or imply any compensation, discount, or other consideration in exchange for modifying or removing the Review
Reveal personal, medical, financial, or other private information about the Reviewer
Attempt to relocate the discussion to a private channel where the Business can pressure the Reviewer
Contain advertising, promotional content, or links unrelated to addressing the substance of the Review

We may remove or edit (for the limited purpose of redacting prohibited content) any public response that violates these standards. Repeated violations are grounds for suspension or termination of the Business Account.

8. Filing an Appeal

The Appeal process is the paid path by which a Business asks us to review a Review on its profile under our Removal Taxonomy.

8.1 What an Appeal can ask us to evaluate

An Appeal asks an Agent to determine, under our published Removal Taxonomy, whether a specific Review should be removed. The grounds for removal that an Appeal can raise are limited to those enumerated in our public Removal Taxonomy. As of v0, those grounds are:

The Reviewer was not a real customer or did not have a marketplace relationship with the Business
The Review contains specific factual statements that are demonstrably false (with evidence)
The Review contains content the Consumer Terms prohibit (defamation, threats, slurs, PII of third parties, etc.)
The matter underlying the Review has been resolved by the parties and the Reviewer has not updated the Review

An Appeal is not a vehicle for:

Disagreeing with the Reviewer's opinion of the Business
Disputing a low star rating that does not contain prohibited content
Asking us to weigh the Business's general reputation against the specific Review
Punishing or retaliating against a Reviewer

8.2 What evidence you may submit

Evidence is submitted through structured intake fields, not free-form upload. You may submit:

Documentary evidence relevant to the cited ground for removal (receipts, invoices, transaction records, contracts, communication logs, photos, video, and similar materials within reasonable size limits)
A short written narrative identifying the cited ground and explaining how the evidence supports it

You represent and warrant that:

All evidence you submit is genuine, unaltered, and in the form it actually exists in your records
You have the right to submit the evidence, including any necessary consent of third parties whose information appears in it
The evidence has not been fabricated, manipulated, or edited to misrepresent
You are not knowingly submitting a misleading or partial record

Submitting fabricated, materially altered, or knowingly misleading evidence is a material breach of these Business Terms and may result in:

Forfeiture of the Appeal Fee
An adverse Decision against the Business in the affected Appeal
Suspension or termination of the Business Account
Forfeiture of any unused subscription value
Referral to law enforcement where the conduct may be unlawful (for example, fabrication of contractual or financial records)

8.3 What evidence you may not submit

You may not submit:

Personal information about the Reviewer or any third party that you do not need to submit and that the Reviewer or third party has not consented to your submitting (for example, the Reviewer's home address, family members' names, employer)
Communications obtained without the consent of all parties where consent is legally required
Material protected by attorney-client privilege of any party other than the Business
Material that you know to be inaccurate
Threatening, harassing, or pressure-laden material

8.4 The Decision

A trained Agent reviews the record (your evidence, the Reviewer's counter-evidence, the Review itself, the cited ground for removal) and makes a binary Decision: the Review is upheld or the Review is removed under one of the policy codes in our Removal Taxonomy.

The Agent does not see whether the Business is an Accredited Business, has paid for any Premium Feature, or has paid any prior Appeal Fee. This separation is enforced at our query layer and is audited.

The Decision is final between the parties for purposes of the Service, subject to Section 8.5. The Decision is communicated to both the Business and the Reviewer through templated rationale that identifies the policy code under which the Decision was made.

If the Review is upheld, it remains on the profile. If the Review is removed, the public profile shows "REVIEW REMOVED [policy code]" — never an invisible removal.

8.5 Reviewer-side re-review

A Reviewer whose Review is removed has a one-time right to request a free re-review by a different Agent. If the re-review reverses the original Decision, the Review is restored and the Business is notified.

The Business does not have a corresponding right to re-review Decisions adverse to the Business. The Appeal Fee covers a single Decision.

9. Accreditation

9.1 What Accreditation is and is not

The Accredited Business badge represents that a Business has paid an annual subscription fee to be designated as Accredited. It does not affect the Business's aggregate star rating in any way. The aggregate star rating is calculated mechanically from customer reviews; Accreditation status is not a factor.

The Accredited Business badge is displayed on the Business's profile alongside, but visually separate from, the aggregate star rating. The badge is accompanied by a hover tooltip identifying that the Business has paid for Accreditation and that the rating is calculated independently.

9.2 What Accreditation includes

A current Accredited Business receives:

Display of the Accredited Business badge on its profile
Enhanced profile fields (additional photos, hours, services, certifications, service areas)
Lead-routing webhook (optional CRM integration)
Aggregate profile analytics (no individual visitor tracking)

9.3 What Accreditation does not include

Accreditation does not include and does not give the Business:

Any change to the aggregate star rating or any input to it
Any preferential treatment by Agents in Appeal Decisions
Any priority for favorable Appeal outcomes
Any reduction in Appeal Fees for the Business
Any advance notice of, or visibility into, Reviews before they are posted publicly
Any influence on per-Business statistics displayed publicly
Any right to modify, hide, or remove Reviews or any other content on the profile

9.4 Standards required of Accredited Businesses

To maintain Accreditation, the Business must:

Hold all licenses required to operate in its industry
Operate honestly and fairly with consumers, in compliance with applicable consumer-protection laws
Not engage in any conduct prohibited by Section 5 or Section 7

We may suspend or revoke Accreditation, with or without refund as described in Section 6.3, if we determine in good faith that the Business no longer meets these standards.

10. Trademark license for the Accredited Business badge

While the Business is a current Accredited Business in good standing, we grant the Business a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to display the Accredited Business badge on:

The Business's primary website
The Business's marketing materials
The Business's social-media profiles
Other places we expressly authorize in writing

The badge must be displayed:

In its full, unmodified form
Not in a way that suggests we endorse the Business's products or services beyond what Accreditation actually represents
Not in a way that suggests we are responsible for the Business's actions
Not in any context that violates the Consumer Terms or these Business Terms

The license terminates automatically when:

The Accreditation Subscription is canceled, terminated, or lapses
The Business breaches these Business Terms
We revoke the license for any reason on notice

Upon termination of the license, the Business must remove the badge from all channels within seven (7) days.

11. No threats. No retaliation. No back-channel.

This Section is a separate, structural rule of the Service.

The Business may not:

Threaten legal action against any Reviewer through the Service or in connection with any Review on the Service
Demand a Reviewer withdraw, modify, or amend a Review as a condition of any settlement, refund, future service, or other benefit
Offer or exchange anything of value with a Reviewer in exchange for a change to or removal of a Review
Use any information you receive through the Service (including a Reviewer's identity if learned through any means) to retaliate against, contact, harass, intimidate, or pressure the Reviewer
Direct or pay any third party to do any of the above

We will not transmit any communication from the Business that violates this Section, and we may use this rule as the basis for immediate suspension or termination of the Business Account, forfeiture of fees, and reporting to applicable authorities. Repeated or severe violations are grounds for permanent ban and may be referred to law enforcement.

We treat this Section as a structural requirement of being a Business on our Service, not a routine policy.

12. Representations and warranties from the Business

By using business-side features, the Business represents and warrants on a continuing basis that:

The Business is real, currently operating, and meets the eligibility criteria in Section 3
All information the Business provides on its profile or in any submission is accurate, current, and not misleading
The Business has the right to use any content, materials, logos, or trademarks it submits to the Service
The Business will comply with all applicable laws, including consumer-protection laws, advertising laws, and laws regulating its industry
The Business will not violate the Consumer Terms, these Business Terms, or any policy linked from them
The Business has not been the subject of, and is not currently the subject of, any government enforcement action that would make these representations false
The person accepting these Business Terms is authorized to do so

If any of these representations becomes false during the term, the Business must notify us promptly.

13. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate a Business Account at any time, with or without notice, for any of the following:

Breach of these Business Terms or the Consumer Terms
Submission of false or misleading evidence in any Appeal
Violation of Section 11 (no threats, retaliation, or back-channel)
Failure to maintain eligibility under Section 3
Failure to pay any Service Fee or chargeback of any Service Fee
Government enforcement action affecting the Business
Any other circumstance that, in our reasonable judgment, makes continuation of the Business Account inconsistent with the integrity of the Service

The Business may terminate by canceling Accreditation, removing payment methods, and ceasing use of the Service.

On termination:

Payment obligations through the date of termination remain
Service Fees already paid are retained except as provided in Section 6.3
The Business loses access to business-side features and the Accredited Business badge license
The Business profile remains on the Service as a public listing (without business-side controls), and consumers may continue to post Reviews
Reviews, public responses, and other User Content the Business posted survive termination subject to the Consumer Terms license

14. Most everything else: Consumer Terms applies

The following provisions of the Consumer Terms apply equally to the Business and are incorporated by reference here:

Section 4 — License to use the Service (Business has the same limited license, with use restricted to operating its own claim and Accreditation as permitted by these Business Terms)
Section 5 — User Content license (any content the Business submits — public responses, evidence, profile materials — is licensed to us on the same terms)
Section 12 — Privacy
Section 13 — Cookies
Section 14 — Our intellectual property
Section 15 — DMCA
Section 16 — Third-party content
Section 17 — Disclaimer of warranty
Section 18 — Limitation of liability (with the cap calculated against amounts the Business has paid us in the prior 12 months)
Section 19 — Indemnification
Section 21 — Governing law and where disputes are heard (Texas governing law; Travis County venue)
Section 22 — Arbitration and class-action waiver (AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules, Travis County seat, mass-filing protocol, 30-day opt-out)
Section 23 — Changes to terms
Section 24 — Severability, waiver, assignment, survival
Section 25 — Electronic communications
Section 26 — Contact

15. Notice of fee retention on chargeback

If the Business initiates a payment-card chargeback for any Service Fee on a basis not authorized by Section 6, we may:

Recover the disputed amount through any lawful means, including offsetting against other amounts we owe the Business
Suspend the Business Account during the chargeback period
Terminate the Business Account if the chargeback is sustained
Charge the Business for our reasonable costs of handling the chargeback (currently $25 per chargeback)
Decline to provide the Business future business-side features

This Section does not waive the Business's right to seek refund through the channels in Section 6.3.

16. Survival of clauses

The following clauses survive termination: Section 5 (claim does not transfer ownership), Section 6 (fees retained per the rules in Section 6), Section 8.2 (representations about evidence), Section 10 (badge license terminates and removal obligation persists), Section 11 (no threats / no retaliation), Section 12 (representations), Section 14 (incorporated Consumer Terms survival), Section 15 (chargeback handling), and this Section 16.

17. Notice and contact

Notices to us under these Business Terms must be sent to the address in the Consumer Terms Section 26 with a clear "Business Notice" indicator. Notices to the Business will be sent to the email address on file for the Business Account or to the Business's registered address.

For service-related questions: support@consumerdisputes.org For billing questions: billing@consumerdisputes.org For legal notices: Consumer Disputes LLC, [your registered business address]