Buc-ee’s is loved by shoppers, so why did it get red-flagged by the Better Business Bureau? Here’s what you need to know
Loyal customers of Buc-ee’s have made the store a fan favorite, but the nonprofit Better Business Bureau tells another story, recently slapping the popular Texas-based mega gas station chain with an “F” rating.
Buc-ee’s is known for the sheer size of its convenience stores (a Luling, Texas, outpost spans 75,593 square feet) and numerous gas pumps (more than 100 at some locations), along with clean, private bathrooms and barbecue brisket sandwiches.
In fact, Buc-ee’s, which has stores from Texas to South Carolina, is so popular it recently announced it’s expanding to Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
So why is a chain with the fifth-highest customer satisfaction rating for convenience stores in the U.S. failing with the BBB?
The BBB said that in the past three years it has fielded nearly 90 complaints about Buc-ee’s, which it says exhibit a pattern. Those complaints include overcharging; poor or rude customer service; refusal to allow returns; problems with refunds; and that customers don’t have any way to contact Buc-ee’s except via its website, where the chain does not respond.
Bottom line: The reason for the BBB’s “F” rating is that out of the nearly 90 complaints filed against Buc-ee’s through the nonprofit, it failed to respond to, well, all of them.
How does the Better Business Bureau’s rating system work? According to its website, the nonprofit issues ratings of A+ to F “based on information BBB is able to obtain about the business, including complaints received from the public. BBB seeks and uses information directly from businesses and from public data sources.”
While customer reviews don’t affect the ratings, how the business interacts with those customers does, as well as how much information the company gives the BBB upon request.
Fast Company has reached out to Buc-ee’s for comment on the BBB rating. In the past, the chain has responded to media requests with a short message: “No comment.”