How Buc-Ee's Ended Up With An 'F' From The Better Business Bureau

This sprawling roadside convenience store is the size of a mega supermarket with a large cult following to match. Inside, bathrooms glisten, workers yell that fresh barbecue is ready to tempt shoppers, and bakeries overflow with housemade pastries and breads. And for the people working there, pay starts at $18 an hour and goes up to over $200,000 annually. That sounds like a veritable heaven compared to the sad, average gas station minimart. So how did this popular, must-stop-at store chain (with a customer satisfaction rating of 79%; the fifth-best in the United States, according to an American Customer Satisfaction Index survey from 2025), wind up with an F rating from the Better Business Bureau?

It comes down to the Better Business Bureau's rating system. At the time of writing, Buc-ee's customers had filed 90 complaints about the business with the BBB, and Buc-ee's hadn't responded to any of them. That's the biggest strike against the chain, according to the BBB, which doesn't identify any other specific issues.

Some of the complaints that customers have submitted to the BBB about Buc-ee's tell stories of pretty significant problems: damaged products, malfunctioning car washes, and overcharging. One complaint mentions cashiers scanning products multiple times at the register, but not offering a refund; another says the car wash caused their tire to pop and the company denied it. It's impossible to know whether every one of these complaints is true, but that doesn't matter for the BBB's rating — it's just based on the number of complaints and the fact that Buc-ee's itself hasn't responded to or resolved any.

And while the F rating is obviously bad, it's not exactly out of the ordinary for this category. 7-Eleven, Circle K, and Wawa were all just a smidge higher, receiving D- ratings from the BBB. Complaints are similar: prices ring up more expensive than they were supposed to be, equipment was malfunctioning, or customers ordered one thing, but got another. So while Buc-ee's low rating is eyebrow-raising, it's not really unique.

But before you worry that you'll never have beaver nuggets or Buc-ee's fresh fudge again, hold on a minute: The BBB rating doesn't always tell the full story about a company. The organization says that "BBB ratings represent the BBB's opinion of how the business is likely to interact with its customers," so it's not necessarily a final judgment on the business. And the rating system isn't perfect, either: A 2015 CNN investigation found very high ratings on questionable companies, suggesting the verdict of the BBB might not always be in line with what's actually going on.