The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says it received “multiple customer complaints” about Trump University and that the school had a D-minus rating in its last year in operation.
{mosads}In a lengthy statement on Tuesday, the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the local BBB in metro New York sought to correct the record regarding several of GOP front-runner Donald Trump’s claims about the controversial business venture.
Officials said the venture had a D-minus rating, the second-lowest possible, in 2010, around the time it closed.
“As the company appeared to be winding down, after 2013, no new complaints were reported,” the BBB said in a statement. Complaints over three years old “automatically rolled off” the review, allowing the rating to rise when it was no longer in operation.
“As a result, over time, Trump University’s BBB rating went to an A in July 2014, and then to an A+ in January 2015,” the group said, adding Trump University has had “no rating” since September 2015.
Trump has hit back on criticisms of his former education venture, insisting that it has a good rating. He touted the A rating during a Republican debate last week after Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly noted the last publicly available rating was the D-minus from 2010.
Trump also vowed to provide proof of the school’s good rating.
A video surfaced on social media of Trump handing a piece of paper to the debate moderators at the event, claiming that the document “just came in” from the BBB, which the group disputes.
“BBB did not send a document of any kind to the Republican debate site last Thursday evening,” the bureau said in its statement Tuesday, adding the document “did not come from BBB that night.” It said a document posted online Thursday night appeared to be from 2014.
Trump University, which changed its name to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, was never an accredited business with the BBB, according to the bureau.
Beyond the flap with the BBB, Trump also faces ongoing legal issues involving Trump University.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued Trump University in 2013, alleging it deceived thousands of students into paying unfair tuition fees. A New York appeals court last week denied Trump’s bid to toss the lawsuit.