Yelp

10/4/2014 Updated review

Thank you for yelper!

I work at restaurant.
Sometimes customer complain about foods. But customer already ate half or more.
This is for example,
"Hey, this stake is not rare!
"Oh sorry, but you ate 70% of stake..."
"I was hungry I didn't know not rare, so I can't eat. I want to cancel"

"No discount? I am yelper, I give to you bad negative review' "

Thank you again, Yelp.
I get one star? If I don't discount?

これって脅迫?!

10/2/2014

What the business owners say is true.

To all the 'elite' people, I'm glad your bonuses are funded by business owners.

Yelp, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Christina Bergis deceived me over the phone. My fault for being dumb enough to sign the contract that she emailed over.

Alicia Keswani is a robot. She must be reading a script with a smile. She was obviously not phased by how upset I was and offered no sincere feeling at all.

Stay away from yelp business!!!

10/2/2014

Fuck yelp. No seriously fuck them. Started out as a cool website where we could actually have our voices heard about whats GOOD AND BAD about a business, they basically turned it into a huge pay us or we'll be complete dicks kind of company

I feel partly responsible cause I'm one of the idiots who actually help you become a legitimate site, then you effectively turn around with your billions of dollars and spit right in my face.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you yelp, I feed your fat ass with my reviews, you bite my hand by manipulating those reviews for money.

1/7/2015

I did a search on Google for a business in my home town. Near the top of the search list was the Yelp page and when I opened it, the page showed a web page for the business I was looking for. Overlaid on that page was a yelp agreement that I had to agree to to continue. The overlaid page said I had to agree to their terms which included access to my information (where I live, what I search for etc.)
Reluctantly I agreed as I am not near home, can't call, and needed to contact the business in my town.
When I clicked on the "Webpage" for that business on yelp, I find that that webpage does not exist! clearly a fabrication by yelp to get me to agree to their accessing my information.
Result: Will not use yelp again and will remove their app form my phone. good by yelp.

9/30/2014

I dont have a big issue with YELP as a service, i have a problem with YELPERS. I dont own a business, but if i did i would rather someone come in and experience my business first hand rather than listen to shitty reviews by people who dont know what an honest days work is.

 Stuff happens, and no not every visit is going to be flawless. We live in an ungrateful society of snotty nosed little pricks who think they know everything. Really most businesses problems, are the customers. No one is happy about anything anymore. Grow up. This isnt your mom and dads house, nothing is perfect.

 So when people write reviews and bitch, look at the rest of their reviews, all bitching (90% of the time). So next time you write a review think of how your actions helped to make the situation worse.

 Do i think these are all bogus complaints......no. But the majority are from our spoiled ass society that expects everything handed to them for free. So in turn Yelp Sucks because they dont look at the reviewers post to ensure fairness.

6/26/2014

Dear Yelp,

I have never met you, but we are not strangers.
I have never heard you speak, but you are not aphasic.
You are the Yelp-iest entity of all.

You have saved me from the ill effects of local businesses more times than I can count. Thanks to you, I am free of dysentery. I have not overpayed for a meal in months. Most of all, I have not been poisoned with the false prophets of other review websites. I am EMPOWERED by you as a consumer.

Yelp... I have always known you- I only recently found you outside of my dreams.

1/15/2015

I am a small business owner that declined to advertise with Yelp.  "COINCIDENTALLY" (sarcasm intended), all the good reviews are "not recommended" and only bad reviews are left.  I've had customers come in to say they saw my bad reviews and it influenced their decision to use my business.  This is EXTORTION.  I actually had one customer that was hesitant to use my service because of reviews, write a nice review after "giving me a chance" and yep, YELP hid it away in the "not recommended"  group.  I suggest people use Google+ or Yahoo if you must make your decision based off online reviews.

9/9/2014

Actually, while I've only been a really avid Yelp user for a few months, I've found Yelp to be a very useful site in general. You see I was getting frustrated with Foursquare over time and Yelp allows me to check into businesses and easily write reviews later, to change information on businesses where the listing is inaccurate, and to research nearby spots to eat, or do other things.

I discovered my current hair salon through Yelp, I discovered the app through a Yelp event and became elite because of the excellent treatment I received at said event! Now I'm really looking forward to my first actual elite event -- it really is unique that Yelp rewards community members who are active and contribute in accurate good ways with Elite events! I never would have expected such treatment to be honest.

I like the way that this community treats me online and as a result I'm trying to give back as much as I can with accurate reviews both to remember what I like about places I visit and to help others make good decisions both when traveling and while closer to home.

9/25/2014

A "One Star" rating isn't low enough to represent how I feel about this company.

As a business owner, I can't tell you how much of my time has been spent worrying and grieving over the trouble I've had with YELP. There have been endless conversations with other stressed business owners, countless research hours spent to find any grasp of control we could get our hands on over our page, and many troubled talks between my Wife and I over our business reputation.

My reviews get removed/added without any notice or warning. The order our business appears on the search list changes monthly. Sometimes we appear on the map...sometimes not.

YELP doesn't offer any help over-the-phone (Except for their monthly calls from advertising agents) Left to email, they don't claim any responsibility for anything. Seems the only people they will defend to the grave are their reviewers.

I'm done with the YELP game.

9/26/2014

I wish it were as simple as Jillian P. makes it sound. Unfortunately, in my case Yelp is hurting an honestly good business.

I took over a business on Jan 1 2012. A few months prior to my takeover it received 1 scathingly bad review. The employees involved were promptly let go after I took over, and the former management is no longer involved. It is, for all intents and purposes, a completely new business that shares only the name with the former. As a business we have since been NATIONALLY recognized as one of the best in our field! Sadly, the 1 bad Yelp review persists and it's costing us a LOT of business.

We have contacted the reviewer explaining the situation, with no response. We contacted Yelp and they were not only unhelpful, but completely unsympathetic. Here's a situation where Yelp has an opportunity to do the RIGHT thing and help not only our business, but also the customers and their users! How does a review of my current business that may as well be for a different business entirely, and is severely outdated and irrelevant, help the general public make decisions about my business TODAY? It invalidates everything that Yelp stands for and calls into question the entire review system.

We've been forced into a situation where the only solution is to get a lawyer involved or change the name of the business. What a drag. Do the right thing Yelp.

2/4/2015

To start with, I think Yelp has one of the best platforms out there for businesses and users alike.  Both Paid and Free listings get put up the same which gives Users the full scope of what they are looking for.  

I work for a storage company with locations across the US, and all these are listed on Yelp.  We did have Paid Ads, and even did a lot of beta testing with certain functions with our rep.  Dealing with them through all this was not awful, although trying to update any information was quite a process as they do not allow you to do it yourself.  In the end, we stopped our paid ads as the cost to benefit ration was far too high, especially compared to other sources we were using.  

Now, I have read all the reviews from business owners concerning bad/poor reviews, and yes I agree that the filters change a bit when you don't have a paid account, but bad reviews happen as it is peoples nature to complain more than praise.  This actually doesn't bother me as it gives us a chance to post our replies publicly, and if we were in the wrong to openly admit our faults and fix the issue so we can all move on.  

So why the very bad rating???  Boils down to the virtually non existent Customer Service.  If I need to change something in the listing, I need to submit a request.  If they deem that this request is "not accurate" - even though our website has this info, all my other listings have this info and I'm the one that makes all these changes - they will not make them to our listing.  I try to refute their decision but the only way is by email and it can be weeks before you hear anything, and most times they still will not make the changes.  There is no customer service number to call, no direct link to anyone, which leaves us at the mercy of their "attitude of the day".  I have the same type of accounts with the big three engines, and get better and faster responses from them without any hassles.  If Yelp wants to play like the Big Boys, then they need to start acting like one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9/22/2014

I absolutely LOVED Yelp until I started a business and got a taste of their horrible treatment of businesses.

I say this, even though all of my business reviews are 5-star, including the ones they filtered (most of them).

How did they mistreat me? A well-meaning customer posted my business on Yelp without my consent or help and provided misinformation by mistake: he posted my HOME address and some poor schmuck's phone number (due to a single digit mistake). I have spent the 3 years since then trying -- through their faulty online tool, dozens of calls, emails, and messages through the site -- to get them to correct these errors. In the meantime, any business the listing may have sent my way was lost, since callers would get a wrong number and address. But worse, they COMPROMISED MY PRIVACY AND PERSONAL SECURITY by keeping my RESIDENCE address posted FOR YEARS.

Nothing I could say or do would get their attention. That is, until I received a call from one of their saleswomen who was trying to sell me an ad. When I explained the problem, I was told there was nothing additional the ad rep could do to get my appeals answered. That is, until I said the magic words: "I'd like to advertise on Yelp!, but I refuse to do so until these errors are corrected." Like magic, my home address was removed, and the ad sales rep followed up to sell me an ad. I told her the phone number was still wrong and I'd do nothing until it was corrected. She said she had arranged to have the phone number corrected but that it may take a few days. Being the untrusting sort where salespeople are concerned, I told her I'd wait and see. That was over a year ago, and the phone number is still wrong in my listing.

The clear flaw in the Yelp! business model is that they show total disregard for the companies they list. I support consumer advocacy wholeheartedly (I used to work for Ralph Nader, for Pete's sake). I agree with the part of their model that says Yelp! shouldn't allow businesses to manipulate their reviews. But it is just as lacking in integrity to allow businesses to be misrepresented without recourse. Just witness the hundreds of reviews posted successfully Botto Bistro's listing from customers WHO HAVE NEVER EATEN THERE and it's easy to see the fatal flaw in the Yelp! model.

I call this flaw "fatal" because it demolishes everything Yelp! set out to accomplish. I can no longer trust the reviews, since I have NO IDEA whether the reviewer was actually there - or where!

12/18/2014

You get a barrage of calls from Account Executives to avail their advertising packages. But when you decide to cancel you account they never call you back or reply to your numerous emails. I will cancel the card I'm using and pretty sure will get a phone call when I'm due for my monthly renewal. It will be Me vs. Yelp.

12/19/2014

Fake negative reviews rule and real 5* reviews are not accepted! that's it in a nutshell folks. Think real hard before you list your business here, because you cannot take it off their site, good reviews, or bad! Oh, and if you pay for advertising, I bet those 5* reviews will miraculously show up on your page! :((  My complaint was sent to the FTC today.

9/28/2014

I've had more than one of my legitimate posts removed by Yelp's filter. I spend time and effort writing an informative review, and when removed, it feels like a slap in the face - like my opinion is no longer valid due to an 'unbiased' computer algorithm.

In addition I've heard horror stories from small local business that are, for lack of a better term, extorted by a Yelp salesperson. By extort, I mean: "to obtain (money) by force, threats, or other unfair means." In this case, Yelp is threatening businesses by removing positive reviews, and they wish to obtain money. When the business refuses to pay for an advertising subscription, the most positive reviews are suddenly "filtered" and the bad reviews remain.

This is unconscionable, and I therefore rate Yelp as being a ONE STAR BUSINESS.

11/8/2014

Initially, I found it fairly easy to get customer feedback on a business.  But YELP has inserted so many ads that the information I am looking for is often hard to find.  Suggestion:  Remove the clutter.  Reduce your focus on revenue generation and re-focus on the users of Yelp.

As far as the accuracy and honesty of individual 'Yelps', we all need to read them carefully and try to filter out the B.S.

2/2/2015

I have read and written reviews about businesses (mostly restaurants) of my own free will.  If I keep reading articles about Yelp manipulating where those reviews appear and encouraging businesses to pay for advertising in order to improve those results then my participation stops...and so should everyone else's participation.

10/18/2014

Yelp, that wonderful social playground full of characters, musings, images, descriptions, and advice for the food whores, carnivores, and Andrew Zimmern wannabes. I discovered the site in 2010 and have relied on it heavily when selecting interesting places to eat or play.

Technically, the site lacks a lot of abilities of functionality. The mobile application is gaining new abilities, but at a snails pace. I don't understand why it takes 3 years or more for an app upgrade. And, why do functions (like the video upload) come out on iphone first, and then it takes months or more to be available for android?

Why do we still have elites? I really question their importance to actually help the mass dining public at large. Their main benefit is to their selves by staying informed about the latest trends and staying in touch with their wannabe foodie compadres.  

I love the talk forums, but they tend to be a place where some could get bullied. I don't like how at the Community Manager's discretion he or she can delete anything they want including whole threads that they deem disruptive.  

I like Yelp and think I am helping the general public find a good place or avoid a bad one. Perhaps, "we" aren't making a difference at all, with the exception of super trendy cities like San Fran, NYNY, or Atlanta. Case in point: On several occasions, I have added a listing for say a coffee shop, take beautiful pictures, and write the first review.

Then, I go in and talk to the owner to show him his site on my phone; he not only never heard of Yelp but also didn't understand the concept of it when I showed him his listing. Then I see his business's Fbook page and he has 500 fans, mostly locals who frequent the shop.

You see every business today has their own Fbook page, and now Fbook has a place where followers can post a review--and they do in big numbers. I fear Yelp is a place where only elites can see where other elites eat. The problem is most hot new restaurants are not getting new business from Yelp, but again their own Fbook page, or local newspaper stories, or trip advising websites.

Furthermore, a good elite will not refrequent the same places. They are always on a discovery for that next new interesting place. That's why the best of them including each city's Community Manager only have a couple of dukedoms if any.

In my small city of 1000, I wrote the first and only review for a coffee shop. They have a Fbook page with 700 followers and 50 reviews. Why don't more people use Yelp?

11/14/2013

I would be lost in my new city (or even hometown) without the help of Yelp!  I'd most likely be a lot skinnier too if it didn't feed my foodie addiction.  Plus, I would have more free time since I usually spend a minimum of an hour per review.  Heck, I love the fame!  No matter what negative feedback I hear about Yelp (i.e. primarily review filtering), I'm always sure to follow up with something positive.  It's a great community with fun Yelp Elite networking events (not to mention *free*).  I can always count on meeting someone new.  Shout out to some of my besties, Nicole V., Colleen C., Traci N., and Jexenia G.

Plus, what App is run by a little, cute hamster?!  (In the phone app, go to the bottom of the Settings list and you'll see what I am referring to; see an image here: yelp.com/biz_photos/yelp…).

• 

  Yelp's App pet hamster workin' it out!

  Yelp's App pet hamster workin' it out!

9/25/2014

If you are one of those business owners who are leaving bad reviews FOR YELP ON YELP I strongly recommend you to do the following:

1. Spend less time blaming Yelp for the failures of your business. Grow up, you can't run a business if all you do it's blame others for your failures.
2. Spend more time taking care of your customers. It's way more productive to use your time on something that can help increase your business, and do not tell me you have no time because you are spending time blaming Yelp. You are more likely to see a ROI if you spend your time wisely.
3. Stop complaining about Yelp's algorithm. Do you remember other review websites that had no filter? Those websites failed so do not be so dumb to expect Yelp to move back to a system that has failed and will always fail.
4. Take responsibility. If you have 50 reviews and 45 ended up filtered then you are doing something wrong. Are you asking homeless people to write reviews for you? Then that won't work. No offense to homeless people but they probably do not have internet to be active users of Yelp and their reviews will be filtered after you have paid them to post for you.
5. Stop asking people to write reviews for your business from your own computer. Are you the kind of person who is asking their clients to write reviews from the same computer that always access internet using the same IP address? Mhh if that's your case then YOU ARE A CASE!
6. Are you mad because you write bad reviews and they get filtered? Sorry about it but you should get good reviews for your listing and stop writing bad reviews for your competitors!

Please grow up. Stop whining about 2 or 3 dumb reviews that are filtered. Like it or not Yelp works and that's why you are frustrated. YOU PROBABLY CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO FOOL YELP. Whose fault is it?

I wonder who deserves the one star rating here...is it Yelp?

• 

  I love yelp

  I love yelp

9/25/2014

1.0 star rating
9/25/2014
A "One Star" rating isn't low enough to represent how I feel about this company.

As a business owner, I can't tell you how much of my time has been spent worrying and grieving over the trouble I've had with YELP. There have been endless conversations with other stressed business owners, countless research hours spent to find any grasp of control we could get our hands on over our page, and many troubled talks between my Wife and I over our business reputation.

My reviews get removed/added  without any notice or warning. The order our business appears on the search list changes monthly. Sometimes we appear on the map...sometimes not.

YELP doesn't offer any help over-the-phone (Except for their monthly calls from advertising agents) Left to email, they don't claim any responsibility for anything. Seems the only people they will defend to the grave are their reviewers.

I'm done with the YELP game

9/20/2014

I'm quitting Yelp because it's an extortion racket.
Instead of a fat Mafia guy saying, "It would be unfortunate if something bad were to happen to your business," it's a skinny nerd saying, "Yeah, we can make your good reviews come to the top, but you have to buy an ad."
Crowd-sourcing, my ass.

9/29/2014

Yelp Is such a scam!! I recently had a member write a bad review because of a bad experience she had with us. I made it better for her. Please see below. At first the bad review was recommended and now that its updated with a good review without even telling her to, its now not recommended.

First review at a 1 Star:
9/15/2014 * Previous review  
Dis-like this gym! They have taken advantage of my 16 yr. Old.. Define an annual fee? 12 mos. Or anniversary of original contract.. These dumb peope are saying my daughter signed up in April 2014 this year and now they take an additional 29.00 because of a ANNUAL FEE? WTF??? ANNUAL FROM WHAT? Ugh .. BEWARE OF THIS SCAM.. THX very Concerned Parent Vanessa

Second Review:
9/22/2014 *
Updated review  
I owe Mr. Garcia @ fitness 19 an apology.  I went in their gym the one located in Chino expecting an argument on some fee's that were charged to my daughter's bank acct. And got exactly the opposite,  to my surprise!  Mr. Garcia helped me and went over and above on doing so! This is what any dis-satified person needs sometimes,  just to be proved wrong and show our opinion matters. . He did just that! THANK YOU AGAIN!!! =)
Vanessa Pappilli

12/24/2014

Been a Yelper since 2005 and I appreciate this awesome app, but tried for multiple times to reset password and wrote customer service-no response. Bought a xmas "coupon" via yelp; no copy of the transaction emailed to me and no way to print the coupon if I wanted to give as a surprise gift. Groupon, livingsocial-no issues. You suck Yelp.

12/16/2014

A client of mine who loved my work, told me I should be on Yelp, thinking it would help me, and help the world to find me. That's the main reason I joined. I did not need to advertise. Plenty of clients found me fine without Yelp. I have come to regret joining Yelp. It has not helped me to find new clients at all. But it has actually done my business serious harm, and they're not sorry.

As a business owner, I have a very different experience of Yelp, than an anonymous blogger.
One of the problems with the blogging culture (and Yelp is an example of that) is that the anonymous blogger has zero responsibility or accountability, to be integrous, to be fair, to be ethical, to be kind, to prove their facts, or to even be sane. While all the accountability and responsibility to be all those things and more, is pushed on the business owner. The customer is allowed to be arrogant and entitled, to abuse the business owner as much as they please, (because the customer is always right) and the business owner is supposed to not only take it, but also be perfect (or else). The smallest, real or perceived, mistake can lead to them to being crucified and vandalized. That kind of model inherently sets businesses up to fail, in the blogosphere, regardless of the level of their excellence of service in the real world. While allowing the anonymous blogger a kind of Galiathan power to vandalize small businesses. Inadvertently this model tends to attract non integrous bloggers, who are aware of the power to destroy, and who write malicious content, with the intent to harm. Hiding behind anonymity, these bloggers express their worst sides, and say things they would never say to someone's face, or even admit to saying. Bloggers express their opinions that are based on anger, desire for revenge, spite, as a way to manipulate opinion about someone they don't like, hate for their own personal reasons, hold a grudge against (like an old disgruntled employee, or a customer who is having buyer's remorse). I used to be naive about blog writers. I assumed that most people, check their facts, before they write, as I do. I found I was wrong. In the book 'Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator' Ryan Holiday writes about the truth about the blogging world, and what sort of content gets promoted through the ranks in the blogosphere.

A lot of businesses are extremely dissatisfied and angry with how Yelp treats them. Just check out their reviews of Yelp on Yelp:
yelp.com/biz/yelp-san-fr…

On the Google business listing page their reviews are even worse, and more informative and detailed than on Yelp. Yelp has 1 start (out of 64 reviews). Pretty much everyone who reviewed Yelp gave them 1 start and said it practices extortion, and has horrible ethics, and appalling business practices.
google.com/webhp?sourcei…

There are also lots of reports against Yelp on ripoffreport.com. Some of them may be fallacious, but it is significant that there are so many outraged reports, that are saying the same things. There is a pattern.
ripoffreport.com/reports…

Yelp clearly has non integrous practices regarding how they treat businesses, and operate their company. The fact is: most satisfied clients never write reviews. Based on my 10 years of experience, I've observed that probably 90% of happy clients do not want to write reviews. It may be that they don't want to publicize that they are seeing a counselor. Its a privacy concern. And some have expressed that they don't want to be on the internet. And I don't blame them! Its the wild west. While those who are upset are 10 times more likely to write a review, because they want the world to know! Yelp takes advantage of that disparity in reporting, and pushes these negative reviews up to the top, while suppressing the positive ones. Yelp also tells businesses that they are not allowed to tell their satisfied clients to write reviews on yelp. Its easy to see how these factors put together, set up businesses to fail in the blogosphere, and assure that reviews will be exaggeratedly skewed to the bad. Yelp then calls businesses incessantly, to get them to advertise on Yelp. Those who do, get the bad reviews removed or suppressed. This is called extortion. And many businesses who gave Yelp a 1 star review in google business listings, and those who wrote the numerous reports on ripoffreport.com have reported exactly this issue: extortion through paid advertising. And ...

Due to character limitation, this window doesn't fit my full review. Please, read it all here: dropbox.com/s/e528z9770p…

12/17/2014

Yelp is not telling the truth when they say that retailers cant influence the reviews.  I had a complete review remove from the restaurant.  Yelp sent me an email stating that my review did not represent the norm for that establishment.  I documented my dinner experience with photo of the trash etc.  But that meant nothing and my review was removed.  The person sitting next to me at the bar yelped them also with photos and that review was removed also.  Moral of story, do not believe that your review can't be removed as I am living proof it can. PS.. I also know a major restaurant owner that had reviews removed.

8/21/2014

I have enjoyed Yelp since I started many years ago! I love to read people's experiences and helpful hints when deciding on a new place to eat or fun places to go.

The Yelp events are super fun and I am very excited whenever I can make one!

Remember to be true to yourself when you review! Honest reviews are the best and you influence people when they read your reviews.

true you, true reviews!

12/1/2013

I adore Yelp! Haters go home. Before Yelp, I wsihed I had a place to check out reviews of stuff other than printers. Well - there's Angie's List, only I was surprised to find they wanted my money to let me read reviews or contribute. Screw that. Plus, I figured they probably couln't give you enough of a breadth of reviews over a variery of bussinesses.

So Yelp came along. Problem solved. It's not perfect. It's still confusing when the reveiws are so widely dsitributed. But mostly, you get the idea. This place is a 4/5 star place. This place is more of a middle of the road - 3 star place (which means you might consider it 2 stars).

My favorite part of Yelp is the people, the connections and my oh-so Elite status! People have been super friendly and helpful! When I went to an Elite event all by my lonesome, people were so very nice and I made friends quick! Don is the bee's knees, and must work his butt off!

But where Yelp really shines - and it seems there really is no other -  is for services. Veteranarians, mechanics, discount medical services, hotels. If you have the money to stay at the 4 Seasons, I guarantee it will be lovely!  But for the rest of us, it's helpful to have Yelp. And even moreso for finding medical care for you or your pet or your car. Hard to know who to trust.

So many folks on yelp give long and specific reviews, detailing pricing and value and professionalism... and that's what makes Yelp AWESOME!  And of course, food reviews are of the utmost importance to me as well - can't (and wouldn't wanna) hide that fact. I hope I continue to Yelp and continue to be in Yelp's Elite & Good graces until the end of time.

9/24/2014

Yelps Business Plan: Make as much money as possible

Yelps Business Ethics: NONE. There are no rules or laws on the internet. Do what ever you have to do to make a sale. No agencies govern the internet so screw the small guy if you have to. They don't have much money for a law suit. And they will not win anyway! This was proven by the last law suit against us (Yelp). Don't waste your time doing anything but making sales. Do not bother helping anyone with after sales problems or with problems with their reviews or their business listing. We are here to make money ONLY.

Signed: Yelp CEO

12/16/2014

I encourage you to Check any low star-reviews you've provided on Yelp.

After about 4 years, I'm TOTALLY, FINALLY, and COMPLETELY over YELP. While I may not have 100+ reviews, I have used Yelp on numerous occasions to either support a local business who I've enjoyed being a patron at or to warn others when I felt it was my duty as another human being. I don't typically leave negative reviews, unless I feel like the company/organization has no need in doing business because it's a scam or conducting unethical business practices. Most recently, I left a scathing review of a telemarking company who was basically harassing me on behalf of a local solar power business. When I went to Yelp to help warn people about the company, I noticed that there were a great number of others who had provided 1-Star negative feedback for the same issue. However, there were quite a few others that had 5-Star reviews, from clearly accounts set-up to increase the company's star rating. I took my time to flag those reviews and direct Yelp as to the issue (I mean, out of 100's of 1-star reviews, the ten 5-star reviews were all posted on 12/15/2013!!!). I get a response from Yelp to all ten of the flags, and only one was considered by them as worth removing. Well, I could normally respect such a decision, here's what really makes me think Yelp is now completely worthless for the average consumer.

Until a few months ago, I had left probably at least 20+ reviews. The reviews were pretty spread over the spectrum of type of business and star-rating, for the last 4 years or so. A few months ago, a friend of mine was telling me about a bad experience he had with a local primary care doctor. It turns out it's the same doctor I had scene for a few years, before I finally had enough with how bad he was and switched to another doctor and left a very thoughtful/accurate/fair review about my 2+ years of experience with him. My friend said he checked the MD out on Yelp before booking an appointment with him, but only saw positive reviews and nothing that sounded like my review. Right then and there, I check Yelp and sure enough, my review isn't listed on the page. However, when I log into my account and look at my reviews, it comes up as having been posted. I re-check the MD's Yelp page and on the bottom, I find a portion that say's "other reviews that were not deemed helpful." I take a look and there are about 5 reviews (including mine) that list the MD with a low star-rating. As you can imagine, they're all for the same level of complaints and vary in length/tone/star-rating. I never got a notice that my very thoughtful review was flagged or removed, or for what reason. I send a follow up request to Yelp to get more information as to why my review could've been removed and there's some generic FAQ saying how they have this brilliant automated system that checks reviews. I take a look at other low-star reviews I've posted and it's the same thing...they're not showing up.

After these experiences, I've come to realize that Yelp is all BS and are simply using consumers not to fairly depict the business, but as free advertising. If it's a negative review, then it can simply be flagged and removed regardless. When an owner or organization can get a very thoughtful, yet negative review, flagged and removed without any good reason....but positive reviews that are clearly fake can't; then there's something inherently wrong with the system and I can't, won't, support it any longer.  So long Yelp. I'll stick to Better Business Bureau, Google Reviews, Angie's list instead.

9/19/2014

Yelp sells all of it's customers on the concept or idea that when you look at a businesses profile on Yelp you are getting an overview of all of the customers experiences at that business. That is not the case, and it is only a matter of when, not if, the judicial system grinds this racquet to a halt.

In our case and many other cases, yelp takes the worst one or two, puts those at the top, takes all the other positives out of the equation,  and only figures your rating based on those one or two ratings. It's misrepresentation. It hurts some small busineses because of that false reprentation, and yelp is liable and responsible.  For example. Let's say you have 100 reviews and I take 10% that are the worst, and base your rating on those. You don't have to know statistical analysis to know that that that is misrepresentation and causes harm to businesses if you are on the other end of that.

It's false advertising. in my case I have 22, 21 are positive. One that is shown is a poor rating that is contested and the other is positive and the group as a whole is not figured into the rating, including some of our long term clients and most respected businesses who have made reviews. I'm talking reviews from the biggest and most respected clients in the State like the Waterfront Blues Festival, Oregon Food Bank, Jimmy Mak's. Yelp has said that those are not relevant. So basically Yelp indiscriminately takes in our case 20% of the worst ratings and then gives you an overall rating based on that 20% that they picked rather than all the customers. They sort of play God with your rating.

As you can see. It's ridiculous and this algorithm that they have or so they say they have makes a lot of small businesses look bad. They are responsible for the damage that it causes
to peoples businesses and I would like you to  ask the Department of Justice to look into it the damage they cause small businesses.

Patrick

11/7/2014

Please get your moderators to work faster at updating closed venues and restaurants or hire more moderators if you're understaffed!!!

I've reported wrong information via Yelp messaging and even by phone to some guy who said he would make a note, but check back weeks and months later and they are still listed as open. I know the owner of two establishments and it's frustrating.

Straits in Burlingame has incorrect weekend hours (they mentioned they have tried to contact you on several occasions to change this but the moderators do nothing) and Tom Wing & Sons in Menlo Park is no longer opened as the family has retired.

Other than my frustration with this, I find Yelp helpful with finding good service based on customer reviews hence the two stars.

6/4/2014 Updated review

Ha! Thanks for taking down my picture I had on this page!

I guess you don't want anything making fun of you. :P

I guess you will have to delete all 6,000 reviews.

10/1/2014

You do it to me, most of times without founded real related business reasons....
So, back to you, my dear Yelp, with all my heart and soul!!!
Next time, use some of that money you make on us (hard working people) and invest in customer service!!!

12/27/2014

I wish yelp will allow a proper response to reviewers. They let people post whatever they want and allow you to choose "useful" "funny" "cool"..... those choices are not useful at all.

I think it should be thumbs up or down on the review. If one weights in more then it should stay true or be removed.

But I guess yelp has more pressing issues since their reviews are not so good either!

12/31/2014

Wow! I wrote a 1-star review for a local business within the last year, and it has since been removed.

Business ethics? What are those?

I heard that Yelp had few scruples. Now I see that this is true.

1/29/2015

Yelp runs itself like organized crime. Pay us, and we won't hurt you. I'm so tired of being held hostage by a company that I don't even have a choice with weather to participate.
I used to advertise with Yelp. At first, everything seemed fine. Then I started getting calls from other business owners asking about my experience. So I after some investigating I discovered that they had been using my business profile to advertise their services!
So I call them up and say," Hey! It's only fair that if you are using my business to generate new business for yourself that you should pay me, or discount your hefty $315 a month fee! It's is exactly the same thing as me having to pay you to advertise my business!"
Well, of course, they said no way.
So, I decide to pull my advertising and go with another service. But, it gets better! Then, magically, my photos on my Yelp page get rearranged to have the first one be a pic that one customer posted that was unhappy. The ONLY unhappy customer! Along with that comes an email stating that if I would like to have the ability to change the order of the photos, I could do so for $19.99 per month!
Fuck you, Yelp. Fuck you right in the ear

9/15/2014

Horrible company that lies to sell its advertising and the. Charges you 3 times the monthly rate to cancel when those lies become apparent.

Soulless company that doesn't care about anyone except their bottom line.

10/4/2014

Well over a month ago, I requested to be a part of the "Elite" for Yelpers. I was told via message that Corporate reviews these requests biweekly. Again, over a month goes by and still received no response!

Are you guys so busy that my request was overlooked? Terrible service!!!! I really hope you guys can shape up soon. There are other services besides Yelp that people can go to.

9/18/2014 Updated review

Yelp gets 1 star still, however this article came across my feed today:

Which basically says the restaurant is telling their customers to write negative reviews on their yelp page to "hack" Yelp's algorithm.

Epic Trolling for them and big LuLz for all involved.

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