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Failure to review fake reviews - manipulation of responses to hide their liability.
Hi Lucy,
I see that Yelp has moved my open letter to Yelp, and the FAKE "reviews" to the filtered page.
You seem to be doing an awful lot of juggling things around for a "filtering" algorithm that is supposed to work "automatically"
You first moved two of the FAKE "reviews" to the filtered page after my first letter to you, and one 5 star legitimate review, now you have moved all the FAKE "reviews" to the filtered page.
Is it that your moral and ethical turpitude causes you to think that by making the FAKE "reviews" more difficult to access you have fulfilled your responsibility to keep peoples reputations from being maligned? Or is it simply your bullheaded "we are never wrong" attitude?
Or are you simply too arrogant to admit that you are wrong?
Perhaps you would gain more respect as a reputable and reliable site for business reviews if you simply stood up and said: "We are sorry, we made a mistake, we apologize to you for the harm that may have been done to your businesses' reputation by our failure to act on irrefutable proof, and will seek to find ways to prevent this from happening in the future to you and other Yelp users".
Or, maybe take a lesson from the Japanese, and do the honorable thing. Seppuku. Oh but wait, that is for warriors, Samurai, Men of Honor. Well, just a thought, Never mind.
Is there some reason you would not want the public to see that Yelp still leaves up absolutely FAKE, libelous "reviews" even after you have been provided with irrefutable proof that these "reviews" are FAKE"?
You have been put on notice and provided with proof, and still you allow the libel to remain on my review page.
You are now legally culpable. You cannot say that you were not notified, and were not provided with proof.
I will ask you again. Yelp, please remove the libelous FAKE"reviews" from my page.
Yours truly,
Jim Lamm
Precision Paint & Tile
433 West 43rd St
New York, NY 10036
[protected]
Refusal to remove fake libelous reviews
Gotcha yelp! proof that you published a fake review about my business - look at bottom of complaint.
The same fake review that was posted about me on yelp had been previously been posted about others on other sites. see screen shot.
1 reviewjim l.
Union city, nj
12/30/2011 dec 29, 2011 | 12:22pm pst
Hi jim,
Thank you for contacting yelp.
We've looked at the reviews by sean t, lindsey l and monika k, and since they appear to reflect the personal experience and opinions of the respective reviewers, we are leaving them intact. unfortunately, we are not in a position to verify that these reviewers have a conflict of interest with your business.
In cases where our team does not have enough grounds to take action on a review, we look to the business owner to contact the reviewer directly, and I see you have already taken this step. it is our sincerest hope that you will be able to resolve any issues or misunderstandings with these reviewers amicably.
Regards,
Lucy
Yelp support
_ _
Hi lucy,
So, your solution is for me to contact the individuals who put up the fake "reviews", individuals that I have never met, have never done any work for, individuals who have libeled me, and posted a vicious slanderous fake posts, and work it out amicably with them? what is it that I am supposed to resolve with them again?
1.) "their"staff", who is always hard to reach, often blames each other".
2.) "precision paint and tile is unreliable, does incomplete work, has un-experienced and"clueless staff"
We have no"staff"lucy, precision paint & tile is a sole proprietorship. I am the staff. I am the person who answers the phone, I am the person who responds to the email. no one else.
3.)" from our experience, and from similar accounts of our neighbors, I strongly recommend against using precision paint and tile."
A"review"is supposed to a recounting of the reviewers personal experience, isn't it? you are allowing hearsay from fictitious"neighbors"as part of a review?
4.) the" reviewer"sean t is from"montpelier, la"'.
Montpeiler louisiana is a bit out of my service area, by about 1, 000 miles.
5.)"I hired precision paint and tile to repaint my 3 bedroom condo in manhattan... first of all he wasn't insured and I had a hard time "sneaking" him into the building."
Yes, of course, any reputable client would"sneak"a contractor into their building and hide the work from both the condo board and the buildings management company, and, he owns a"3 bedroom condo in manhattan"and needs to"get his security deposit back"?
Uh, I don't think so. condos don't have"security deposits", rentals do.
I carry $2, 000, 000 general liability, and workman's comp, and have had a continuous policy for over 11 years. you have time to write your response, but not the time to call me or email me to verify this information? in the three minutes it took you to write your email, you could simply have called, asked a few questions and verifed information.
My insurance agent: please call them.
Robert c mangi agency
152 mineola boulevard
Mineola, ny 11501
[protected]
This alone is more than sufficient reason to remove these"reviews". it proves beyond any doubt that this"review"is fake. you cannot say that you cannot verify this. call my agent, then remove the"review"please. then please write a public apology for allowing an honest business to be libeled viciously on your site.
From you:
:"we are leaving them intact. unfortunately we are not in a position to verify that these reviewers have a conflict of interest with your business"
I see, if you are going to err, err on the side of the fake"reviewer"who trashes and libels an honest business person's reputation. do you really think this just to honest businesses?
These same"reviews"were on yahoo local, citysearch, and other sites. I contacted them and the"reviews"were all taken down in less than 5 minutes,.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to yahoo! local, and citysearch for their outstanding customer service, and taking immediate action to right a clear injustice and mitigate the harm already done.
I would like to thank yelp for.. umm.. umm.. alrighty then.
To my clients over the years, thank you for your continuing support and repeat business.
Jim lamm
Precision paint & tile
_
Update to yelp.
Please open this link and read the"review"does this look familiar? my"review" by lindsay l?
Http://newyork.daype.c...
Interesting what you can find with just a little effort, isn't it?
Now will you remove them?
And, I think an apology is in order, don't you?
Here's four more. busy little rascal isn't he.
Http://www.google.com/...
Refusal of yelp to remove fake reviews
DEC 29, 2011 | 12:22PM PST
Hi Jim,
Thank you for contacting Yelp.
We've looked at the reviews by Sean T, Lindsey L and Monika K, and since they appear to reflect the personal experience and opinions of the respective reviewers, we are leaving them intact. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to verify that these reviewers have a conflict of interest with your business.
In cases where our team does not have enough grounds to take action on a review, we look to the business owner to contact the reviewer directly, and I see you have already taken this step. It is our sincerest hope that you will be able to resolve any issues or misunderstandings with these reviewers amicably.
Regards,
Lucy
Yelp User Support
San Francisco, California
__________________________________________________ _________
Lucy,
It is obvious to anyone that has even a very small brain that these "reviews" are fakes. Let me point out some obvious lies and comments that cannot possibly be true, and are easily verifiable.
1.) Their "staff", who is always hard to reach, often blames each other.
We have NO "staff" Precision Paint & Tile is a Sole Proprietor ship. I am the only staff. This is easily verifiable, but a businesses reputation is not important to you. You will allow any businesses reputation to be trashed with out making even the slightest effort to verify the authenticity of the "review"
2.) Precision Paint and Tile is unreliable, does incomplete work, has un-experienced and clueless staff.
Again we have no "staff" When someone calls my company, or emails the business, I am the person who answers the phone, I am the person who responds to the email. No one else.
3.) From our experience, and from similar accounts of our neighbors, I strongly recommend against using Precision Paint and Tile.
A "review" is supposed to a recounting of the reviewers personal experience. You even allow hearsay from fictitious "neighbors"
4.) The reviewer is from "Montpelier, LA"'.
Yelp is for local reviews is it not? Montpeiler Louisiana is a bit out of my service area, by about 1, 000 miles.
5.) I hired Precision Paint and Tile to repaint my 3 bedroom condo in Manhattan...first of all he wasn't insured and I had a hard time sneaking him into the building.
Yes, of course, any reputable client would "sneak" a contractor into their building and hide the work from both the condo board and the buildings management company. This is my insurance agent: I carry $2, 000, 000 general liability and workman's compensation, and have had a continuous policy with them for over 6 years. You have time to write me this email, but not the time to pick up the phone or send them an email to verify this information? In addition, this exact same "review" has been posted scores of times on the internet. on craigslist in particular, with only the company name, and individual name being changed. Your failure to even make the slightest effort to vet "reviews" and that you leave libelous "reviews" up, allow bad businesses to be lauded with fake positive reviews, and good businesses to be trashed by competitors is clearly indicative of only one thing. You care ONLY about PROFIT. Content = PROFIT. You could care less about the harm you do. Only profit matters to you.
Robert C Mangi Agency
152 Mineola Boulevard
Mineola, NY 11501
[protected]
6.) That guy is a biggest SPAMMER on craigslist! He is a rip off artist. Beware! Avoid at all cost!
This is a "review"? It seems to be missing any information about a job that I did for her?
From you:
:"We are leaving them intact. Unfortunately we are not in a position to verify that these reviewers have a conflict of interest with your business"
I see, if you are going to err, err on the side of the fake "reviewer" who trashes and libels an honest business person's reputation. That seems the intelligent and thoughtful thing to do to me.
You and your company, are completely lacking in even the slightest morality or ethics.
You allow businesses to be trashed, and send them a letter telling them basically that you could care less that an honest ethical business is being trashed and libeled on you site.
These same "reviews" were posted on Yahoo Local, Citysearch, and other sites. I contacted them and ALL OF THEM had the "reviews" taken down in less than 15 minutes. But of course, not Yelp.
You company, and the mindset of it employees is despicable.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Yahoo! Local, and Citysearch for their outstanding customer service.
To my scores of clients over the years, thank you for your continuing support and repeat business, To new clients reading this, these "reviews" are absolutely FAKE. Yelp is infamous for this kind of thing. Please search "complaints against Yelp and you will find literally THOUSANDS of complaints regarding this same issue.
Jim Lamm
Precision Paint & Tile
Jacket never got cleaned but they want to charge me
On Monday, November 28th, I went to “Pentagon Row Cleaners - 1301 South Joyce St. D26, Arlington VA, 22202” to clean my dad’s sport jacket. It had many oily stains and I washed it but stains didn’t come out. So I went to the dry cleaning – I go there since 2006. Most of the times they are doing ok job, not perfect but good enough. Sometimes, there are some stains still there but you can see that they did try to clean and it is fine with me. The tall women who works there told me that all stains might not come out but they will do their best. She asked me for two days, so they can clean it better. They ask for two days to clean very often and I always tell them: “No rush, just please clean it well”. Today, November 30th, I came to pick my father’s jacket, thinking that it will look much better. My father loves this jacket. When I looked at this jacket, I saw very clear that nothing was done – NOTHING! This tall lady ( later I asked her name and she refused to give it to me) told me they cleaned it twice, did their best, stains didn’t come out and they will charge me $8.00 for trying. I can see that they didn’t try, because it is even wrinkled the way it was when I washed it, every little stain is there, absolutely nothing been done to this jacket! When they try to clean but can’t remove everything, you can see that. If some of the stains still there but you can see that they tried, and jacket looks pressed, I would’ve said: “Oh, well at least it looks a little better”. In this case they just didn’t do the work and want to charge me $ 8.00 for keeping the jacket for 2 days in their dry cleaner. I didn’t pay, left very emotional and my blood pressure went up just before work! Later this women called the manger/owner, his name is Steve Kim, and he told me that they cleaned it 3 times. Which one is this? 2 times or 3 times? He didn’t want to clean it again and that’s what I asked him to do. Please help me to resolve this and make them to try to clean this jacket or not charge me since they didn’t do any work!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Yelp is not good for small business
I am an owner of recently open Thai restaurant. Below is solely my personal experience with Yelp that I would like to share. 1. Biggest mistake I made was talking to Yelp. Once they know I own the restaurant they keep on calling to get us to subscribe to $300 per month advertise with them. There is nothing wrong with that; however, there are no reason for...
Read full review of Yelp.com and 4 commentsDon't believe anything on yelp
Yelp is hot right now, I hope they crash and burn. Yes my account just got canceled, and I have just spent several hours checking out others experience on different sites. Go ahead, if your a business use them while they last. If your looking for a place to go, filtered reviews which lead to deleted reviews are more of the truth. Yelp will probably change this soon. Don't believe anything on yelp. Its a shakedown operation for businesses where positive reviews are the carrot and negative reviews the stick. For us, the curious public, its just a road they walk.
why are most of your restaurant menu's out of date... at least 2-3 years old
i AM A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER.. YELP REMOVES ALL REVIEWS UNLESS WE AGREE TO PAY A MONTHLY FEE.
SCAM.. ILLEGAL... PLAIN WRONG..
Who is this idiot Libbybastard? I have to agree, we have over twenty reviews on yelp yet only two show up. We have all positive reviews so shows positive, but the one that where filtered make no sense as to why they were filtered. If someone reviews a number of businesses on yelp why on earth would their reviews show up on some yet not others. A simple study of the filtered reviews for any business reveals that something VERY bogus is going on at Yelp. As far as I am concerned it is a completely useless and fraudulent website.
ALL as in how many? That means nothing to me. Was it 100? Did you have like 2? Yelp is used by Apple for it's search services. If you think Apple would align with a huge scam company, you're nuts. For all we know, you and your family put all the positive reviews up and Yelp's filters caught you.
The very ugly truth about Yelp is that until you pay to advertise with them, all your positive reviews will be filtered. A few months ago we received a phone call from an employee at Yelp asking us to advertise with them. We declined their offer, it was going to cost us somewhere around $350 a month. The very next day ALL of out positive reviews were filtered and all of a sudden there were two one star, very negative reviews posted. Ther are scam artists and the site is completely fake, created to bully business owners into paying them for positive reviews. They did the very same thing to my friend who ownes a Pilates studio in Miami.
Take action!
My story is the same as thousands of others. I intend to help get the word out to business owners and consumers on how we can take action. Visit saveusfromyelp.com to voice your complaint then visit https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ to file a complaint with the ftc. If you are wondering about laws governing consumer testimonials visit http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
This is true. When you search for my business a paying competitor comes up with 5 stars in bigger type than my listing. They are positioned right over my listing. I have 7 5-star reviews, every one of them filtered.
I totally agree, since they are doing advertising you can not trust them at all... They filter the revues if your are not paying for advertising, they will only keep your bad revues in order to bring more business for those other businesses around yours that advertise with them...DO NOT TRUST Yelp reviews they are only base on money the business owners are willing to spend in advertising!
Yelp algorithm solution
Announcement:
We have recently implemented a system to outsmart yelp from hiding our filtered reviews:
Step 1- first of all, if you're advertising with yelp, stop doing so and shift that money to optimize your own web site instead
Step 2- have a graphic designer make a yelp badge that is placed on your web site. It should say "we have... Filtered and unfiltered reviews on yelp".
Step 3- when a visitor clicks on the badge, it will go to another page on your own web site (Instead of going to yelp's. (Why help them get traffic and rank higher anyways)?
Step 4- on this page have your graphic designer get a screen capture (Picture) of all your filtered and unfiltered reviews and have them pasted together onto one page.
Now, all your reviews (Filtered or not) will be visible to all your web site visitors.
5- put a note on the top that says, "for your convenience we have placed all our filtered and unfiltered reviews on one page to see. If you'd like to go to our live yelp page, click here..."
Make the whole page clickable to your live yelp page so no-one will say you're trying hide something or to be dishonest
Advantages of doing this:
1- your visitors will stay on your web site instead of being directed to yelp's
2- your visitor can't click on your competitors
3- no more being a slave to yelp's algorithm
4- yelp would not benefit from getting traffic from you and higher rankings on google
5- this whole process cost us less than $150 to implement
Just be sure to shift that $300 per month on yelp advertising and put it into keywords that people will search for.
Please pass this along to everyone you know
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I wrote a 1 star review of Drain Doctor Santa Clara, an outfit that has other 1 star reviews posted, and which was issued a two count citation by the cal state contractors license board in my case. Yelp refused to post the review, or to provide any meaningful contact possibility, except for a meaningless faq.
I can't believe how unethical this site is for business owners
I can't believe how unethical this site is for business owners! They use this so called filtering system for user reviews when in fact it's just a cover for extorting businesses for money. I just hope that people continue to sue them and spread the word.
They did it to me, I think they pick and choose who and what we are talking about, if they are connected to the business your review won’t even go through..
I like advertising with them; what I don't like is how much it costs and the fact that if you try to get out of the contract, they charge you approximately $800 if you get out of the contract before the year is up. I didn't get much business the first two months, but things to better and they did give me useful advice about beefing up my ad; however, the fee is exorbitant (about $350 a month to advertise), and then I just told you about the $800 travesty. Waiting on April to arrive.
things GOT better (I meant...)
I don't see where I can edit my post here...
They are a confused mess. No customer support contacts, inaccurate business categories, when on review added the deleted the first and there is no means by which you can complain to them about. One should be aware of companies that hide from their users like Yelp does. Not a good sign.
They removed a negative review for a few month only to find out that they reposted it back because I didn't go through with advertising my business through them. Why doesn't the attorney general do something about this company, this is a business that has repeatedly been linked to extortion and fraudulent activities. It's clear that people are increasing more aware of there unscrupulous practice, google Yelp going out of business by CNN.
Well it’s hard to get them to do anything to them, the bbb is no better they are a joke no call backs nothing, so why are they there?
O hear that. I have 1 bad review and 10 good I complain that the bad reviews was just an appointment I missed because going to the hospital and they removed all of my good reviews and left the bad. It's bull shi
Unethical business practices
To:
BBB of the Golden Gate & Northern California
(Oakland, CA)
1000 Broadway, Suite 625
Oakland, CA94607
August 9th, 2011
I have had a advertising page on Yelp for over a year. I had four legitimate 5 star reviews on my page that were removed by Yelp's "filtering" process. This is their right, it's their site.
I wrote to them and explained why I disagreed with this process. They defeneded it. No problem.
I then wrote to them and politely asked them to delete my account and remove my page and any references to my business, After a week the page is still up, and they have blocked access to me from my account so I cannot edit or remove information. My advertising contains copyrighted material and trademarks. Their refusal to remove the page is copyright and trademark infringement.
They have no right under any circunstances to use my business name on their site without my express permision. They have been uncooperative despite several request to remove information relating to me personally or to my business.
I have also had several very persistant sales people from their company call me numerous times when I have made it clear to them that I am not interested in advertising on their site. They are very high pressure in their sales practices.
Thank you.
Precision Paint & Tile
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Jim,
Thanks for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns.
You requested that your listing be removed from Yelp. You also expressed frustration with our review filter.
Unfortunately, we don't remove business listing information. While some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law. While we understand you are concerned that some reviews are not currently appearing on your listing, it's important to remember that since users can become more or less established over time, their reviews can disappear and reappear over time as well. Either way, we never actually delete these reviews, and they can still be found on the reviewer's personal profile page. These filtered reviews are also viewable by clicking on the "Filtered" link at the bottom of your business page.
You also said that use of your business name is copyright infringement. We're glad you brought that up, as we sometimes see confusion on this issue, so we want to make sure we're clear about what we do and why we do it. We list businesses in our directory to allow consumers to read and write reviews about those businesses. Even when a business owner has registered their business name as a trademark, the law protects the right of a website like Yelp to list the name, just as it protects the right of consumers to talk about what they like (and don't like) about a meal they ate, a plumber that they hired, or a car wash that they visited. This right falls under the "fair use" doctrine in trademark law.
You mentioned that your access has been blocked so you are unable to "edit or remove information." Yelp locks fields on business listings to prevent changes if the content has been approved. In this case, it appears that you attempted to change your business name to "Yelp is Arrogant, " your address to "123 Main St" and you attempted to add the category of "Arcades" to your listing. Due to these false edits, and because the current information on your Yelp listing matches the contact information on your official website and other publicly available sources, the fields on your listing were locked.
It looks like you posted a review to your listing. Per our Content Guidelines, business owners and employees cannot post reviews to their listings, so your review has been removed. That said, your business account is open -- you can log into your account at https://biz.yelp.com. The login email for your business account is mentor***@optimum.net. If you need to reset your password, simply click on the "Forgot Your Password?" link. For more information on using Yelp as a business owner, please visit https://biz.yelp.com/support/using_business_account
Regards,
Yelp HQ
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Hello Yelp HQ,
I will address your letter point by point.
I have never been one to mince words, and I will not begin with your company.
You address me by my first name with ''Hi Jim'', as if you know me, and we are friends, neither of which is true.
This is both unprofessional and smarmy.
You then have the audacity to end your letter with ''Regards, Yelp HQ'' You address me by my first name, and then depersonalize me by indicating that your letter was written by a ''HQ'' (not Headquarters, mind you but ''HQ'') and not by individual human being, who has a name, but rather a corporate ''entity''You have immediately, in just a few short words, positioned yourself as exactly what you are, and clearly elucidated your true nature as a corporate entity, an arrogant swaggering pompous ###.
''You requested that your listing be removed from Yelp.''
Yes, this is correct. Perhaps you will recall this email that you sent me on Sunday, July 24th, 2011 at 4:09 PM:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Yelp"
[protected]@yelp.com
To: [protected]@precisionpaintandtile.com
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2011 4:09 PM
Subject: Yelp Account Closure Confirmation Request
Dear Jim L.,
We're sorry to see you go. If you really would like to permanently close
your account, click on the link below. IMPORTANT: This closure is
permanent; you will not be able to restore your account after you click this
link.
https://www.yelp.com/account_close?c=qu0fN4jnst9CYOUv_AUucA
We hope you'll stay a Yelp user.
The Yelp Team.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I indicated to you then clearly and without equivocation then that I wanted to permanently close my account. Despite this email from your company and my clear and unhesitant answer, you did not close my account, proving that in addition to being arrogant swaggering pompous ###, you are also liars, and clearly cannot be trusted, your word means nothing, and that you are totally lacking in any ethics whatsoever.
''You also expressed frustration with our review filter.''
Incorrect. Not only is this incredibly patronizing, it is a fallacious argument and a red herring.
I did not ''express frustration'' I called it exactly what it is, bias, censorship, and manipulation for profit.
Your attempt to twist my words only illuminates your ineptitude and lack of grace.
I made it clear to you that because of your convoluted self serving logic and total lack of ethics that I wanted nothing to do with your business or your website, yet you persist in shoving what YOU want down my throat.
''Unfortunately, we don't remove business listing information''
The absolutely stunning arrogance of this statement almost leaves me speechless. Who the hell do you think you are?
''this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law''
Really?
I missed the cites in your letter. Did you just forget them? Or am I just supposed to swallow this hogwash whole? I guess from a big important company like yours you would expect the unwashed masses to buy this ###. Perhaps that is why you are being sued over this very issue by multiple companies, and a class action lawsuit?
You can find numerous sources and cites here:
http://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8#sclient=psy&hl=en&rlz=1R2GGHP_enUS432&site=webhp&source=hp&q=is+yelp+being+sued&rlz=1R2GGHP_enUS432&aq=0j&aqi=g-j1&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2, or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=14222ec34f924891&biw=2009&bih=863
in case you are unaware that you are being sued.
I would really like to know what law you think ''protects'' you in your stealing, usurping, and using business information for your profit without their consent and against their will. The "fair use" doctrine in trademark law in no way gives you the right to use anyone's business information or trademarks for commercial profit.
Cite: Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
''we want to make sure we're clear about what we do and why we do it''
I already know what you do and why you do it. You are thieves, parasites and bullies. You take what is not yours against the will of the rightful owners, and create web pages where you can sell advertising for profit using information that you have no right to use.
No clarification is necessary.
You know, at this point I am weary of responding to your ###.
If I have not sufficiently to this point, let me make my self perfectly clear.
You can kiss my ###. I don't like you, and I don't like the way you do business.
Your company and your polices are a perfect example of everything that is wrong
with America
today. Companies completely lacking in ethics, morality, and fair play, and that put profit ahead of all else. You are no better than common thugs and you need to get your boot off of small business owner's throats.
I want the page taken down. Period.
If it is not, I will be looking for a lawyer as well, and join the others who are
currently suing you.
>JL<
(A PERSON, not a HQ)
Yelp is an evil company, they were so stupid on the way they manage their company, money first, careless about anything else. If you don't listen to what they are asking for or don't do a highly cost ad with them, they will do everything that they can in order to destroy your business, by showing all the bad reviews and filter all the good reviews, just like what they did with massinos pizza. They even go on Google and spend a lot of money in order to try to take business from you and send it to your competition using EAT24.com which they bought couple years ago (evil doing and unfair to any human beings).
It is just a matter of time for Yelp to be sued and that is the only way for the CEO to stop this evil work.
Yelp came alive by paying people to go eat at all restaurants if that person puts a review on Yelp, and after few years and after they fed a lot of people, and managed every review on Yelp (filter what ever review they want and show what ever they want for any particular business), then they start calling all business and ask them to put ads on Yelp in order to get more business (which a lot of business did go for but others were disadvantaged if they couldn't afford to pay for a costly ad on Yelp).
If Yelp is fair with their business, they should do just like Google reviews, where Google show every consumer reviews for all businesses, with no filter.
YELP=EVIL, waiting to be corrected in a LAW SUIT.
These people at Yelp ripped me off and took about $1, 500 from my account in a very sneaky and underhanded manner. The sales rep (Noah Borden) had told me repeatedly over a 2 day/3hr conversation that if I upgraded my free Yelp Web List that they would drive a whole lot of traffic to my account. He told me that he would start me out with a $600 max monthly recurring charge. Let me explain: I had been called repeatedly by these sales people and some of them are very high pressure people for about 4 years trying to get me to upgrade my free web listing to an upgrade one that would bring me a lot of new customers. He told me that I was essentially buying (50) actual phone calls over a month period at $12 per phone call. They would create a phone number that would track the number of calls and when someone would call it would ring my cell phone and that way I would know how many calls I was getting from them. He told me that probably about 6 months into the program I would be getting those (50) calls but not right away because it takes time to get you moved up in the search engines, etc. I signed that document over the computer on 10/13/16 and did not get any calls in October or November 2016. I called him end of November and he told me that they were still trying to get me going but would hope that I would have at least 5 calls in December 2016 and said that I probably would be billed about $60 in December assuming they were to deliver the 5 calls, which never happened. On 01/20/17 I found out they had taken out around $1, 500 from my bank account. I made over 20 calls over a 4 day period but could never reach a live person. I left so many urgent requests to be called back but no one ever called me back. I would go from Sales, Advertising, customer support, and development departments leaving messages to no avail. Finally, after 4 days I found a phone number and a real person answered. Once I explained my situation they told me, "Well you signed the document". I signed because after 4 years of talking to sales people I had a level of trust and never knew or believe these people would be so corrupt to take money and I have not received not even one phone call must less a customer. They told me that they delivered over 5, 000 ads for me in November and December but when I asked where were they sent to they start stammering just another Big Lie. They refuse to give me my money back and my bank agrees that I was scammed and the BBB of San Francisco told me that they had a 95 percent negative ratings with over 1, 500 complaints against them in the last 3 years. My bank will not give me back the money and being a senior citizen on a limited income this has really been a big financial jolt.
I notice that Yelp does not recommend reviews that allege serious problems with AFC urgent Care in Denver that verge on medical malpractice. This is dishonest and unethical, plus could place future customers' health in jeopardy.
Yelp just purchased EAT24 for $134 million (2/12/15)- wouldn't it be enlightening to see the reviews the newly purchased company gets?- Not on Yelp, but other sites.
I truly believe that Yelp is a non reliable site. I noticed that 5 start restaurant did not deserve even one star
I also noticed that another business had all the good reviews filtered by Yelp
It is clear how Yelp manipulates reviews with a nice financial reward. They want you to advertise in Yelp
I believe that they can expect more and more lawsuits
They will probably need to change the way that they run the site considering that more and more people
is becoming aware about Yelp. I heard that they plan to open a new website Jerk, where real people will be
able to vent experiences with Yelp.
completely agree, our business has 5 star reviews and only one negative which is lame at best with a false allegation to boot. Only one good review is showing and the bad review. insane and just like the age old practice of the BBB to extort membership dues from businesses to keep the record clean. I have always refused to join the BBB and always will it is a crooked enterprise as is Yell(p). Sadly not only is it on their site but shows on yahoo and some others as well which is even more damaging. and unlike others like google you cannot respond to a bad review. The laws must change in order to protect businesses from competitors that use these reviews to harm their competition as we have seen happen to us and it is no different from slander and libel.
Unfortunately, only boards like this one help us make informed decisions because the BBB only cares about getting paid, same with Yell(p[!). As long as you sign on the dotted line, they could care less. It's all promises of how much business they will generate, but in the end it is bull$#!t
Couldn't agree more with everything that is being posted about YELL(p). I'm a small business owner. At one point we had 4 positive reviews on that site. One day we get a review from someone who admits to never using our service. Then they go on about how we are a terrible company. I contact YELL(p) to have it removed (it does violate 3 of their own rules for posting). They refuse to take it down unless I advertise with them at $300 a month (for a year!). I refuse. Next day all the positive reviews are gone, leaving only the 1 negative review from the customer that never used us. A week later another call from YELL(p) asking about advertising.
Fast forward 2 years. We now have 28+ 5 star reviews being filtered out. Only the negative reviews show up (3 total - 1 of which never used us.) I have to date sent 39 emails to YELP with no response, other than a call every couple months trying to get my $300 a month. I have called 26+ times, and never get a return call. I have filed complaints with the BBB - they have over 600 complaints - yet are still given an A+ rating. Never heard back from them, yet they closed the complaint. Their site says they have a review filter and it isn't human controlled. That is TOTAL BS. Of the 28+ 5 star reviews that are being filtered, a dozen of those reviewers have left reviews for other companies. Those reviews are posted, yet the reviews they leave for my company are not. So your review filter must have something in their about only posting positive reviews to companies who pay the YELL(p) extortion fees?
39 emails and counting - no response. 26 messages left via phone - no response. BBB complaint filed - they closed it without ever contacting me. Bogus review - still posted and one of the only reviews showing up. I have asked several times for our company to be removed - still there. I agree with the individual who posted previously. YELL(p) is unethical, illegal, and will be the first person dancing in the streets when they FINALLY get what they deserve. They extort $ from small business owners, and if they don't get their $$ they try to ruin the company by listing only bad reviews and "filtering" out the good ones.
SOMEONE PLEASE POINT ME IN THE DIRECTION OF AN ATTORNEY WILLING TO GO AFTER THIS HORRIBLE COMPANY. The fact our government sits and talks about helping small business, etc... but lets companies such as this operate illegally is sickening and clearly shows they care more about the almighty $ than what is right. BBB - you should be ashamed of yourself. 600+ complaints and they get an A+ rating? I will not be renewing my BBB membership this year, since it is TOTALLY OBVIOUS you only care about your membership fees and not whether a business is actually ethical or not. I thought we put an end to the mob... it appears they just call themselves YELL(p) now.
Thank you Jim! You have made my day Sir! Your dissection of the "Yelp HQ" tone and position is spot on.
Now we just need to get these stories put on headline news around the country, or better yet, written up in the NYTimes and WallStreetJournal.
We call is Yell (p!), so as not to give them any more keyword richness than they already have. And yes, Yell (p!) is a scam.
Best of Luck
so what happened? did you get it off yet
Yelp is a scam!!!
I own a beauty salon in Southampton, NY. I had nothing but positive reviews. As soon as one bad review came up, Yelp filtered all the others and dropped my star rating down to one star. I am a destination, resort community business. There are transient clients that look to sights like yelp for reviews. That type of negative publicity could hurt my business severely.
To make matters worst, someone countered the bad review. That never even made it passed the filter. It was filtered automatically! Also, when you try to read the filtered reviews, the verification letters that pop up are upside down and backwards, making it impossible to even read the filtered reviews. This site is a complete scam! They want your advertising money to show filtered, positive reviews! Do not advertise with them!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
They remove complaints .Therefore they are uselees to consumers.
Nothing, but problems, stay away
We have a restraining order from a past employee who TOLD US he posted a completely false and slanderous review and Yelp will not consider removing it. I've sent 14 emails to [protected]@yelp.com. Each time, they answer me, but there's no progress. Our lawyer is building this into our case, but it might not be resolved until 2012. Does anybody have any advice as to what we can do in the meantime? I want them to look into the email address that the account is registered under and any activity on the account (i.e. changing the username) which I'm certain they can track, but they refuse. Urgent advice needed!
Hey man I suggest keep doing what your doing. Keep fighting yelp. However there are things that you can do in the mean time. Take a 3rd party approach. Get a company that helps broadcast positive reviews from your customer base. The best way to combat the negative is to empower the positive. I would love to discuss this further with you. Feel free to contact me if you get a moment.
bforbes@proinsites.com
I have a psycho ex and I am always having to watch my back. Well recently on yelp I found out I have a "fan" and what they do is track your reviews. Well there is no way to find out who this fan is. I emailed "customer care" at yelp and they flat out refuse to tell me who this fan is. They are saying for the fans protection they cannot tell me who it is. I explained the situation about my ex and how I have a restraining order and they still would not help me. So more or less they refuse to protect me from some nut who follows all my reviews. I think I have the right to know if someone is tracking my reviews. For a site that gives people the opportunity to rate about customer service they should look more closely at their customer service because it sucks. For your situation have you considered talking to a lawyer about possible slander charges?
This site is very unfair in listing their posting
This site is very unfair in listing their postings. I have posted on several businesses and some recent postings will go to the top while others will not show up at all or be filtered. This seems very unfair to the person posting and certainly to a business when there is a positive posting.
Further, anyone associated with these sites should not be able to post to these sites.
Perhaps every review should just stand so you get a bunch of fake reviews written by business owners' family members? Haven't you been hoodwinked into purchasing an awful game on Apple's Appstore because of fake reviews that were misleading and clearly written by people who made the game? Reviews need to be filtered to get the best result in the long run. Just because you don't get how the site filter works, doesn't mean it's wrong. You just don't understand it.
Complaint
I'm taking time out of my busy schedule to inform the public to not list their business on www.yelp.com, it is a review website for businesses.
They are the modern day extortionists, scam artists.
I have had numerous clients that have been in business for years.Their reputation has been ruined by www.yelp.com and fake reviews.
For example one of my clients Dr.Joe lists his practice on yelp.com, he gets 10 positive real reviews from clients.Then he gets 2 negative fake reviews without any merit or proof etc.Yelp removes the 10 positive reviews and leaves the 2 negative fake reviews.Then yelp offers to remove the reviews for 1, 000.00 dollars!
Im not going to go on and on, lets just say yelp.com has a couple class action lawsuits in process against them.
Bottom line, their is plenty of other better websites .
DO NOT EVEN VISIT, LIST, REVIEW on YELP.COM
You WILL Regret it.
Thanks
Mike
Thanks for that Mike. I wholeheartedly agree with you and if I had a choice I would not "list" with them. I in fact; did not create a business listing with them, which makes their business practices even more exploitative. They purchase business directories and place them whether you want it or not. You have a choice as to whether or not to "claim" the business but beware - if you do not claim it you are at a severe disadvantage, you have no other business information that is positive and you are not able to publicly respond to reviews. For 5 years I have been so "anti" yelp that I did not claim the business nor did I give the reviews any merit. I was already using a certified review company that sent reviews to every one of the patients I see on a daily basis; after a year I have over 200 reviews and a 96.5% satisfaction rating as opposed to yelp where I have a 2 star rating by a people whose names I do not even have in my database. Their "reviews" don't reference anything about the services I provide only a personal attack. The "reviewers" don't even live within a 70 mile radius . To top it all off: If you want to run a deal with Groupon, Living Social or any of the other deal sites and your business is not at least 3.5 stars on Yelp they won't even consider you until you get your rating up. I've had lengthy discussions with representatives who agree that too much relevance is placed on yelp. It is too easy for false reviews and their "filters" are ridiculously ineffective. They are on the first page in a Google search on any company name. It is my sincere hope that something can be done and I am willing to join any force to combat yelp and it's
Dishonest company
I have a business in Orange County, California. I have had 5 different people review my business; one of them was a terrible review, the remaining were excellent. The one bad review was given by someone who says he was a client of mine, but wasn't. Yelp keeps deleting any review which is good, while leaving the bad review posted at all times. What a disappointment Yelp is. Having seen how they skew the reviews in a very dishonest fashion, I could never believe one of their reviews, again. I'm not sure what their agenda is, but I've heard there are several class action suits against them for shaking down businesses. It couldn't happen to a more deserving site.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Did you file to BBB or FTC or just whine about it?
Fraud
Let me start by saying that I am a business owner, whose business is obviously listed on Yelp.com. We had good & bad reviews as any other place, but more good ones, total of 47 reviews sine we've been in the business for over 6 years.
Couple of months ago I got a phone call from a Yelp.com sales representative (whose name was Mathew) offering me to advertise on Yelp.com for about $300 per week, which I of course declined. A couple of days later yelp.com removed 42 of my companies' reviews! Leaving us with only bad reviews... this type of activity is clearly fraudulent so please sway away from yelp.com!
The very same thing happened to our business as well as a friend of mines from Miami! We had plenty of 5 star reviews, a few months ago we received a phone call from Yelp asking if we would like to advertise for somewhere around $350 monthly. We declined and the next day all of our reviews were gone and there was a 1 star horrible review left in their place. We are so upset and just have no clue how this could be legal. I know of other business owners that have had similar experiences, one damaged so badly by the bad reviews that they have jumped onto one of the many class action lawsuits.
They delete complaints
Yelping on yelp. If you post a consumer complaint and others don't like it including other patrons Yelp will take it down. However, they will let the patrons personally and publicly attack you for voicng an opinion.
Any even semi decent and honest company would as is the case with say Kayak refuse to delete both good and bad reviews for payment. Yelp are in a way totally honest in that they tell you if you pay they will fall over backwards to help you, but if you refuse prepare to have your reputation destroyed!
I have reported them to the BBB and my local AG but it seems "money still talks" as nothing is going to be done about their tactics, even though the BBB has admitted that they have told them exactly what I just reported!
Perhaps they are Romney supporters too as in we need the money in order to benefit our rich corporation but the middle class just needs to pay more so we can show them who's the real boss lol.
Phony site. I wondered why all of a sudden they took down bad reviews (including mine). Oh well. Eff 'em.
DynamicDeebythesea
You are both right and wrong about this scam artist company. If a business pays them they fall over backwards to help them as you have seen. But if you refuse they remove all good reviews and only leave the bad ones. So it would seem that the company you posted about was a paying member (around $200/week) and as such is entitled to have anything they disagree with deleted!
Yes. Same experience. I wrote a bad review which was removed. Prior to posting on Yelp, out of concern, I contacted 24 Hour Fitness in San Diego because their head trainer had an assault and battery charge, a restraining order and 3 road rage violations. This is a man who is in charge of young men and women and who works closely with clients. I sent all the documentation, police report, court records, sworn statements. They did nothing. I posted about this company and this situation and Yelp removed it. 24 Hour Fitness spends a lot of money on advertising. I suspect that they "paid for advertising" which it seems is double talk for paying to remove bad reviews.
Does not allow responses to negative reviews
I am so tired of these review sites that do not allow the company that is being beat down the opportunity to explain why this customer is unhappy with services rendered. In my opinion, they are there for those individuals that are not happy unless there complaining and their family and friends are tired of hearing how they are always the VICTIM. I work for a full service moving company located in the Bay Area and am tired of the whole system of posting negative reviews from customers that do not listen or read important information sent to them via email. The worst part is they do not read the contract before signing on the dotted line. We provide all the information and it clearly states what they should expect from a moving company and what the moving company requires from them. I am a Relocation Specialist who has worked in the industry since 1997. Customers have the option to have an ON-Site estimate or an over the phone quotes. I provide my potential customers with estimates based on an Item List that either is provided to me over the phone or is submitted on-line. I address any items that have packing requirements such as electronics, glass/mirrored items, and Mattress Protection for all mattresses and box springs. I provide cost effective ways to protect these items in advance and recommend where they should consider buying any packing materials they will need, based on research done by myself. All Itra and Inter-state moves that are NOT requiring a guaranteed 2-day delivery window DOT regulated delivery requirements are provided 7 to 14 business days legally we have up to 21 business days. I address additional fees may apply if Access Conditions such as exterior stairs, elevators, or long-carries exist at the pick-up or delivery locations. I have stopped reading yelp reviews because I know first hand 85% of the customers posting negative reviews on Yelp are upset because they either thought if they do not mention items, they would only have to pay the amount quoted. I end my call the same way every time, I can make any changes to your item list, provide rates for any services you are considering, or answer any questions you may have up until 6:00 pm the last business day prior to your pick-up. If you have 5 questions a day, call me. If you have any questions during off business hours we provide 24 hour service 7 days a week. These people that complain usually book their move at the last minute, do not read all the information we provide, sign required documents without reading them thoroughly, change their delivery location after the 53' tractor trailer is in route, or simply do not ask questions when they do not fully understand.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Misrepresenting and cheating
To whom it may concern: Do not advertise with yelp or yelp.com There are 2 main reasons why you should not try to advertise with them: 1. the system does not work! promising 500 or 750 or 1500 counts of visibility does seem high to you at first, but the way they are rendering their software, the system "claims" to be generating over tens of thousands of...
Read full review of Yelp.com and 6 commentsBeware
I am writing this to tell everyone what a disreputable company is United Vacations is. Now we all know that United Airlines ranks dead last in customer surveys. I had know idea their travel partner who books all-inclusive trips could surpass that low. First of all, you need to know that United vacations has nothing to do with United. United doesn't...
Read full review of Yelp.com and 17 commentsYelp.com Reviews 0
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Most discussed Yelp.com complaints
BewareRecent comments about Yelp.com company
Health service I'm complaining about the unfairness that they removed the 5 stars with a nice client except a bad guys who put a terrible review!Our Commitment
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I am so sick and tired of this site leaving only bad comments about a company when I know for a fact that the company has done an exceptional job on the projects that they have done and furthermore this company is providing a lot of extra jobs for people that would otherwise be out of work.
Something has to be done about this site being negative about good reputable companies!
They constantly post old negative reviews and continue to do so unless you "sponsor" them what do they want? is it money?
That would be corporate black mail!
I work for a diamond certified company and that is a very good description of the type of business that we are!
please put an end to this sort of site!
I wrote two reviews. The first was about 6 months ago for a homeopath in San Francisco who helped me immensely, and about 4 months ago for a potter from Grass Valley whose ceramic pieces I own. I wrote two 5 star reviews, and they were "filtered". Why? They have a short video that explains why they filter, but it doesn't apply to me. Don't use YELP for opinions, because their own software doesn't work.
Yelp does not post reviews according to most current to older as they should. They will post reviews from 3 years ago as the newest and put a new review to the back. This is unfair to the businesses that rely on customer opinion. The staff at Yelp does not return calls, there is no customer service department, no help is available for the receiver of the reviews. We have been put at the mercy of a social network that discriminates by lying to the public who are looking for current reviews, who want to know the current opinion of other customers and want the reassurance that they will be receiving the highest service. Yelp deceives the public.
Try hitting the button that sorts the reviews by date. Also, how is this discrimination?
really ..how do you explain that comment and what prove do you have...because i have prove that they dont and they robe people more than what they help...!
I posted 6 reviews on Yelp, and all but one were suppressed. I put a lot of effort into those reviews, which reflected actual experience. Most of the reviews were very positive. Only one was a one star. I have decided not to bother with submitting any additional reviews, because Yelp is using my hard-earned effort to enrich themselves. I understand that they are planning an IPO in order to cash in on what amounts to the efforts of many uncompensated reviewers. GIven their so-called filtering system, I can never be confident that the reviews that do pass through reflect an honest assessment of the business. This makes Yelp an unreliable rating tool.
They claim to have an algorithm that tests for certain strings of words, or something along those lines, and if found filters them. I think all it looks for is excess punctuation. I looked through tons of filtered reviews and the common factor I saw was multiple exclamation points, all caps, etc.