Yelp Sucks

So about a year ago, not knowing what they were truly like, I wanted to grow my business with Yelp. I had the Yelp ads setup for the account and thought it would work in my favor. Then they started charging my account when they clearly said I won't get charged until I reach a threshold. I got almost all the money refunded, not from them, but from Wells Fargo. But there is an amount of about 300 or so dollars that I have been trying to get a refund for ever since with no luck. Fast forward to this week where I get another Yelp representative to try to sell all the same things from last year. But this time I wanted to record it for proof. Got him to explain all the stuff that the previous Yelp representative failed to do. And I also asked him to remove my card off my account to which he made some lame excuse. Also have him on call trying to get me to pay for it. Is it ethical to use that recording in any way as proof? Or do I just keep pressing him about giving my money back through email so I have written proof? Open to suggestions on how to handle this situation

I decided to write a review for a restaurant that was my all time favorite one until it's reopening... I gave it 2 star review because I was fed up by the new AI graphics over the menu, and the way they gutted my favorite menu items by taking away the vegetables. Admittantly I made an account just for that because I felt like people needed to know if they'd been there in the past how much the restaurant had changed but then when I looked today, my review was gone and when I tried to login, it said "This account has been closed."

I don't understand what I did wrong. I gave it a 2 star review, didn't use any swear words, was just honest about how disappointed I was with the relaunch, and that's the only review I ever did. Is this censorship or am I missing something?

Yelp for Business is the absolute worst, joke, waste of time app I have ever encountered. Apps are supposed to make your life easier and provide a valuable service. Yelp tries to strong arm you into advertising with them, refuses to let you prioritize photos, discourages phone calls directly to potential clients, deletes reviews, and sends fake inquiries in a pathetic attempt to remain relevant by forcing you to dust off the proverbial cobwebs and open the app.

After finally getting fed up with the fake inquiries and deleting the app, I had a client reach out to me with via a number I didn’t recognize. She said “my old number stopped working”.

🚨That means not only does Yelp not give you the actual contact number for your clients, THEY DO NOT GIVE CLIENTS YOUR ACTUAL PHONE NUMBER.🚨

In our late-stage capitalist race to the bottom, small businesses are hanging on by a thread as it is. Heaven forbid we ask clients to leave feedback AS BUSINESS OWNERS. They give some bullshit spiel like “nOt aLL bUsiNeSsEs have time to ask for reviews.” It’s none of your business what businesses have time for. Your job is to make mine as visible as possible to attract the most clients. You should literally be gamifying reviews for users. Like I’m going to take anything akin to business advice from a business that obviously has to use disingenuous tactics to stay afloat. I’ve even read stories of other Yelp for Business users being retaliated against by yelp through the app. No thanks.

If this app was a person, it would be the toxic frenemy you should have cut out of your life from the jump. Pretends to have your best interests in mind while undermining you every step of the way. Hard pass. Google encourages asking clients for reviews because they understand how valuable they are and helping businesses grow. Yelp’s aim is obviously to do the opposite. Like seriously, I can only conclude that this company is operated by actual demons.

Try deleting this review, Yelp! 😘

Getting customers to leave reviews is not always easy

One thing I've noticed with running a business is that customers are quick to reach out when something goes wrong, but when everything goes well, getting them to leave a review is a different story.

Sometimes you wish more happy customers would share their experiences too.

Check out Jess P. on Yelp.