Yelp Sucks

I 100% regret adding my business to Yelp so before I add it to the BBB as suggested for SEO, I wanted to hear other business owners’ experience with the platform. Anything I should know?

I've worked in the front of house (FOH) at various restaurants for over 25 years. During this time, I've learned how to create a great customer experiences for every customer every time. I never allow myself to have a bad day, and at a minimum, I believe that I try harder to provide great service than all other servers and bartenders. Over the last year, I've nearly single handedly raised our google review score by 0.1 stars. During this campaign, I've been "mentioned by name" over 60 times in google reviews. My success makes me wonder, what's the record for the most "mentioned by name" google reviews at any restaurant across the USA?

I would love to hear stories of other FOH employees that mastered the "mention by name" google review game. Bonus points for successful "mention by name" google review strategies.

I'm thinking about creating this subredit!

- I'd be the Mod and I have experience as a Mod on a completely unrelated subredit.

- I could make it for Elites only or add Yelpers that wannabe Elites and need advice!

- The Trolls & Business owners that want to bitch & moan would be banned within hours! I'm retired so I have the time to make that happen!

- I could set up an approval process to significantly limit the business owner rants!

- I'd be open to another Elite or 2 that want to try their hand at Moderating!

What do you folks think? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

In August, I made an appointment with Minnesota Aesthetic Center in Woodbury after seeing a social media advertisement offering Dysport for $3/unit for new clients. Unfortunately, my experience left me feeling completely misled by the promotion and how the pricing was handled.

I went to my appointment on September 15, 2026, and only after arriving was I told that they did not even have Dysport available, despite Dysport being the product advertised and the reason I scheduled the appointment. Instead, I was told they were using Botox or Xeomin.

Because I had previously used Botox but was unfamiliar with Xeomin, I asked the provider about the differences and relied on her professional recommendation. She recommended Xeomin, so that is what we used. Before proceeding, I specifically asked whether the promotional rate would still apply, and I was told that it would.

After the injections were completed, I went to pay. The provider came back out to confirm the number of units, and I again verified that I was being charged according to the promotional rate. I paid the amount I was given and left believing everything was settled.

The following day, September 16, I received a call telling me I had been charged incorrectly and supposedly owed an additional $615. I was then told the promotional rate only applied to 60 units—something that was not disclosed in the advertisement or explained to me before treatment. I received 55 units of Xeomin.

After I spoke with the business manager, I received another call later that day saying they would instead charge me an additional $180. While that is obviously less than $615, it completely misses the point.

I asked about the promotional pricing before the service was performed and again when I paid, and both times I was told the promotional pricing applied. I was never given a quote showing a different price, never told there would be an additional charge, and was never contacted before my appointment to tell me that the Dysport I had specifically booked based on their advertisement was not even available.

Had I been told before treatment what they now claim the actual price was, I would have declined the service and left. A customer should not be expected to absorb the cost of a business's pricing or communication mistake after a service has already been performed.

I had also scheduled a CO2 laser treatment at their advertised $349 promotional rate, but after this experience I cancelled both my touch-up appointment and the CO2 appointment. I will not be returning.

If you are considering Minnesota Aesthetic Center because of one of their advertised “specials,” I strongly recommend getting the exact product, number of units, total price, and promotional terms in writing before allowing them to perform any service. Based on my experience, the promotional price you believe you are receiving may not be the amount they later say you owe.

This was an awful and incredibly frustrating experience, especially because I made a point of confirming the price before treatment and again before paying. I expected the business to honor the price its provider confirmed—not contact me the next day asking for hundreds of dollars more.

The other day, I noticed that after every review, they have this new question that you have to answer whether a business ask you to review it or not. The kicker is this thing came up for an elite event as well as a regular business. Whatsoever is the point of this thing, it’s an annoying!

I recently had a fake account leave several one star reviews on my business account. I had never taken this person as a client/customer and the individual is attacking/harassing me in the reviews. She even mentioned some of my family’s names so it must be someone who knows me or knew me at some point.

I already flagged all the reviews they left and spoke to an agent. They expedited the report yesterday and said it would take 24-48 hours for them to remove. Is this accurate? Does anyone have a similar experience they can share and let me know how long it took for Yelp to take it down? I really am hoping it’s either today or tomorrow at the latest.

Very new business owner here! I recently signed up for yelp and was contacted by their marketing people to set up my ads. I naively thought it was part of the set up process. Something felt “off” immediately when setting it up. They said they would give me a “$900 bonus” if I stuck it out for a couple of months. I couldn’t afford the limit they were going to give me that bonus at, so I left it at that. Then, thankfully I came on here and read all the terrible reviews(ironically) on them! My question is, has it actually worked for some of you?
Btw! I canceled the yelp ad, the updates and their verified license. Like I said I’m very new to all this, it’s wild how predatory they can be.