Yelp.com

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/20) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] LLC.
We are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaign. To...

be clear, while the goal of advertising on Yelp is to drive more traffic to the business page, which may ultimately result in more customers, it is important to keep in mind that results are not guaranteed. When advertising with a Cost Per Click program, you were electing to pay every time a user clicks on your ad impression. You were also paying for additional features including a featured video, call tracking, and an enhanced profile (which included competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow).
Our records indicate that your advertising program began on October 27, 2015. Per the terms of your advertising agreement, we require 30 days written notice to your account management contact if you wish to terminate your advertising program. As you provided your cancellation request on December 7, 2015, your advertising program was terminated on January 6, 2016.
You also expressed concern with the amounts you were charged. Please note that your advertising program is billed in arrears, so the $88.38 you were charged on November 1, 2015 was for advertising services delivered from October 27 to October 31, 2015; the $428.85 charged on December 1, 2015 was for services delivered in November, and the $600 you were charged on January 1, 2016 was for services delivered in December.
Please note that per the terms of your advertising agreement, early termination is subject to a fee. Since you chose to end your program before the end of the 12-month term, an early termination fee of $700 was charged on January 7, 2016.
Additionally, you are responsible for a balance of $143.76 for advertising services delivered from January 1 - 6, 2016. Once that amount is collected, you will not incur further charges.
You also wrote, "We never got the video we were supposed to get." As you may recall, Yelp has partnered with the company SmartShoot, who films and edits the video. It looks like one of our account managers, [redacted], send you an email on December 4, 2015 letting you know that she resent the video request to SmartShoot and provided you with a phone number where you could reach them as well. Additionally, we refunded you $100 on December 9, 2015 for two months of the featured video fee.
With regards to your comment, "Yelp claims we have received 1 min calls which they billed us for," we want to clarify that your advertising program included the Call Tracking feature at a fixed cost of $25 per month, but you were not charged per call.
We hope you will continue to take advantage of the free features available to you on your business account to engage with the Yelp community. For guidance, please visit https://biz.yelp.com/support/using_business_account
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Hi Elise,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Viridium Environmental.Our records indicate you signed up for an advertising program with a $275 per month Yelp Ads budget plus $50 per month page upgrades, for a...

monthly maximum of $325. The $50 per month page upgrades included features such as a Call To Action button, a slideshow, and competitor ad removal. Your advertising program was a cost per click (CPC) program and your ads budget was set at $275, which means you were charged when someone clicked on your ad and you agreed to pay up to $275 a month for those ad clicks. If you did not reach your monthly budget cap, you would be charged for the ad clicks you received. However, if you did reach your monthly budget cap, we no longer delivered ads for your business for the remainder of the month so that you wouldn't have to pay more than you agreed to.After you signed up for your advertising program, we sent you an automated email that recapped your purchase and the details of your campaign, including that you will be charged monthly, up to a maximum of $325.It looks like your advertising program included a promotion of up to an additional $100 in free Yelp ad clicks be applied each month over 12 months. You can see how much of the promotion was applied each month on the individual billing statements available in the Billing tab of your Yelp for Business Owners account at[redacted]Cost-Per-Click ads are delivered in categories matching your specific business, as well as other similar categories that our ad delivery system has identified as relevant. The price you pay per click is based on competition and relevance, but you'll always pay the least amount needed to win the click. We aim to maximize the number of clicks you get for your budget over the course of the month, and you should plan to have 100% of your budget fulfilled. Occasionally competitive demand prevents this, but you'll only be billed for the cost of the clicks you received in that monthly billing period.You also expressed concern with the early termination fee. Please note that the early termination fee was stated on the "Finalize your order" page when you purchased your advertising program. By purchasing this advertising program, you also agreed to the Master Advertising Terms: [redacted]. As indicated in those Terms, we require 30 days written notice to Yelp's account management team if you wish to terminate your advertising program.We've forwarded your message to the appropriate parties, and it looks like a Customer Success Manager, David, has recently left you voicemails and sent you an email. If you would like to cancel your advertising program or would like to further discuss your concerns, please reach out to David for further assistance.Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/15) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted] Boutique.
You expressed concern that your business page for [redacted] Boutique had not yet been...

updated to reflect that your business has closed. We have systems in place to keep our data accurate and timely but from time to time, errors or delays can occur. We've gone ahead and marked [redacted] Boutique as closed, and while we don't remove business pages in cases like this, closed businesses eventually stop appearing in search results over time.
You also expressed concern with some reviews. If you believe a review violates Yelp's Content Guidelines (http://www.yelp.com/guidelines), you can report the content by clicking the flag icon next to it. You'll need to be logged in to an account in order to view the flag icon.
For instructions on how to report content, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/article/How-do-I-report-a-review?l=en_US.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I have submitted dozens of flagged bot and fraudulent reviews and have never received any response from your company. They show up in "not recommended" and I want them removed immediately since they are not from real clients we ever had - flagging them and emailing you has never done anything nor have I ever received a response from you until now having to go thru the Revdex.com. I would appreciate them taken down effective immediately.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/08/03) */
Hi [redacted],
Looking at our records, we have only received one inquiry from you regarding the review by user [redacted] K. The review has been evaluated by the Yelp Support team and left up, as it was not found to be in violation of our guidelines. Yelp does not take sides in factual disputes. Rather, if a review appears to reflect the personal experience and opinions of the reviewer, it is our policy to allow the user to stand by his/her review.
While reporting content doesn't guarantee that it'll be removed, please be assured that our team looks at every inquiry and carefully evaluates the content against our guidelines. Each case will be reviewed by our team in the order it was received. Typically, you will receive a response to your report within a few business days. If you don't believe you've received our response, please be sure to check all email and spam folders (you may want to add [redacted]@yelp.com to your contact list).
As stated before, since your old business has now been marked closed and will eventually stop appearing in search results. In the meantime, we would again suggest that you flag any reviews you feel violate Yelp's Content Guidelines (http://www.yelp.com/guidelines).
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/11) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns.
As you probably are already aware, we look to reviewers to write honestly and stand behind their reviews, and we look to businesses to engage...

constructively with customers who haven't had a positive experience. We're sorry to hear that you may have felt undue pressure from this business regarding your review.
If you believe the message you received violates Yelp's Content Guidelines (http://www.yelp.com/guidelines) please report it so that the message exchange can be evaluated by our moderators. For instructions on how to report a message, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/article/How-do-I-report-a-message?l=en_US
Additionally, you can also click "Block User" next to their message or username to prevent unwanted messages.
With regards to your comment, "I'm requesting an investigation into the removal of honest feedback regarding Yelp reviews against Freeport Bakery," we want to clarify that if a review is not appearing on the main Yelp listing of a business, it would be for one of three reasons: the review is currently not recommended by Yelp's automated recommendation software (which affects both positive and negative reviews); the review was found to be in violation of our Content Guidelines or Terms of Service and has been manually removed by the Yelp Support team; or the user elected to remove the review him/herself.
If a review is brought to the attention of the Yelp Support team and is found to fall outside our Content Guidelines, the Yelp Support team will take appropriate action, such as removing the review. That said, please note the action that the Yelp Support team takes is separate from actions taken by Yelp's automated recommendation software. If a review is not recommended, that does not necessarily mean it is in violation of our guidelines.
One of the ways we try to help Yelp users discover local businesses is by using automated software to showcase reliable reviews. The software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability and activity on Yelp. This means that solicited reviews may not be recommended by our software, but sometimes a legitimate review may not be as well. What is recommended can change over time, and a review that is not currently not recommended may be recommended on another day.
Please visit our Support Center for more information: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
Regards,
Helen
Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:Sincerely,[redacted]
 
THAT MAKES SENSE WHY YOU GUYS ONLY HAVE A 2 STAR REVIEW WITH [redacted] AND DO NOT LET PEOPLE LEAVE REVIEWS ABOUT YELP ON YELP. YOU ARE NOT A REAL COMPANY

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/17) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing.
We are unable to locate your business page with the information that you've provided. Could you please reply to this message with a direct link to the page, so that we can look into this...

further?
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/11/19) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
That would be because after some guy named [redacted] tried to sell me more ads before I could even use the "free" $100, my yelp page completely disappeared. I can only get to it if I click the link in an email yelp sent me. He buried it or something. Wicked company! http://m.yelp.com/biz/[redacted]
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/12/07) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for sending the link.
Our records indicate that you signed up for a self serve Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising program on October 28, 2015 through your Yelp for Business Owners Account. However, it appears you did not apply a promo code to your campaign at that time. If you received a promotional offer code, it needed to be entered during Step 3 (the billing page) of the Yelp Ads tab, where it said, "Have a Yelp Ads offer code? Click here".
It looks like you cancelled your CPC ads on November 1, 2015 through your Yelp for Business Owners Account. Please keep in mind that we bill our CPC advertising programs in arrears. There is a $11.83 outstanding balance on your account for advertising delivered from October 28, 2015 to November 1, 2015, which breaks down into $8.96 for the ad clicks you received from October 28 - 31, 2015 plus $2.87 for the ad click you received on November 1, 2015. You can reach our Finance Department at (XXX) XXX-XXXX to make your final payment.
You also expressed concern that you were unable to find your business page on Yelp. We want to assure you that Yelp does not retaliate against businesses for any reason, including asking questions, expressing concerns, filing complaints, or declining to advertise. It looks like there may have been an issue with the map marker on your business page, so we've gone ahead and updated the page accordingly (http://www.yelp.com/biz/[redacted]) and it looks like this page is now appearing in our search results (http://www.yelp.com/search?[redacted]). Additionally, we want to clarify that a business's decision whether or not to advertise on Yelp does not affect its placement in our numbered search results. Yelp's natural search results algorithm is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. While we can't guarantee specific results or business rankings, we are always working to improve our search tool so that we can deliver the most relevant local results to our users.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:  I have a few reviews and you will only post the negative one. I have positive reviews that you will not show with the negative ones.  Your company consistently calls my business and tries  to market their business.  I have asked to be not called back and put on do not call list you do not listen to that.  You are hurting my business with the negative review that post soon as my business is googled.  Why does it come up under mapquest and yelp.  It’s very annoying that you single out only negative reviews and will not post any positive review when my company is searched.  This is a complaint I am sure you hear all the time.  You are destroying small businesses reputation and demand money to to complete reviews against other competitors.  Please take all my reviews off or post all over them it’s pubic information like you said or remove my business.  Sincerely,Rick [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: It's the same reponse I have received repeatedly.
HOWEVER, [redacted], an account manager, subsequently reached out to me and helped resolve the issue to my satisfaction. Apparently it was not noted to my account, or occurred after [redacted] responded to my complaint. Thank you to [redacted] for providing a resolution.Sincerely,[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/23) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted].
You expressed concern that your business is listed on Yelp. We license basic business information from...

third party data providers who gather this type of information from public records and other sources. We also get business information from our users, who are helpful enough to correct the info we have, or let us know about a new spot that just opened down the street. You asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business 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. More importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.
We also want to make sure you know that a business's decision whether or not to advertise on Yelp does not affect how the reviews on its listing are treated. Businesses are not punished if they don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded with preferential treatment with regards to their reviews if they do advertise. We understand there are some misconceptions about this, so we invite you to visit http://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq and http://officialblog.yelp.com/2013/05/no-yelp-doesnt-extort-small-businesses-see-...⇄ to learn more.
Additionally, please note asking for reviews is not something we encourage. For one thing, most businesses tend to ask their happiest customers to write reviews, not the unhappy ones. These self-selected reviews tell only part of the story, and we don't think that's fair to consumers. We would much rather hear from members of the Yelp community who are inspired to talk about their experiences without a business owner's encouragement. More information can be found here: https://biz.yelp.com/support/review_solicitation

It's important to note that Yelp uses automated software to showcase helpful and reliable reviews from the Yelp community. As a result, you shouldn't be surprised if our software fails to recommend the reviews that you've asked your customers to write. Your best bet to get high quality and unbiased reviews about your business is to provide a memorable and amazing customer experience it has nothing to do with asking your customers to post on Yelp.
The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp. It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.
To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/10/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
They say that the listings are "this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law" but why do they tamper and change the information to serve their business better? They HIDE information such as GOOD LISTING REVIEWS and SHOW information suc as BAD LISTING REVIEWS, not only this shop but MANY MANY others. This rep. is outright lying and if Revdex.com can not see this, the we will have to move this to a courtroom. Companies like this who twist information that is per then protected by law, please show me that law, is making enormous amounts of money to twist it back once you are a member and advertise. Our shop in California had bad reviews, paid a monthy fee and suddenly all the bad reviews are hidden and good reviews are shown. This company is a FRAUD!
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/11/04) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your response.
You have again alleged that Yelp manipulates reviews to favor advertisers. However, with respect to reviews, paying businesses have absolutely no advantage. The automated recommendation software does not distinguish between advertisers and free listings, and the revenue side of our business operates independently of the content side of our business, just as a newspaper might put a firewall between their advertising and reporting functions.
It also sounds as though you don't accept our explanation of the recommendation software, but we can only stand by our previous statements. Yelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable ones. This means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cut. We acknowledge that even some legitimate reviews will not be recommended, but we still believe that the recommendation software as a whole makes our site more trustworthy and useful to consumers.
As indicated in our prior response, the recommendation software is automated to help avoid the potential for human bias inherent in individual decision-making: we cannot reverse the software's decisions, either to suppress an active review or to restore a review that isn't currently recommended. This also means (and I can say this with 100% certainty) that we cannot manually manipulate the recommendation software to favor an advertiser or punish a non-advertiser. But once again, the system is not static reviews may come and go as the recommendation software picks up new information.
Additionally, while we understand your concerns, we want to make sure you are clear that federal law bars lawsuits against websites like Yelp for the decisions they make about which reviews to post or remove. See Carafano v. Metrosplash. com. Inc., 339 F. 3d 1119 (9th Cir. 2003); Zeran v. America Online, Inc., 129 F.3d 327 (4th Cir. 1997); Barrett v. Rosenthal, 40 Cal. 4th 33 (Cal. 2006).
We do understand the recommendation software can be frustrating at times, and your feedback is appreciated. When it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviews. It's no easy task, and there is always room for improvement. We hope to be able to continually improve on this issue.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted].You expressed concern with the recommendation software. As you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable content. The...

recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static -- reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: [redacted]You also expressed concern with a negative review. It looks like you are referring to the review by [redacted] We've looked at [redacted]'s review, and have elected to leave it up. If a review appears to reflect a user's personal experience and opinions, it is our policy to let the user stand behind his or her review.We noticed that your colleague already used his free business account to post a public comment on this review. Many reviewers respond favorably to business owners willing to engage in constructive conversation, and at the very least, other Yelp users appreciate seeing business owners take a proactive approach to dealing with customer concerns.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted]As you noted, you redeemed a $300 promotional ad credit. To redeem the $300 credit towards Yelp ads, you were required to sign up for our Cost Per...

Click (CPC) advertising campaign and put a credit card on file. You set your Cost Per Click monthly budget at $450. Once the promotion runs out, advertising continues until you stop your ads through your Yelp for Business Owners Account.Your advertising program was a self-serve program, which means that ads can be turned off by the business at any time through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. If you only wanted to use your $300 promotion, you would have needed to log in and end the program once that credit was used. In Step 3 of your ad setup there were Q&A's on the right side of the page explaining that you could stop your ads any time through the Yelp for Business Owners site: "Can I stop any time? Yes. There's no commitment or obligation. Just come back to the Yelp for Business Owners site and stop your ads. You will be billed at the beginning of the next month for any clicks you bought before you cancelled."Below is a more detailed description of how the promotion was applied:November 1 - 30, 2016- You received 59 ad clicks which cost a total of $443.26- The costs did not exceed your selected $450 monthly budget- $300 of your $300 credit was used and you paid $143.26December 1, 2016- You received 2 ad clicks which cost a total of $19.15- You had 0 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used in November- You are responsible for $19.15 for advertising services delivered in December.You can view a breakdown of how many ad clicks you received by logging in to your Yelp for Business Owners Account at [redacted] and then clicking on the Yelp Ads tab.Your advertising program has been terminated. We have forwarded your concerns to the appropriate parties for their consideration, but at this time, as advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to, we will not be able to waive the remaining balance of $19.15 for advertising services delivered on December 1, 2016. Once this amount is collected, you will not incur further charges. Thanks for understanding.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted]It looks like your business page has been marked as closed, and that you were able to remove the photos you posted:...

[redacted] While we don't remove business pages in cases like this, closed businesses eventually stop appearing in search results over time. Additionally, please note that we cannot control what gets displayed on Google search. Please keep in mind that results in Google do change over time, so the content in question should drop off eventually.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing back.We first want to clarify that asking for reviews is not something we encourage. For one thing, most businesses tend to ask their happiest customers to write reviews, not the unhappy ones. These self-selected reviews tell only part of the story, and we don’t think that’s fair to consumers. We would much rather hear from members of the Yelp community who are inspired to talk about their experiences without a business owner’s encouragement. More information can be found here: [redacted]As previously noted, Yelp uses automated software with the goal of showcasing helpful and reliable reviews from the Yelp community. As a result, you shouldn’t be surprised if our software fails to recommend the reviews that you’ve asked your customers to write. Your best bet to get high quality and unbiased reviews about your business is to provide a memorable and amazing customer experience, rather than asking your customers to post on Yelp.While acknowledge that even some legitimate reviews will not be recommended, we still believe that the software as a whole makes our site more trustworthy and useful to consumers. Additionally, as indicated in our prior response, the recommendation software is automated to help avoid the potential for human bias inherent in individual decision-making: we cannot reverse the software’s decisions, either to suppress an active review or to restore one that isn’t recommended. But once again, the system is not static -- reviews may come and go as the recommendation software picks up new information.We do understand the recommendation software can be frustrating at times, and your feedback is appreciated. When it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviews. It's no easy task, and there is always room for improvement. We hope to be able to continually improve on this issue.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
You said, "More importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses."  However, you are NOT sharing their experiences.  This is not acceptable, and I am kindly requesting my patients' positive experiences to be published.  These are just as reliable as the ones Yelp software chose to publish, and more proportionately reflect MY COMMUNITY's opinion of my business (that is, the majority is positive).  The reviews that Yelp has chosen to publish can only HARM my business.  This is defamation (false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another).Sincerely,[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/18) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted].
You expressed concern with a negative review. We assume you are referring to the review...

by [redacted] B, as you've previously flagged this review. We wanted to let you that after further evaluation, we have removed the review by [redacted] B because, as written, it falls outside our Content Guidelines. Please keep in mind that if the user chooses to post a new review and that content falls within our guidelines, we will allow it to remain on the site.
You also expressed concern with the recommendation software. As you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable content. The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured. The software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.
It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.
To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
Finally, with regards to your comment, "[redacted] opened up another yelp page, yelp deleted that one," it appears that the duplicate business pages have been merged.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/06/22) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
To Whom This May Concern;
I thank you and I appreciate you removing that review by [redacted] B. I do not think that you realize how much time we have spent on trying to resolve this directly with yelp earlier on. Numerous calls, flagging, writing, setting up a new page etc. etc. The most aggravating part is that your personnel that answers the phone is not helpful at all. No one seemed like the were even remotely willing to help us.
We are not satisfied with the fact that there are 11 (eleven!!!!) reviews on our [redacted] page and none of them show. All of the are "unrecommended" and none of the factor into our rating. It is sad to read that you still trying to make a case for your software. It is obvious to us and everyone around us that it is not a fair way to represent a business by showing one extremely negative review and none of the 11 positive reviews.
As a last request, I ask you to please delete our page as it was opened up on yelp by [redacted] B. with the goal of harming our business. This has been a long and extremely aggravating patch and yelp has left nothing but a bad taste... Truly the worst "business experience" we have ever had.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Owner
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/07/06) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your response.
You expressed concern with "how much time you have spent on trying to resolve this directly with yelp earlier on." For future reference, if you have already received an email from us about our decision to remove or leave up content you reported and would like us to take a second look, you can submit a new inquiry by providing the case number (this is provided in our previously emailed response to the content you flagged) here: http://www.yelp-support.com/article/Can-I-request-a-second-evaluation-of-somethi...⇄ /> With regards to your concerns with the recommendation software, we can only stand by our previous statements. Yelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable ones. This means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cut. We acknowledge that even some legitimate reviews will not be recommended, but we still believe that the software as a whole makes our site more trustworthy and useful to consumers.
As indicated in our prior response, the recommendation software is automated to help avoid the potential for human bias inherent in individual decision-making: we cannot reverse the software's decisions, either to suppress an active review or to restore one that isn't recommended. But once again, the system is not static reviews may come and go as the recommendation software picks up new information.
We do understand the recommendation software can be frustrating at times, and your feedback is appreciated. When it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviews. It's no easy task, and there is always room for improvement. We hope to be able to continually improve on this issue.
Finally, you asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business 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. More importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/07/08) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Thank you, I will certainly re-report the previously flagged comments.
Your software just proved the point again, twice:
1) a person posted neg. comments for a friend. That review shows in the rating. Yet, customers with personal direct experiences do not show in the rating and their reviews remain unrecommended and pretty much hidden to the viewers.
2) a second person with completely false information, is allowed to go on a rant but again, all the happy customers remain "unrecommended"
I REFUSE to accept your explanation of your software. It only lists negative reviews, time after time, it is all it does. Old or new positive reviews remain hidden.
Fake are the ones who claim "to be posting for a friend"!
It is not just frustrating, it is harmful to our business. The fact that someone opened a yelp account on our behalf to go on a rant and the fact that myself as the business owner can't even choose to close the account because you won't let me is truly very concerning.
I am by all means not requesting that all negative reviews be taken down, all this only came about because you won't let any of the positive reviews from current customers show. All we see is negative reviews from past customers, or friends of supposedly "past customers".
It is just wrong.
Sincerely,
N. [redacted]

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Thank you so much,[redacted]

Complaint[redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
I have reviewed all of yelps recommended review guidelines with how they filter. But there seems to be no logical reasoning on why the current negative reviews (old and new) for our business have been filtered to the top and why some reviews that clearly should be recommended are not. Yelp can say they operate in an unbiased fashion, but clearly they are not. Take a lesson from google. The next steps for us will be lawsuit, which I'm sure yelp is used to. Sincerely,[redacted]

Hi Jacky,Thanks for writing back.You wrote, "I should have not been charged for this. They claim it was a $300 credit and they are not going by what they are offering." However, as indicated in the breakdown I previously provided, you received the full $300 value of the promotional credit. Specifically, $52.97 of the credit was applied towards your October ads, $169.80 of the credit was applied towards your November ads, and $77.23 of the credit was applied towards your December ads, and these amounts total to $300.We also want to reiterate that once the promotion runs out, advertising continues until you log in and stop your ads through your account. You did not end your ads until January 9, 2018, so you are responsible for the outstanding balance of $413.17 for the ads you received after the promotion was used up and before you terminated your ads. Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: I have already retained a lawyer against Yelp and [redacted] for Defamation of Character, as of today. You claim that your system only accepts random review, however, it has not. Your company has now cost me many sales because of your one-star only review on the front page of [redacted], which I've done my best to address. Your system is broken for your reviews. You not only did not count ANY of the positive reviews, but you are stating that I am not encouraged to have people leave good reviews. That is not fair at all, because the opposite of that reasoning, means that I'll only have bad reviews. And not just one or two of my positive reviews FROM ACTUAL CUSTOMERS have been rejected, but a total of 27.
27 TOTAL POSITIVE REVIEWS HAVE BEEN REJECTED BY YOUR COMPANY'S SYSTEM, and the only negative one I've ever received is counting. That is unacceptable and very scrupulous business practices. To top that off, me having to file complaints, and manage emails, as well as file complaints with the Revdex.com and the Attorney General's Office, has cost me time and energy, as well as emotional stress. Your response is not acceptable, and I will go all the way to court against Yelp as well as [redacted]otely in regards to this [redacted]er. I've worked too hard to just sit back and ignore the atrocious, deceptive, and unethical business practice of Yelp.
I've taken every step necessary to fix this [redacted]er, and you've done nothing but throw policy at me. That's not going to work. Your review system is broken, and this will be fixed in the end. And I will be financially compensated by the end of this entire legal issue is complete. So please delete the review, or count the true ones. That, or this will go to litigation. 
Sincerely,[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
These reviews are fake and for some reason still pass your "algorithum" Check out the profiles of the people leaving the reviews, nearly all of them have no picture and just one review (of our old business).  The reviews also have very similar stories which means they are most likely the same person using several fake accounts.  The reviews are also defamation.  Calling someone a scam artist and demanding money is against Yelps policy from what it says on your website, yet these reviews are still there.  Again, these reviews have attacked me PERSONALLY, not my business.  The least you can do is remove my full legal name. 
If the page isn't removed soon I will escalate this matter to the FTC.  All i'm asking is for someone to actually do there job at yelp and not send me an automated response like you have done to this Revdex.com complaint. 
Remove the page, remove my name.  The business is closed.  There is no need for it to stay.  Problem will then be solved. 
Respectfully,
[redacted] Mashal
 
 
 
 
Sincerely,[redacted] Mashal