Yelp.com

Hi [redacted] ,Thank you for your response.It sounds as though you don't accept our explanation of the recommendation software, but we can only stand by our previous statementsYelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable onesThis means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cutWe 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 recommendedBut once again, the system is not static -- reviews may come and go as the recommendation software picks up new informationPlease also keep in mind that users can see reviews that aren't currently recommended by clicking on the link at the bottom of your business page.We do understand the recommendation software can be frustrating at times, and your feedback is appreciatedWhen it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify the most reliable and useful content amongst the millions of submitted reviewsIt's no easy task, and there is always room for improvementWe hope to be able to continually improve on this issue.Regards,***Yelp Inc

Hi [redacted] ,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted] You asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business informationWhile some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the lawMore importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.Regards,***Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/11/20) */ Hi ***, Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] It looks like you signed up for an advertising program with $monthly fixed costs plus up to $monthly variable costs, for a monthly maximum of $The monthly fixed costs were for your enhanced profile (which included features such as competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow) as well as for a featured videoYour advertising program was a cost per click (CPC) program and your monthly cost per click budget cap was set at $275, which means you were only charged when someone clicked on your ad and you agreed to pay up to $a month for those ad clicksIf you did not reach your monthly budget cap, you would only be charged for the ad clicks you received According to our records, your advertising program began October 14, and was terminated on October 18, You were were charged a prorated amount of $for the advertising services you received during those dates As advertising services were provided in accordance with your contract, we will not be able to offer you a refundWe hope you will continue to take advantage of the free features available to you on your business account to engage with the Yelp communityFor guidance, visit https://biz.yelp.com/support/using_business_account Regards, [redacted] Yelp Inc Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2015/11/24) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) Thank you

Hi [redacted] Thank you for writing again.We first want to address your comment, "That seems like Yelp is able to manipulate the system at their discretion." We want to assure you that our recommendation software is automated precisely so that it can apply the same objective standards to every business and every review without being overridden by someone's personal preferences.You also asked, "how was it able to allow the review then change it to not recommended?" Our recommendation software runs on a daily basis, so the results can change day-to-dayFor example, the software might pick up new information as time goes by that makes a reviewer seem more trustworthy, or the information we have about a reviewer can grow stale.Regards,***Yelp Inc

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:I have not received a voicemail from [redacted] on my personal phone or business phone.Sincerely, [redacted]

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2016/01/19) */ Hi [redacted] , Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for Pizza On Main We first want to clarify the difference between Yelp Ads and our natural search resultsWhen a user is searching on Yelp for a business in a certain area, we do our best to provide that user with a Yelp Ad applicable to their searchYelp Ads appear above the natural search results, as well as on competitors' business pagesThe Yelp Ad is differentiated from the natural search results by an yellow border, and has the notation "Ad" in next to the business name Separate from Yelp Ads are Yelp's numbered search results, which have absolutely nothing to do with who is paying usYelp'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 reviewsWhile 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 You also expressed concern with the photos associated with your menuWe appreciate you making us aware of this issue with your menuUnfortunately this matching is determined automatically, although the results may update over timeWe've also reported the issue to our Product team as we're constantly looking to improve the user experience With regards to your concern with the hours, it looks like the hours on your page have recently been updated to the following: Mon-Thu 11:am - 8:pm Fri 11:am - 9:pm Sat 12:pm - 9:pm Sun 12:pm - 8:pm If these hours are incorrect, you can log into your account at biz.yelp.com and select Business Information from the left-hand sidebar to update your operating hoursPlease note that any changes you make will still need to be approved by our moderatorsYou can also reply to this message with your current business hours Regards, [redacted] Yelp Inc

This is ridicules, I have repeat customers that you can speak with and that I can send you pictures of the jobs we completed at there housesThis is slander, I will be filing a law suit!Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:Sincerely, [redacted] ***

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/04/28) */ Hi ***, Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted] You expressed concern with the two reviews of your businessAs you may recall from the correspondence you've had with the Yelp Support team, we've looked at the reviews by [redacted] E and [redacted] C, and since they appear to reflect the personal experiences and opinions of the reviewers, we've decided to leave them intactYou wrote that "one of the reviews was by a stalker who had to be given a cease and desist notice," but please note that Yelp is not in a position to enforce such notices, and we believe such matters are better left to the courts You also claim that the other review "is from a scammer who gets free services by leaving terrible, untrue reviews to extort refunds." Reviewers shouldn't be threatening businesses with negative reviews (or offering to remove negative reviews they've already posted) as a way to extract a paymentPlease note that we won't take action in situations where a customer is simply asking for a refund to remedy a bad experience, but we do want to hear about instances where someone expressly offers to delete their negative review (or not post one) as long as they get paidWe'll need hard evidence in order to take any action, so please contact our Support team at http://www.yelp.ca/contact and detail any proof that you can share Please also note that our ability to act is limited to activity on YelpIf you are concerned about your safety outside of Yelp and believe you are being harassed or threatened, please consider contacting the authorities If you believe you are being threatened on Yelp, please flag the message exchange in question so it can be evaluated by our moderators (for Compliments, please send us a screenshot of the Compliment you received)You can prevent users from sending you any Compliments or private messages by clicking "Block User" next to their message or username You also wrote, "Yelp has removed good reviews, as some customers told me they placed reviews but Yelp would not leave them up." At this time, it does not appear that any other users have posted reviews to your business listingIf users are having trouble posting reviews, they can contact us directly at http://www.yelp.ca/contact With regards to your comment, "While they claim in their literature that people should not ask for reviews, the customer service rep told me to just ask for good reviews from customers to bury these two reviews", please note asking for reviews is not something we encourageFor one thing, most businesses tend to ask their happiest customers to write reviews, not the unhappy onesThese self-selected reviews tell only part of the story, and we don't think that's fair to consumersWe would much rather hear from members of the Yelp community who are inspired to talk about their experiences without a business owner's encouragementMore information can be found here:https://biz.yelp.ca/support/review_solicitation If you believe, however, that an individual has provided you with different information, we would like to investigate furtherTo that end, please provide us with the name of the individual whom you spoke with, their phone number, and the date and time of your conversation with them, if known Additionally, it's important to note that Yelp uses automated software to showcase helpful and reliable reviews from the Yelp communityAs a result, you shouldn't be surprised if our software fails to recommend the reviews that you've asked your customers to writeYour 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 Finally, you wrote, "I wanted to close my listing, but they said that even if I drop my business listing, the reviews will remain." From publicly available sources such as Google, your business appears to be in operationAs you may recall from the correspondence you've had with the Yelp Support team, we publish business listing information so that consumers can share their experiences about businesses in their communityBusiness listings are public information and Yelp is also permitted to use business names, even if trade-marked, so that consumers may comment about businesses and their servicesSee, for example, Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin-Michelin & Cie vNational Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada (CAW-Canada), FC XXX (XXXX) (not trade-mark infringement to use trade-marked words "in reference to the company name itself")That said, it appears the business account associated with your business listing has been closedIf you would like to create a new business account, you can do so by clicking on the "Claim this business" button, or the "Work here? Claim this business" link on your business' listing Regards, [redacted] Yelp Inc Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2015/04/29) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This is not an acceptable answer, particularly the very last paragraph where they suggest they can use my business name without my permission, even if I remove my business listing with themThey do not mention any of this when one signs up for a business listing Also note that I have never had any interruption in my practice whatever, thus their new claim that I appear not to be in business is further evidence of the gross misrepresentation of facts they are engaged inI take this to be a threat that they can go on and will go on, to try to ruin my business name by continuing to use it in order to continue to publish the harmful and untrue reviews In other words, the more sensational the review, the more impossible it will be to have it removed, because even if a business closes their business listing with Yelp, they will simply appropriate their business name and continue harming the business Neither of these two Reviewers have put their entire names, so the integrity of any such review is immediately called into question Secondly, anyone with common sense would recognize that a therapist would not care if a person crossed or uncrossed their feet during session, but one of the reviewers concocted this as part of her complaint Also note that both had the complete Program they contracted for and in fact, both had the long (hr) consultation session which took them through EVERY aspect of the Program they then signed up for PRIOR to the Program startBoth knew they would be required to sleep to a CD, to send progress reports weekly and that adherence to the Program was essential for positive outcomes...this was all discussed well in advance of their signing up for the Program When Reviewers use terms such as 'military precision', the company should know there is something amiss with the true agenda of such a ReviewerThe Program is specific and customized and the client is thoroughly apprised of every aspect of the Program in detail well before the Program starts, therefore that it was a precise program with specific steps to be followed for completion should not be grounds to put a twisted and unfair review Yelp is not interested in any evidenceI can send a copy of my letter to the stalker as proof that this person is merely retaliating and not writing a fair assessmentShe completed the entire Program, I met all of my commitments under the Program...earned all of my feeIt should be interesting that she did not complain, but instead completed the program and only once I had to do something to end her stalking of me, did she write a negative review These are not just reviews...honest reviewsIt can be clearly seen that the effort to get into the most absurd of story-telling with the most unlikely of details (crossing feet)is evidence of a true agenda of deliberate and concerted harm to a business Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2015/05/07) */ Hi ***, Thank you for your response You have again asked that we remove your listing from the site, but we can only restate what was indicated in our prior message: Yelp doesn't remove business listing information With regards to your comment, "I have never had any interruption in my practice whatever, thus their new claim that I appear not to be in business is further evidence of the gross misrepresentation of facts they are engaged in," please note that I wrote that your business appears to be in operationBecause your business is still open, we plan on leaving the listing unchanged for the benefit of consumersYou also wrote, "I take this to be a threat that they can go on and will go on, to try to ruin my business name," but please be assured that that Yelp does not retaliate against businesses for any reason, including asking questions, expressing concerns or filing complaints You also expressed concern that "Neither of these two Reviewers have put their entire names," but please note that reviews on Yelp are displayed with the user's first name and last initialRemoving reviews is not something we take lightly, and it is only done when it violates our Terms of Service or Content GuidelinesWe understand that you may be frustrated with our decision to keep these reviews up, but our position remains the same Regards, [redacted] Yelp Inc Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 11, 2015/05/12) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This is not 'resolution', it is forcing a legitimate, hardworking business person to accept the unacceptableIt is not an accident that there are some 1,complaints against Yelp and their behavior First, they trap a business person and then keep repeating the same nonsense ad nauseam when the business person starts questioning their tacticsI was never advised clearly that if I opened a Yelp account, I would be at their mercy forever They claim to be so concerned about the quality of their Reviews, yet they show complete disregard for those who trust them to be reasonable A negative review is fine, but anyone who reads these two reviews would know that Yelp has not properly critiqued them...for example, what therapist cares if a client crosses their feet? Further, Yelp is taking advantage of the fact that health care professionals are prohibited, under penalty of law, from disclosing any of the information on Reviewer's file that would show their reviews to be and malicious If Yelp were in fact decent and conscientious as they claim, with no ulterior motives, they would ask both these Reviewers to be transparent and to provide a signed and dated Consent to Release their personal file information, so that their files could be released to Yelp for assessment of the facts, instead of forcing us to defend ourselves with both hands tied behind our backs Yelp is absolutely dangerous to any healthcare practitioner and something needs to be done about this I don't know if Revdex.com can organize a class action lawsuit, but this would help, since Yelp has no interest in rectifying the damage they have done and no interest in stopping this behavior

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: I was not an employee at the business when the review was left In fact I had not been for several years at the time the review was left Seems to me that if a Yelp reviewer can leave reviews several years after they visit a business then the reviewer is the one who needs to offer up names and phone numbers for proof of services to substantiate a claim, not this call on your part for me to remember who I talked to at Yelp years ago It is complete nonsense for people to use the Yelp platform years later, it is a violation of Yelps terms of service.....to quote Yelps own terms in the additonal terms guidelines Accuracy: Make sure your review is factually correctFeel free to air your opinions, but don't exaggerate or misrepresent your experienceWe don't take sides when it comes to factual disputes, so we expect you to stand behind your review Review updates: Review updates should reflect a new experience or interaction with the businessDon't tell the same old story you've already toldIf you'd like to add new insight to an old experience, just edit your review instead of creating a new update [redacted] review is niether new nor accurate In fact it left several years after I left, so I was not employed at the business anywhere close to the time of the review, and has been removed by Yelp, and reposted again If a reviewer is required to stand behind thier review then I would like proof that the reviewer even has the tattoo mentioned and of the reciept of it provided at the shop by me ( as I provided receipts to all customers) and for the $deposit that would of been provided by me also at the shop for her and on her credit card as that is how every pays , because this girl is lying I have already complained about her accusations in the past and cannot understand why Yelp is reversing their stance on their own policies Sincerely, [redacted]

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/12/23) */ Hi ***, Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] We are sorry to hear you are not satisfied with your advertising campaign, and have forwarded your message to the appropriate parties We want to clarify 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 guaranteedWhen advertising with a packaged Cost Per Click program, you are electing to pay every time a user clicks on your ad impressionYou are also paying for an enhanced profile, which includes competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow We're also sorry to hear that you had trouble getting in touch with your account management teamIt appears you were able to speak with [redacted] on November 6, [redacted] on December 1, and Genavie on December It looks like your advertising program is currently set to cancel on January 10, Since you are choosing to end your program before the end of the initial commitment period, an early termination fee of $will be assessed per the terms of your advertising agreementThanks for understanding Regards, [redacted] Yelp Inc

Hi Daniel,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Cling & PeckWe appreciate your feedback, and have forwarded your concerns to the appropriate parties As you may recall, a Customer Success Manager, Bethany, reached out to you yesterday, February 14, to let you know that we are refunding you $Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: After you removed my review, I even CHECKED IN which means I was at the restaurant personally and my review was based on a personal experience indeedBut you still kept removing my 1-star reviewMy review has nothing to do with the news and everything to do with the factsAnd you close the account because you realize I will keep posting it? What a JOKE! You are definitely getting paid by businesses to keep them happyI never got any warning or anything because the [redacted] account, which is my username is a closed account and you know that because your email must have bouncedYou as a Yelp is a joke and people need to know what kind of scam you are runningKeep businesses happy, getting paid by the advertisement money, claiming that is not really for the reviews and removing all the 1-star reviews at businesses requestAnd if someone resists your tactics you shut down their account completelyShame on you! Sincerely,B K

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2016/01/14) */ Hi [redacted] , Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] You expressed concern with the amount of your ad click budgetOur records indicate that you signed up for $monthly ad click budget and $in Enhanced Profile features (Call to Action button, photo slideshow, and removal of competitor ads) for a total monthly maximum of $Please note that we recently moved away from a monthly ad click budget to a daily ad click budgetYou claim that you set your monthly budget at $However, when we were operating by monthly ad budget the minimum was $per month, and the minimum daily ad budget requirement now is $per day (making the monthly budget $or $per month), so it would not have been possible to set your monthly budget at $ You also expressed concern with the $you were recently chargedAccording to our records, you received $worth of advertising services ($in ad clicks plus $for your Enhanced Profile) in DecemberYour advertising program was billed in arrears, and because you had $of your promotional credit left in December, you were charged $for advertising services you received in December It appears you ended your advertising program on January 2, through your Yelp for Business Owners AccountAs advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to, we will not be able to offer you a refundHowever, your remaining outstanding balance of $for advertising services delivered in January has been waived, so you will not incur further charges We hope you will continue to take advantage of the free features available to you on your business account to engage with the Yelp communityFor guidance, please visit https://biz.yelp.com/support/using_business_account Regards, [redacted] Yelp Inc

Hi ***Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted] ***We first want to be clear know that a business's decision whether or not to advertise on Yelp does not affect how the reviews on its listing are treatedBusinesses are not punished if they don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded with preferential treatment with regards to their reviews if they do advertiseWe understand there are some misconceptions about this, so we invite you to visit [redacted] ***As you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe 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 reviewsPlease also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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[redacted] Regards,***Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/06/26) */ Hi ***, Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns We first 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 As you may recall from the message you've received from the Yelp Support team on June 16, your review updates of Sweet Arleen's were removed because they did not contain a new firsthand experience or interaction with the businessYour original review has been left up, but it looks like it is not currently included among the Recommended Reviews for the businessAs you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe 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 reviewsYou wrote, "I want the posts that I have written to be left up," but please understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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 / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2015/06/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I want my original review to be take off of the the reviews that weren't recommended and put back on the reviews that are recommendedI have the right to review a business without having Yelp decide if it meets their guidelinesAs far as I can see I haven't violated any of those stated guidelines If you look at Yelp;s own reviews this seems to be a problem with many of the Yelp reviewers Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2015/07/08) */ Hi ***, Thank you for your response To clarify, actions taken by the automated recommendation software are separate from the action the Yelp Support team takes on reviews that fall outside our Content GuidelinesIf a review is not recommended, that does not necessarily mean it is in violation of our guidelines It sounds as though you don't accept our explanation of the recommendation software, but we can only stand by our previous statementsYelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable ones 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 recommendedBut 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 appreciatedWhen it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviewsIt's no easy task, and there is always room for improvementWe hope to be able to continually improve on this issue Regards, [redacted] Yelp Inc Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 11, 2015/07/10) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Yelp is a forum to be able to critique a businessIt is unfounded to pull my recommendation to this businessIt is my right to post with a truthful depiction of a businessHow does Yelp determine whether a post can stay up or is taken down? I had a post for a neurologist that was taken down prior to this review not being recommended If we are to be able to use Yelp to determine where we want to use a business based on other recommendations whether good or bad, we should be able to do so and be able to review said businesses as well Yelp doesn't have the right to determine whether I am a legitimate poster without some sort of written communication with me to verify if I am legit or not If Yelp doesn't comply with my wish to put my recommendation, good or bad, then I will spread the good word else where and also let everyone that I know thru various social media, etcwhat a farce of a company that they are

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because the content of [redacted] review who was never a client of this firm violates Yelp's Content Guidelines and/or Terms of Service The content of the review is NOT from a "Personal experience" as [redacted] was never a client of this firm and resorts to broad generalizations and conclusory allegations The content of the review is NOT "Accurate" as it is NOT factually correct as [redacted] was never a client of this firm and exaggerates and misrepresents a experience Because yelp "doesn't take sides when it comes to factual disputes", Yelp is forcing our firm to file a lawsuit against [redacted] whose identity is unknownIn the spirit of judicial economy, our firm is DEMANDING Yelp provide any and all information it has to help our firm identify and locate [redacted] *As Yelp is aware, Yelp's Content Guidelines and/or Terms of Service requires reviewers to "stand behind their review Sincerely, [redacted]

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted] You expressed concern with the recommendation softwareAs you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe 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 reviewsPlease also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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 wrote, "Remove comments that either have nothing to do with our business, but rather are from disgruntled customers of OTHER insurance companies." If you come across content that you feel may violate Yelp's Content Guidelines ( [redacted] ), please let our moderators know by reporting itYou can do so by finding the content in question, clicking the flag icon on the website or the More Options/Overflow Menu (dots) on the appYou'll need to be logged into your account to report content.For reporting reviews, please visit: [redacted] While reporting content doesn't guarantee that it'll be removed, our team looks at every inquiry and carefully evaluates the content against our guidelinesEach case will be reviewed by our team in the order it was receivedTypically, you will receive a response to your report within a few business daysIf 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] to your contact list).With regards to your comment, "We want reviews from prior to the company overhaul to either be removed completely or hidden," please note that we do not create new listings or remove reviews for businesses that change ownership or management but continue to leverage the goodwill in the name used by prior ownership or managementFrom a consumer perspective, the businesses appear to be the sameRegards,***Yelp Inc

Hi Dominika,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Dominika [redacted] - Keller [redacted] We appreciate your feedback, and have forwarded your message to the appropriate parties for their considerationOur records indicate you spoke with a sales representative on November 3, However, it looks like you did not sign up for advertising services with this sales representative, and instead signed up on your own for a self-serve advertising program on November 4, On that date, you redeemed a $promotional ad creditTo redeem the $credit towards Yelp ads, you were required to sign up for our Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising campaign and put payment information on fileYou set your Cost Per Click monthly budget at $Once the promotion runs out, advertising continues until you stop your ads through your Yelp for Business Owners AccountYour 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 AccountIf you only wanted to use your $promotion, you would have needed to log in and end the program once that credit was usedDuring your ad setup there were Q&A's on the page explaining that you could stop your ads any time through the Yelp for Business Owners siteAdditionally, 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 payment method on file in your account will be charged monthly, up to a maximum of $300, until cancelledAdvertisers also have the option to opt in to receiving billing confirmation emails in the Account Settings section of their account.Below is a more detailed description of how the promotion was applied: November - 30, 2017- You received ad clicks which cost a total of $265.86- $of your $credit was used and you paid $0December 2017- You received ad clicks which cost a total of $300- You had $remaining promotional credit for this month because it was partially used towards your November ads- $of your remaining $credit was used and you are responsible for $for advertising services delivered in December January - 9, 2018- You received ad clicks which cost a total of $146.43- You had remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used towards your November and December ads- You are responsible for $for advertising services delivered in JanuaryYou can view ad click and billing information in the Yelp Ads and Billing tabs of your Yelp for Business Owners Account at [redacted] With regards to your comment, "I have spoken to a CS representative on the phone who ASSURED me my account was canceled, however I keep receiving invoices for increasing amounts, at this time now $412." Your advertising program was terminated on January 9, However, please note that your advertising program is billed in arrears, which means that we typically bill on the first of the month for advertising services that were delivered in the previous monthThus, we began attempting to collect $on January 1, for the ads you received in December As we were unable to collect that amount, the balance has been transferred forward, and as of February 1, 2018, we have been attempting to collect $for the advertising services you received from December 1, to January 9, As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms [redacted] you agreed to, we will not be able to waive the outstanding balance of $for advertising services delivered from December 1, to January 9, Once this amount is collected, you will not incur further chargesThanks for understanding.Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/07/30) */ Hi ***, Thank you for writing We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business pages for [redacted] Boutique and [redacted] Dog Grooming We first 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 treatedBusinesses are not punished if they don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded with preferential treatment with regards to their reviews if they do advertiseWe 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 You also expressed concern with the recommendation softwareAs you may have read, the goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable contentThe recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measuredEven though it inevitably affects legitimate reviews from time to time and misses some fake ones, too, it helps protect the integrity of the site both for consumers (who will be less likely to be led astray by bogus reviews) and business owners (who will spend less time worrying about whether their competitors are writing negative reviews about them) It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviewsPlease also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewHowever, 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 You have again stated that a review on your business should be removedWe assumed you are referring to the review by [redacted] F as you have previously flagged itYou stated that "Yelp felt they were true," however, we don't take sides on factual disputes, so we can only therefore reiterate what we previously communicated to you: if a review appears to reflect the user's personal experience and opinions, we allow the user to stand behind their review Finally, you asked for your business to be removed from Yelp, but we actually don't remove business listing informationWhile some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the lawMore importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses Regards, [redacted] Yelp Inc Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2015/08/01) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This is the same thoughtless sarcastic reply over and overA "mysterious" computer recommendation software or system is the blameWHO (and let me be clearwho meaning what Yelp human being with a first and last name) has control over that system? Give me that Yelp employee's name and contact informationI would like to know why they cannot seem to gain control of the rogue computer system as you have mentioned; all the while, Yelp is wasting my time and money and preventing me from maintaining and growing my business ***, let me make myself very clear again; I have NO misconceptions of how Yelp is causing damage to my businessI have ZERO misconceptions of how Yelp is causing damage to my businessI hope that yields clarity to the haze you believe that I am inI have kept track of my hours worked over the years after asking Yelp never to call me again to sell ad space, remove me and my businesses from the mailing lists, and to remove my business from the Yelp sitesWhat Yelp address do I send my invoice for reimbursement? Yelp has obstructed my ability to conduct business, get more customersDespite my requests, Yelp continues to harass, continues to extort for ad spaceI would not need what Yelp is offering in the form of "assistance" if I did not have misused my time managing the Yelp sitesI would have more time grow my business if it were not for YelpStill I am stalked by the constant phone calls from Yelp that pulls me away from gainfully running business and to constantly check the review postingsPlease remove ALL of the postings, positive and negative, and prevent my businesses from being postedI do not want nor need Yelp's assistance in any wayYelp is using its deep pockets of resources to impede progress of my small businesses ***, again, on Yelp's behalf you refer me to another "wonderful Yelp support resources that I didn't know I needed"NO THANK YOUI do not wish to learn about the reviews because I do not want the Yelp reviews, positive or negativeI will go get my customers myself thank you Again, I have stated to remove my businesses from the Yelp sites [redacted] your assumptions are incorrectI am not referring to the review by [redacted] FI want all postings pulled down and all visibility of my businesses removed from YelpIt is you that is experiencing a misconception, not IThere is nothing Yelp has to offer that I want AND FINALLY ***, If you could be so kind as to send me a copy of law you are referring toYou may send it to me at ***@lvgroomer.com And nowanother hours of my time wasted by Yelp! hours I could have used getting customers Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 18, 2015/10/06) */ Hi ***, Thank you for writing again It sounds as though you don't accept our explanation of the recommendation software, but we can only stand by our previous statementsYelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable onesThis means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cutWe 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 There are a number of reasons why a review might not be recommendedFor example, the review may have been posted by a less established user, or it may seem like an unhelpful rant or raveOthers may appear to be fakes (like the ones we see originating from the same computer) and some may suggest a bias (like the ones written by a friend of the business owner)Other reviews may be real reviews from real customers who we just don't know much about and therefore can't recommend You also indicated you are still getting emails from YelpIt sounds like you may be referring to our automated email notificationsTo update your email notification preferences, log in to your business account at https://biz.yelp.com/, click "Account Settings" at the top of the page, and then click "Manage your email preferences." From there, check or uncheck the appropriate boxes, and then click "Save Settings." That said, if you are receiving emails directly from a Yelp salesperson, could you please copy and paste the entire email (including headers) and send it to us, so that we can look into this further? Regards, [redacted] Yelp Inc Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (2000, 22, 2015/10/09) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) ***, The customer made statements that were absolutely untrueHow can you tell me that YOU think the statement is fairYou nor Yelp were hereI wasHow can you justify supporting these types of statements? How can you seriously expect me to accept that some computer in some room at Yelp has that much control? TAKE IT DOWN!

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] .We forwarded your message to the appropriate parties, and a director, [redacted] spoke with you on November 15, to discuss your concernsAs you may recall, we are refunding you $113.72.Regards,***Yelp Inc