Yelp.com

Hi Jason,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns. You expressed concern that you sent an email to your sales representative on October 9, requesting that your advertising program be terminated but your ads were not terminated until October 13,
2017. 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 AccountIf you wanted to end your ads on October 9, you would have needed to log in to your account to do soInstructions on how to terminate your advertising program were provided in the Master Advertising Terms *** you agreed to when you signed up for this program: "Notice of Termination for Ad Programs purchased through the Self Service platform on pay-as-ybasis (not subject to ETF): You may terminate the Ad Programs at any time by selecting 'End Campaign' via the interface in your Yelp for Business Owners accountYelp will bill you for fees incurred during the time period between your last billing cycle through the date of termination." Instructions were also available in Yelp's Support Center: ***We've forwarded your message to the appropriate parties for their consideration, but as advertising services were delivered in accordance with the terms you agreed to, we will not be able to offer you a refund at this timeThanks for understanding. Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe're sorry to hear that there have been issues with the Yelp Eatorder you placed, and are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns.Our records indicate you were initially charged $on December 15, for this order, and later that day you were
refunded the $and then charged $instead.With regards to your concern about the two $charges you saw, these were preauthorization charges that were separate from the transactionThese $charges should have been reversed already.If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact *** support team directly:*** *** *** *** *** *** ***Regards,***Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/25) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for *** & Wellness Center
You expressed concern with our cancellation policyAs noted in Section V
of the advertising agreement you signed, we require days written notice if you wish to terminate your advertising programAs it appears you provided a written cancellation request on August 31, 2015, your advertising program is set to cancel as of September 30, Additionally, as you may recall from the conversation you had with ***, we are waiving the early termination fee of $
We also want to clarify that your advertising program is billed in arrears, so the charge you saw on September was for advertising services delivered in AugustYou will see a charge on October for advertising services delivered in September, and once that amount is collected, you will not incur further charges
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/13) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for The *** ***
We are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaignTo 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 guaranteedWhen advertising with a Cost Per Click program, you were electing to pay every time a user clicked on your ad impressionYou were also paying for an enhanced profile, which included features such as competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow
We also want to address your comment, "My total pro-rated bill for the month of October was $This was for a period of days, from 10/21/through 10/31/The fixed portion of this pro-rated bill was $and the costs per click totaled $37.26." We want to clarify that although you signed your advertising agreement on October 21, 2015, your advertising program began on October 23, Of the $you were charged for advertising services delivered October 23-31, 2015, $was for the ad clicks you receivedThe remaining $was a prorated amount for your enhanced profile for October
You can view the number of ad clicks you received each month by logging in to your Yelp for Business Owners Account at https://biz.yelp.com/ and then clicking on the "Yelp Ads" tab
You also wrote, "I never received any direct human communication from Yelp once I entered into the contractI didn't get a call from an Account Manager for Yelp until I'd emailed Yelp advising them that I was early terminating our contract." According to our records, it appears an account manager, ***, had an onboarding call with you on October 23, It also appears she followed up via email after your conversation, and that her message included a phone number where you could reach our Account Management department
With regards to your concern with the early termination fee, please note that per the terms of the advertising agreement you signed, early termination is subject to a fee of $As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with your contract, we will not be able to offer you a refund, but 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,
***
Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/20) */
Hi ***
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** *** ***
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 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 reviewsYou asked that we "post the requested reviews" on your Yelp page, 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,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/08/24) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Yelps response agrees they have a problem with the way they screen reviews but yelp fails to offer any solution to there problemThis is unacceptable
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/08/28) */
Hi ***
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 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,
***
Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/15) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for The ***
We appreciate you bringing your concerns regarding the sales representatives you spoke with to our
attentionWe'll be sure to forward your note along to the appropriate parties
To address your comment, "Two of my 5-star reviews have now been taken down and are marked as not being "recommended" by Yelp or count toward the ranking of my businessThis has taken me down to a 2-star ranking on Yelp dramatically affecting my salesThis appears to be an attempt by Yelp to 'strong-arm' us into paying them for advertising," we want to be clear 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 advertiseFurthermore, there is zero relationship between the timing of when a review gets recommended and when a business decides to - or declines to - advertise: reviews can be recommended or not recommended days, weeks, or even months after they were first posted, and your Yelp sales representative doesn't have any influence over when that might happenWe 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
With regards to your concerns with the recommendation software, 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 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 reviewsYou wrote, "I want Yelp to prominently display, as they did originally, my 5-star reviews from actual, legitimate, verifiable customersI also want Yelp to go back to counting them toward my business ranking stars as they did originally," but please understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewAdditionally, we only look at Recommended Reviews in calculating a business's overall star ratingThat said, 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, you wrote, "I would like Yelp to do the right thing and remove the fake, unverifiable 1-star reviews." We assume you are referring to the reviews by *** S and *** C as you've previously flagged these reviewsAs you may recall from the messages you've received from the Yelp Support team, these reviews have been evaluated and left up, as they were not found to be in violation of our guidelinesYou claim that these reviews are fake; however, Yelp does not take sides in factual disputesRather, 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
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/16) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
***, your stance is that reviews that are not recommended are, in part, from reviewers who have not "yelped" very much before and are not active users that you know very much aboutIf that were true, why does Yelp "recommend" a review from *** V.? And not from *** C.? Both have only written one review and both appear to be new users*** is the fake review whom I've responded to stating we have no record of anyone by that name or any name similar*** Cis the real review - and I can prove she was here and tanned with us for a few weeks preparing for a vacation - I have a signed new client consent form from her from the day she first visited us to use a tanning bedShe used our Ergoline Level beds which are minute sessions several times throughout the month of MayAs I previously mentioned, I own a tanning salon, and the state of California requires a signed client consent form to tan in a tanning bed on every clientNo exceptionsTherefore, it's very easy for me to prove who was here and who wasn't
If your Recommendation Software was 100% automated and unbiased then logic would dictate that both of those reviews would either be recommended, or not recommended - since they have the same parameters
Furthermore, you claim that "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." However, what statements, facts, documents, or evidence are stated in either *** V.'s review, or *** Sor *** C.'s review that show they've had any personal experience with my business? None of those reviews have any specific detailsI have publicly responded to each of them and/or messaged them probing for more informationNone of them can tell me when they were here, who helped them, what they bought, what product they used, or any of their so-called "personal experiences"If their statements are from personal experience then they would at least have some of that information
Also, it's my understanding that Yelp has writers on staff as Reviewers, employees of Yelp whose sole purpose is to sit and write Reviews all day on the Yelp websiteYelp is paying them to write reviews of businessesYou state "reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors." Could this be one of those factors? If that isn't biased then I don't know what is
In conclusion, I am clearly not the only small-business owner making these claims as evidenced by all the media coverage and recent film documentary on Yelp called Billion Dollar Bullyon your side recently reported on a similar claim and the response from Yelp was to contact the fake reviewer for facts to support her claimAfter which facts could not be provided Yelp took down the fake reviewIf, as you say, "Yelp does not take sides in factual reviews" why did Yelp take down that review once they contacted the reviewer and found it not to be factual? Here is the link to the case I am citing from the owner of West Coast Moving in San Rafael, CA: http://abc7news.com/business/how-much-can-you-rely-on-yelp-reviews/XXXXXX/
I would like Yelp to reach out to *** V*** Sand *** Cand ask them for facts as wellIn the event they can't be provided I'm asking Yelp to take down those fake reviews as they've done in the afore-mentioned caseAs the owner of West Coast Moving did, I am also prepared to go the media for help with getting the word out that these things are happening
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/07/31) */
Hi ***,
Thanks for writing backYou asked why certain reviews wereor were notrecommendedWe don't go into details as to how the system works (or why a particular review is or is not recommended), but it's worth keeping in mind that the system takes into account factors that may not be apparent simply by looking at the user's profileIn the end, we want to reiterate that the goal of the review recommendation system is to showcase more reliable content
It's also important to note that the review recommendation systemwhich is automatedis separate from action the Yelp Support Team may takeThe Support Team evaluates reported reviews against our Content Guidelines (http://www.yelp.com/guidelines)If a review is not found to be in violation of our guidelines, it will be left intacthowever it is still subject to the review recommendation system
You also wrote, "it's my understanding that Yelp has writers on staff as Reviewers, employees of Yelp whose sole purpose is to sit and write Reviews all day on the Yelp website." Perhaps you are referring to "Scouts"When Yelp enters a new market (for example, when it launches in a new country), we use Scouts to post reviews of local businesses for a limited period of timeWe do this so that when users visit the new site, they see a site with content already thereThis is the only time a person is paid simply for contributing to the site, but it's important to note that these reviews are certainly still subject to Yelp's Content Guidelines, and no user is immune to the review recommendation softwareThat said, that doesn't mean that every user will have one (or more) of their reviews un-recommended; it simply means that the software applies the same criteria across the board
Thanks for understanding
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc

Hi George,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns. You wrote, "There's a business that has a star rating on yelp but only because there are negative reviews that for some reason are deemed to be "not recommended.'" We want to clarify that not
all the reviews that are not currently recommended are negativeOur recommendation software recommends both positive and negative reviews in an effort to show the most helpful and reliable reviews to our users. Because our recommendation software is automated, the Yelp Support team cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewOur 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. That said, our recommendation software runs on a daily basis, so reviews that aren't currently recommended may be recommended in the future, and vice versa. We hope you’ll take the time to watch our video about the Recommendation Software: *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/11) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for ** ***
You expressed concern with some negative reviews*** W's review has been evaluated by the Yelp
Support team and left up, as it was not found to be in violation of our guidelinesYou claim that this review "is very misleading"; however, Yelp does not take sides in factual disputesRather, 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
With regards to *** T's reviews of ** ***, the original review doesn't appear to violate our Content Guidelines, so we're leaving it upHowever, we have removed *** T's review updates because they fell outside our Content Guidelines
For future reference, 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 itYou'll need to be logged in to your account in order to view the flag iconFor instructions on how to report content, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/article/How-do-I-report-a-review?l=en_US
If you have other questions or concerns, we encourage you to visit our Support Center at http://www.yelp-support.comWe've tried to include detailed answers to the questions we most frequently receive in our Support Center, but there may be situations you encounter where you'll need to contact our Support team for assistanceFor these specific situations, there are articles in the Support Center that include submission forms to inquire about the issue
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/09/16) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is not an acceptable solutionEven according to your site if a poster posts multiple posts about the same incident, the posts will be removed*** T definitely had multiple posts and yet you are not removing them all the postsThus this does not appear compliant to your rulesFurthermore, her maligning comments are not factual and only an attempt to cause problems
Honestly I would rather have her multiple posts showing to show how her intent is to malign rather than removal of the additional posts
I do not have problems with fair and accurate reviews, but ***'s post(s) are neither
At a minimum *** T's entire post history should be removedThe multiple post of the same incident is clearly rationale to justify the removal of all the posts
If you won't remove her posts in the entirety, I would rather if your restore all of her posts so people reading your site can see her craziness
Humbly yours,
***
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/09/24) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writing back
To clarify, the update feature should be used to post about a new experience or interaction with a businessIf a user posts a review and review updates that appear to be about the same experience, we will typically remove the user's review updates but leave the original review up
With regards to *** T's review, you stated that her "comments are not factual." 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
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because:
Hello ***,
Thank you for your prompt replyHere is the browser information you requested: ***
My complaint here surrounds the fact that Yelp is in a highly leveraged position over businesses such as my own, yet is not held accountable for its own mistakes and nobody is accessible without extreme measures such as filing a Revdex.com complaint which should not be a necessary step in obtaining customer assistance
Please provide me with a direct e-mail and/or phone number for someone at Yelp to handle technical mishaps on your website
Thank you.Sincerely,***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/09) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns
According to our records, your advertising program for *** was terminated on October 31, 2014, and it appears there is currently
an outstanding balance of $for advertising services delivered in October
For further assistance with the outstanding balance, please reach out to TrueAccord, a third party collection agency we are using, at XXX-XXX-XXXX and ***@trueaccord.com
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/01) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for ***
You expressed concern with some reviews, stating "Yelp is allowing fake reviews on my business pageI
have asked them to be removed and have offered to prove that the reviews are fake." We assume you are referring to the review by *** B, as you've previously flagged this reviewAs you may recall from the correspondence you've had with the Yelp Support team, the review has been evaluated and left up, as it was not found to be in violation of our guidelinesYou claim that this review is fake; however, Yelp does not take sides in factual disputesAdditionally, as frustrating as it may sound, we don't take the place of a court of law and make evidentiary determinationsRather, 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
You also 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
Final Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2015/06/24) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for your response
You wrote, "Since hidden reviews were hidden last year, and this review is part of the cyberbullying incident, it needs to be hidden as ***." 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 being suppressed 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/herselfCurrently, reviews have been removed for violating our Content Guidelines or Terms of Service
With regards to *** B's review, you have again stated that this review is fake and have asked for the review to be hiddenHowever, 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 reviewIf you are asking that we not recommend this review, please note that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewThat said, 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 factorsTo learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
Finally, you wrote, "Yelp needs to offer an OPT OUT option for business like mine who prefere not to be listed." As previously stated, we don't remove business listing informationYelp is allowed to publish business names and publicly available information about businesses under the ***-established fair use doctrine, as *** as First Amendment principlesGenerally speaking, this means that we can display business names and trademarks "for purposes of comparison, criticism, point of reference, or any other such purpose." See New Kids on the Block vNew America Pub., Inc., F.2d 302, (9th Cir1992)
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/22) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding the business page for *** *** *** ***
We're sorry to hear you had an unfavorable experience with this business, and we appreciate
your feedback regarding the recommendation softwareWhile we recognize that the recommendation software is not a perfect system, the goal of the software is to showcase more reliable contentThe software applies the same analysis to everyone, and it affects both positive and negative reviewsWe 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
You asked that we "show all reviews, good or bad for any company listed," 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,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/12/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I understand that Yelp's software chooses the review's to show, but I want *** poor behavior and lack of being honest brokers known to potential sellers of this the companyMy review, although very wordy, full of grammatical mistakes and a bit petty is the absolute truthTo demonstrate the character of the persons at *** ***, please read the following update I provided to your site two days ago:
After going through PayPal's dispute resolution process, the company decided that *** *** sends back the fur coat at their cost to me and that I was to issue them a refundThe buyer was unable to follow simple instructions provided by PayPal and FAILED to return the coatThankfully, PayPal realized *** *** breached the terms of PayPal's initial decision and subsequently reversed their decisionAs a result, *** *** is not being issued a refund, and I was able to keep the amount *** *** paid for the coat and then held after a change of heart
Sellers stay clear of this companyThey clearly will breach contracts at will, so I would advise any seller of an old or unused fur coat to find another company in the same business of *** ***, find a local consignment shop or donate the coat to a local charity
This review should NOT hide in Yelps review's of this company as "unsuggested"In doing so, you are doing a disservice to most people looking at Yelp reviews to determine if the want to business with this company or not
Complaint Response Date bumped because: Holiday
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2016/01/04) */
Hi ***,
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 a business page, 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 recommendedPlease keep in mind that users can read the reviews that are not currently recommended by clicking the link at the bottom of the business pageAdditionally, the recommendation 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,
***
Yelp Inc
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2016/01/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/14) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for ***
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 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 asked that we recommend the reviews that are currently not recommended, 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
We also wanted to let you know that while we enable business owners to submit new business pages, the Yelp staff reviews those submissions to ensure they meet our standardsIn this situation, it looks as though the business page you submitted has been rejected because we could not verify where your business is located
If that information is available on your website or another public-facing source, please reply to this message with a link so we can verify it and publish your business page
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/10/16) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I think I will have to learn to live without Yelp and their practice

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because the reviews are inaccurateI understand that a software supposedly reads the reviews and only the negative reviews are shown to the viewersI find this very unsettling that the software does not show any positive reviewsNot only that they are inaccurate and hurting our business, all the positive reviews go into the not recommended pileThis to me is an effort by yelp to get a business to pay memebership fees.Sincerely,*** ***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/13) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** *** ***
You expressed concern with *** V's review of your businessWe've taken another look at
*** V's review, and have carefully considered your concerns that the reviewer may have a conflict of interestWhile the user may own a vacation rental property, we are unable to verify your claims that she is a competitor to your business, as the location given in her profile is in another city and state
Additionally, we understand you may be frustrated, but it's important to distinguish between customers who have a negative experience and let the business know that they intend to talk about it on Yelp versus those who might go from business to business threatening to fabricate negative reviews for special treatmentThat being said, it appears *** V's review reflects her firsthand experience at Stay City Rentals, and the review will be left intact
We understand we did not provide the response you were hoping forThese decisions aren't always easy, but please know we looked at this review closely before reaching our decision
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/11/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The reviewer in this claim provided photos that are not of our rental at allThe property photos are zoomed in images of something but not of our rentalIt does not matter if a vacation rental owner is in another city or notMany vacation rental owners own properties in various citiesAs the onner of this company- I have rentals in multiple cities world wideThe photographs are not of the actual rental she stayed in and Yelp can easily verify this by comparing the photos provided with our rental photos posted- or even send a representative to inspect the rentalWe will be happy to arrange a comparisonFailure to do this due not due diligence on a professional review site and I personally believe puts Yelp in a position to be also reprimanded as there are laws being passed *** bogus reviewing- and owners like myself are fighting backIn addition this guest did also sign a letter when they arrived with a meet and greet form stating the property is to their liking and there were no damagesThis can be provided with the guest signatureTherefore the images that they have been provided are also negated
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/11/25) */
Hi ***,
Thank you for your response
You have again expressed concern with *** V's reviewYou wrote, "this guest did also sign a letter when they arrived with a meet and greet form stating the property is to their liking and there were no damagesThis can be provided with the guest signature." Please note that we don't take sides on factual disputes, and as frustrating as it may sound, we don't take the place of a court of law and make evidentiary determinationsIf a review appears to reflect the user's personal experience and opinions, we allow the user to stand behind their review
You also expressed concern with *** V's photosThe best business photos on Yelp are broadly relevant to the businessPhotos that represent a more unique personal experience may be removed from the business's photo gallery but still appear alongside the user's review if they've written one, as in this case
Regards,
***
Yelp Inc
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/12/01) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Yelp has explicit content rules, and they are violating them in the best ways possibleI stand with my comments and wish this case to remain openI will be seeking legal representation against the guest and yelp for this reviewYelp does have a responsibility as it does have content guidelines- which are being violated by this reviewFirst of all the photos are not of the property, we have a signed meet and greet form stating there were no damages, and the only valid complaint of a bed bug found could have been brought in by the traveler herself (which is often the case)I will seek legal action and although Yelp may find that this be a great idea to stick to their policies, I will be seeking damages because I do have proof that this posting was maliciously placed with fake photographs and bad intentions- not of a real experienceWhich is stated in this entire caseI do request you reconsiderIf not, you'll be hearing from my lawyerThere are laws recently passed ** the US that protect business owners against things like thisAnd I will do my best to make sure that Yelp is helped to be held responsible for assisting thisIncluding pointing out one of our best reviews ever was hidden from the site- when it showcased how well we can do although- "Yelp didn't find it to be worthy"

Hi Vassil,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page of Law office of Vassil ***. You expressed concern with Sean M.'s reviewAs you may recall from the correspondence you've had with my colleagues, in general, 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 reviewSean M.'s review does not appear to violate our Content Guidelines*** so we're leaving it up.You wrote, "I simply do not have and never dealt with Sean M." However, users are not required to use their real name on Yelp, and we are not in a position to arbitrate situations where a user's name does not match up with a business's records. With regards to your comment, "He is probably someone from the competition," our Content Guideliines prohibit anyone with a conflict of interest with a business from posting reviews about that businessIn order to evaluate whether someone has a conflict of interest, we rely on information in our systems and information in the content that person has posted in the first placeOur moderators generally aren't able to consider outside information or arbitrate disputes, if it's not clear whether a conflict of interest may existIn this situation, we are unable to confirm a conflict using the information we have in our systems.Additionally, please keep in mind that we don't take sides in factual disputesBusiness owners can tell their side of the story by responding publicly to the review, which it looks like you have already done. Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Hi Rick,Thanks for the feedbackAll 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 while we think we do a pretty good job at it, there’s always room for improvement.Because our recommendation software is automated, the Yelp Support team cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a reviewOur 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.That said, our recommendation software runs on a daily basis, so reviews that aren't currently recommended may be recommended in the future, and vice versa. We also want to assure you that Yelp treats advertisers and non-advertisers exactly alike with respect to reviewsAdvertising only buys ads and never higher ratings, removal of negative reviews or promotion of positive reviews. You'll find plenty of Yelp advertisers with negative reviews, and plenty of non-advertisers with five-star ratings across the boardFurthermore, there is zero relationship between the timing of when a review gets recommended and when a business decides to--or declines to--advertiseReviews can be recommended or not recommended days, weeks, or even months after they were first posted, and a Yelp sales representative doesn't have any influence over when that might happen. We hope you’ll take the time to read more about common misconceptions here:***With regards to your comment, "Your company consistently calls my business and tries to market their businessI have asked to be not called back and put on do not call list you do not listen to that," it looks like we have already placed your business on our internal Do Not Call listGoing forward you should receive no further sales communication unless you explicitly request otherwiseIf for any reason you continue to hear from them, please let us know at ***If you would like to update your email notification preferences, you can do so by following the instructions given here: ***You have again asked that your business listing be removed, but as previously stated, we don't remove business listing informationYelp is allowed to publish business names and publicly available information about businesses under the well-established fair use doctrine, as well as First Amendment principlesGenerally speaking, this means that we can display business names and trademarks "for purposes of comparison, criticism, point of reference, or any other such purpose." See New Kids on the Block vNew America Pub., Inc., F.2d 302, (9th Cir1992).Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Hi ***,Thank you for writingWe are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for *** *** ***.You wrote, "YELP has consistently allowed un-true, negative reviews to be posted online about my business from people who are NOT my clientsThese
postings have been from disgruntled former tenants who leased a property from an owner my company represents." Please note that we typically allow tenants of a property to review their property management companyThat said, if you have reported a review, received an email from us about our decision to leave it up, 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 reported) here: ***We also want to address your comment, "I want Yelp to allow access to any business owner to be able to respond to ANY post about their company without having to wait for YELP approval- which never comes." Please note that in order to message users or publicly comment using your Business Account, we require business owners to upload a photo of themselvesIt looks like the photo you uploaded was rejected because it is of your logo rather than an image of yourselfWe require a real photo to keep interactions between consumers and business owners as personalized as possibleWe've also found that reviewers are much more receptive to dialogue when they can attach a face to their interactionsOnce you've uploaded the photo and it has been approved by our staff, this function will be enabled on your account.We understand that uploading a real photo may not be for everyone, and we can certainly respect that, however if you would like to use the messaging or public commenting features of your Business Account, you will need to provide us with a real photoThanks for understanding.Regards,***Yelp Inc

Hi Shaneka,Thanks for writing back.To clarify, the balance I was referring to and the final bill Kelly was referring to are the same thingWe collected your final payment of $on March 1, for the ads you received in February, and you will not incur further chargesWe apologize for any confusion. Regards,HelenYelp Inc

Complaint:***I am rejecting this response because:
They surely proisme an increase in business which did not happenThey should had told me that was not guneerte that my businesses may not increase.Sincerely,Dwayne ***