Yelp.com

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted].We first want to clarify that a business's decision whether or not to advertise on Yelp does not affect how the reviews on its listing are treated....

Businesses are not punished if they don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded with preferential treatment with regards to their reviews if they do advertise. We understand there are some misconceptions about this, so we invite you to visit [redacted] 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 content. The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static -- reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: [redacted]You also expressed concern with a review. It looks like you are referring to the review by [redacted]. We’ve looked at [redacted].'s review, and have elected to leave it up. If a review appears to reflect a user's personal experience and opinions, it is our policy to let the user stand behind his or her review.You might consider sending a private message to the reviewer or posting a public comment through a free Yelp for Business Owners Account. Many reviewers respond favorably to business owners willing to engage in constructive conversation, and at the very least, other Yelp users appreciate seeing business owners take a proactive approach to dealing with customer concerns. Our hope is that by utilizing these means you will be able to rectify any misunderstandings and come to an amicable resolution.You can get started on claiming your business page by clicking the "Claim this business" button, or the "Work here? Claim this business" link on the Yelp listing for your business, or by heading to [redacted] and searching for the business there.Please visit our Support Center for more information: [redacted]. For guidance on using your Business Account, check out [redacted]Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi George,Thanks for the feedback. All review sites face the same challenge: how to identify the most reliable and useful content amongst the millions of submitted reviews. It's no easy task, and while we think we do a pretty good job at it, there’s always room for improvement. Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: They are advertising false information. I should not be charged for something like this. There was a $300 credit on that account. What they are saying does not make sense at all.Sincerely,Jacky [redacted]

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted]You stated that you entered a promotional code prior to starting your advertising campaign. As you may recall from the email you received from an...

account manager, [redacted], our records do not indicate that a promotional code was entered at the time you started this advertising campaign. As advertising services were delivered in accordance with the terms you agreed to, we will not be able to offer you a refund or waive the outstanding balance of $19.55. Thanks for understanding. Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi Katy,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for Fingerprints Christian Preschool.You expressed concern with a negative review. It looks like you are referring to the review by Mike *., as you've previously reported this...

review. We have taken another look at this review and want to clarify our policies as they pertain to cases like this.We see a firsthand consumer experience as an event when someone interacts with a business, regardless of whether he or she completes a financial transaction, and will generally allow reviews that describe experiences like this to remain in place.With that in mind, we’ve taken another look and we stand by our original decision to leave the review up, as we did not find it to be in violation of our guidelines.It also sounds as though you have concerns about Yelp's automated recommendation software. One of the ways we try to help Yelp users discover local businesses is by using automated software with the goal of showcasing reliable reviews. This means Yelp doesn’t recommend every review from every user and is automated so that it can apply the same objective standards to every business and every review. This is very different from other sites that tend to feature every single negative rant and positive rave. The software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability and activity on Yelp.Because our recommendation software is automated, the Yelp Support team cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. 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.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: [redacted]Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted]You expressed concern with the $75 you were charged on June 1 and July 1, 2016. According to our records, it looks like you signed up...

for a self-serve cost per click advertising program on December 27, 2015, and that you ended this cost per click program on April 5, 2016. It also appears you signed up for a self-serve enhanced listing (which costs $75 a month) on December 29, 2015, and that you turned this feature off on July 5, 2016. The enhanced listing feature was billed in arrears, so the $75 you were charged on June 1, 2016 was for having this feature in May, and the $75 you were charged on July 1, 2016 was for having this feature in June.We also want to clarify that your advertising program and enhanced profile were self-serve programs, which means that ads and the enhanced profile can only be turned off by the business through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. In Step 3 of your ad setup there were Q&A's on the right side of the page explaining that you could stop your ads any time through the Yelp for Business Owners site: "Can I stop any time? Yes. There's no commitment or obligation. Just come back to the Yelp for Business Owners site and stop your ads. You will be billed at the beginning of the next month for any clicks you bought before you cancelled."Please note that with our self-serve programs, Yelp does not turn the ads or enhanced listing on or off; only the business owner has this ability. If you had wanted to cancel your cost per click advertising program and your enhanced listing in February, you would have needed to log in and end both the programs.That said, we have forwarded your message to the appropriate parties. it looks like a manager, [redacted], reached out to you to schedule a phone conversation to discuss your concerns. Please feel free to reach out to [redacted] directly if you haven't already done so.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me as long as Yelp does indeed do what they say and not charge me for anything further. I did receive a response from a Yelp Business Manager that I appreciated and indicates that I would not be charged further and that what I was charged will be refunded back. As long as that is indeed the case I am absolutely satisfied with Yelp's response and I thank them for doing the right thing.
 
I also thank the Revdex.com for your help in resolving this issue.Sincerely, [redacted]

Hello,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted].We understand that a negative review about an experience you don’t recognize is very frustrating. We’ve taken another look at [redacted] review, and have...

carefully considered your concerns that the reviewer may have a conflict of interest. However, we are still unable to confirm the conflict using the information we have in our systems. If a review appears to reflect the reviewer’s personal experiences and opinions, it is our policy to let the user stand behind his or her review.We noticed that you've already used your free business account to post a public comment on this review. Many reviewers respond favorably to business owners willing to engage in constructive conversation, and at the very least, other Yelp users appreciate seeing business owners take a proactive approach to dealing with customer concerns.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I personally know many customers who have given us high ratings for our business and yelp chooses not to show them. The only review yelp shows is one from [redacted]. from many years ago. She is known for discrediting businesses as she is a local person. It was a very biased review and not correct. There have also been many changes and growth in our business yet this is the only yelp review shown. Extremely frustrating. Please review again. And pay attention to reviews and ratings on other sights.  i have emailed numerous times from another email address to yelp but with absolutely no response from yelp.I want [redacted] review removed.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Hi Chris,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for Custom Construction Services. One of the ways we try to help Yelp users discover local businesses is by using automated software with the goal of showcasing reliable...

reviews. This means Yelp doesn’t recommend every review from every user and is automated so that it can apply the same objective standards to every business and every review. This is very different from other sites that tend to feature every single negative rant and positive rave. The software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability and activity on Yelp. What is recommended can change over time, and a review that is currently not recommended may be recommended on another day.Our recommendation software recommends both positive and negative reviews in an effort to show the most helpful and reliable reviews to our users. That said, Yelpers write more positive reviews than negative reviews, so it isn’t necessarily surprising that Yelp’s recommendation software might impact more positive reviews. We hope you’ll take the time to watch our video about the Recommendation Software: [redacted]Additionally, please note that actions taken by Yelp’s automated recommendation software are separate from the Yelp Support team's evaluation of reviews against our Content Guidelines. With regards to your comment, "We have an older bad review that we do not believe is accurate," 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 review.That said, if you come across content that you feel may violate Yelp's Content Guidelines [redacted] please let our moderators know by reporting it. You can do so by finding the content in question, clicking the flag icon on the website or the More Options/Overflow Menu (3 dots) on the app. You'll need to be logged into your account to report content.To learn more, 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 guidelines. Each case will be reviewed by our team in the order it was received. Typically, you will receive a response to your report of a review within a few business days. If you don't believe you've received our response, please be sure to check all email and spam folders [redacted]You also asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business information. While some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law.Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted].We've forwarded your message to the appropriate parties. As you may recall, a manager, [redacted], reached out to you by voicemail and...

email on November 15 to let you know that we have waived the remaining balance of $10.47 for advertising services delivered November 1 - 3, 2016, so you will not incur further charges. [redacted] has also submitted a request for your credit card information to be removed.We also want to clarify that not all features on the Yelp for Business Owners website ([redacted]/) are currently available on the Yelp for Business Owners app. For example, in order to manage and end self-serve advertising campaigns, business owners must log in to the Yelp for Business Owners website rather than the mobile app. For more information about the Yelp for Business Owners app, please visit: [redacted]If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to [redacted] directly.  Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: Yelp did you see the attachments I put on the previous response? You did not mention anything about the attachments in your response. [redacted] will need to wait at least a year before she gets a puppy because he children are not ready for a pet. I told her I will honor her deposit in one year. If she don't want a puppy from us she knows the deposit she paid is nonrefundable, it has always said this on my website. Yelp said they can not remove it because it is automated, I do not believe this. You can remove want you want to. You are showing defamation of character about me and my business and you need to remove the review and one star from [redacted] as soon as possible.Sincerely,[redacted]

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted]
We're sorry to hear that your refund was not processed in a timely manner. We appreciate your feedback regarding your experience, and have...

forwarded your message to the appropriate parties. A refund of $350.00 was processed on December 20, 2016. This refund should be on its way to your card if you haven't already seen it. 
Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing again. We appreciate your feedback regarding your experience. With regards to your concern about the category, we have systems in place to keep our data accurate and timely but from time to time, errors can occur. While we cannot create categories on request, we'll make sure to forward your note to our Product Team so that they can take your feedback into consideration. In the meantime, we recommend using the features in your Business Account to make the nature of your business c[redacted]r to people viewing your listing.Additionally, it looks like you applied a promotional code for a Yelp Ads Credit when you signed up for your advertising program. $37.46 of this credit has been applied towards the ad click you received, so will not incur any charges. Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

can you verify and accredit my business in your system? What are the rates? Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:Sincerely,[redacted]

Hi [redacted]Thank you for your response.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 treated. Businesses are not punished if they don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded with preferential treatment with regards to their reviews if they do advertise. We understand there are some misconceptions about this, so we invite you to visit [redacted]If you believe, however, that an individual has provided you with different information, we would like to investigate further. To 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.It also sounds as though you don't accept our explanation of the recommendation software, but we can only stand by our previous statements. Yelp's recommendation software is an automated algorithm that attempts to weed out less reliable reviews while showcasing more reliable ones. This means that when reviews are posted to your listing, not all of them will make the cut. We acknowledge that even some legitimate reviews will not be recommended, but we still believe that the software as a whole makes our site more trustworthy and useful to consumers.As indicated in our prior response, the recommendation software is automated to help avoid the potential for human bias inherent in individual decision-making: we cannot reverse the software’s decisions, either to suppress an active review or to restore a review that isn’t currently recommended. This also means (and I can say this with 100% certainty) that we cannot manually manipulate the recommendation software to favor an advertiser or punish a non-advertiser. But once again, the system is not static -- reviews may come and go as the recommendation software picks up new information.We do understand the recommendation software can be frustrating at times, and your feedback is appreciated. When it comes down to it, all review sites face the same challenge: how to identify fake reviews among the many millions of legitimate reviews. It's no easy task, and there is always room for improvement. We hope to be able to continually improve on this issue.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted]You expressed concern with [redacted] review. We’ve taken another look at this review, and have carefully considered your concerns that the reviewer may...

have a conflict of interest. However, we are still unable to confirm the conflict using the information we have in our systems, so the review has been left up.We also 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 treated. Businesses are not punished if they don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded with preferential treatment with regards to their reviews if they do advertise. We understand there are some misconceptions about this, so we invite you to visit [redacted] 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 content. The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static -- reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: [redacted]Finally, you wrote, "put my reviews in date order." The default order for recommended reviews is Yelp Sort, which attempts to show reviews that help consumers make informed decisions. For example, the first review displayed for a business will be one that reflects the average star rating of a business. The order is determined by recency, user voting, and other review quality factors, which is why an older review may appear before a newer one. Keep in mind when viewing a business a user can sort the reviews in a few other ways, including by date.Regards,[redacted]
 Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your feedback.We're sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising program, and would like to provide some clarification about how our self-serve advertising programs work.Our records indicate that you redeemed a $300 promotional ad credit. To redeem the $300 credit towards Yelp ads, you were required to sign up for our Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising campaign and put a credit card on file. You set your Cost Per Click monthly budget at $150, and also signed up for our enhanced profile features, which cost $75 per month. Once the promotion runs out, advertising continues until you stop your ads through your Yelp for Business Owners Account.Your advertising program was a self-serve program, which means that ads can only be turned off by the business through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. You wrote, "Yelp didn't give me an opportunity to turn off the Yelp Ads before I was charged," but if you only wanted to use your $300 promotion, you would have needed to log in and end the program once that credit was used. In Step 3 of your ad setup there were Q&A's on the right side of the page explaining that you could stop your ads any time through the Yelp for Business Owners site: "Can I stop any time? Yes. There's no commitment or obligation. Just come back to the Yelp for Business Owners site and stop your ads. You will be billed at the beginning of the next month for any clicks you bought before you cancelled."Below is a more detailed description of the advertising services you received and how the promotion was applied:September 5 - 30, 2016- You received 32 ad clicks which cost a total of $125.27- Your prorated Call To Action, Slideshow, and Remove Competitor Ads features cost $62.64- $187.91 of your $300 credit was used and you paid $0October 2016- You received 34 ad clicks which cost a total of $150- Your Call To Action, Slideshow, and Remove Competitor Ads features cost $75- You had $112.09 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was partially used in September- You paid $112.91 for advertising services delivered in October 2016.November 1 - 3, 2016- You received 1 ad click which cost a total of $5.18- Your prorated Call To Action, Slideshow, and Remove Competitor Ads features cost $5.29- You had 0 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used in September and October- The balance of $10.47 for advertising services delivered in November 2016 was waived.You can view a breakdown of how many ad clicks you received by logging in to your Yelp for Business Owners Account at [redacted]/ and then clicking on the Yelp Ads tab. Information about how much of your promotional credit was applied each month is available in the Billing tab of your account.You ended your advertising program on November 3, 2016. As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to, we will not be able to offer you a refund. Thanks for understanding.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi Edwin,Thank you for your response.While we appreciate your feedback, you chose to redeem the $300 and to enter your payment information. You chose an advertising program with a $750 monthly Cost Per Click budget (or a $25 per day average) plus enhanced profile features which cost an additional $75 per month (or a $2.50 per day average), for total charges of up to $825 per month. This monthly maximum was stated in the "Welcome to Yelp Advertising: Your Ads Are Now Live!" email we sent you after you signed up for this program. If you did not want to pay that much, you could have selected a different ad budget. You also had the ability to log in at any time to edit or end your ad campaign.By clicking purchase during the checkout process, you agreed to the order form and the Yelp Master Advertising Terms [redacted]). Advertising services were delivered in accordance with these terms and conditions, so we will not be able to waive the outstanding balance or offer you a refund.Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for your feedback. We have written off the outstanding balance of $742.41, so you will not incur further charges. Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.