Yelp.com

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/21) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We 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, but we actually don't remove business listing...

information. While some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law. More importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.
Thanks for understanding.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

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 3 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 correct. Feel free to air your opinions, but don't exaggerate or misrepresent your experience. We 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 business. Don't tell the same old story you've already told. If 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  $40 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 false accusations in the past and cannot understand why Yelp is reversing their stance on their own policies. 
 
Sincerely,[redacted]

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

The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static -- reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: [redacted]You also expressed concern with a "review of a different store unrelated to mine." It looks like you are referring to [redacted] review. Upon further evaluation, this review was found to be in violation of our Content Guidelines and it has been removed.To address your question about how our content is monitored, we allow users to post reviews and photos, and rely on the Yelp community to flag content that they believe is questionable. For future reference, if you believe a review violates Yelp's Content Guidelines [redacted], you can report the content by clicking the flag icon next to it. You'll need to be logged in to your account in order to view the flag icon. 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 within a few business days. If you don't believe you've received our response, please be sure to check all email and spam folders (you may want to add [redacted]m to your contact list).For instructions on how to report content, please visit: [redacted]Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: Yelp was not clear when they called and emailed me to sign up. Credit card information was not manually removable from the website. I got yelled by the costumer representative(finance department)  when I called . They hang up the phone on my face. 
Price per click was advertised at $6.5 in the beginning. I see that yelp changes that price every month to just have costumers reach/exceed their monthly budget depending on how many click they receive. Even though number of the clicks are different it will be still $150 in my example for a month. 
I don't find yelp's invite sincere for me to call them about any questions. Because when I called the yelp even the first person who picked up the phone was not from finance department. He didn't know my information and case. He right away mentioned that there shouldn't be a mistake and I won't be able to get a refund. He only transferred me to finance department after I insisted for them to look in to case more carefully. This shows that Yelp costumer representatives are trained to be very tough and rude on the costumer when they contact about money related matters.  
Sincerely,[redacted]

*i [redacted],T*ank you for writing. We are glad to *ave t*is opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted]. We first want to address your comment, "Once I declined, and canceled advertising wit* t*em, all of my 5 star reviews written from past real...

customers, w*o *as pictures as proof t*at t*ey *ad service wit* us- *as been deleted from my yelp account due to t*ere automated software." We want to clarify t*at a business's decision w*et*er or not to advertise on Yelp does not affect *ow t*e reviews on its listing are treated. Businesses are not punis*ed if t*ey don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded wit* preferential treatment wit* regards to t*eir reviews if t*ey do advertise. We understand t*ere are some misconceptions about t*is, so we invite you to visit [redacted] to learn more.As you may *ave read, t*e goal of Yelp's recommendation software is to s*owcase more reliable content. T*e recommendation software establis*es an objective standard against w*ic* 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 t*at t*e software applies t*e same analysis to everyone, and t*at it affects bot* positive and negative reviews. Please also understand t*at t*e recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override t*e software to recommend or not recommend a review. *owever, t*e system is not static -- reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as t*e system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: [redacted]We also want to be clear t*at actions taken by our automated recommendation software are separate from t*e Yelp Support team's evaluation of reviews against our Content Guidelines. We allow users to post reviews and p*otos, and rely on t*e Yelp community to report content t*at t*ey believe is questionable. If someone reports a review by flagging it, our Support team will evaluate t*e review against our Content Guidelines ([redacted]) and will remove t*e review if it is found to be in violation of our guidelines.You expressed concern wit* Edit* E.'s review of your business. We understand t*at a negative review about an experience you don’t recognize is very frustrating. We *ave taken anot*er look at t*is review but, after careful consideration, we reac*ed t*e same conclusion as before and are unable to remove t*e review as it does not appear to fall outside our Content Guidelines. If a review appears to reflect t*e reviewer’s personal experiences and opinions, it is our policy to let t*e user stand be*ind *is or *er review.You also asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; *owever, we don't remove business information. W*ile some business owners mig*t prefer to keep a lower profile, t*is kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under t*e law.Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Hi [redacted],Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding the Yelp Deals voucher you purchased for ** [redacted].According to our records, it looks like you were refunded $155.00 for this purchase on December 15, 2015. It appears my colleague...

[redacted] emailed you on December 15, 2015 to let you know we were refunding your credit card:  ----------DEC 15, 2015  |  10:07AM PSTHi [redacted],Thanks for contacting Yelp!We're sorry to hear that you weren't able to use the Yelp Deals voucher you purchased for ** [redacted]. We're canceling the voucher and refunding your credit card $155. Please allow 5-10 business days for this to be reflected on your statement.We hope you get a chance to use a Yelp Deal soon! Regards,[redacted]Yelp SupportYelp Official Blog | http://officialblog.yelp.comYelp Support Center | http://www.yelp-support.comFor your reference this is Case #: [redacted]----------It also looks like my colleague [redacted] emailed you on May 27, 2016 (the same day you filed this complaint) to confirm you were refunded:----------MAY 27, 2016  |  10:21AM PDTHi,Thanks for using Yelp Deals. To confirm, you were refunded for this purchase on 12/15/2015 (for $155.00). This refund went towards your VISA [redacted] account. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to assist. Regards,[redacted]Yelp SupportYelp Official Blog | http://officialblog.yelp.comYelp Support Center | http://www.yelp-support.comFor your reference this is Case #: [redacted]----------If you have further questions or concerns regarding this refund, please contact out Support team at [redacted]@yelp.com, and they'd be glad to assist. Regards,[redacted]Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/25) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] Computer Repair.
You claim that advertising services were not delivered. You signed up for a...

cost per click program, which means Yelp displayed ad impressions for your business and you elected to pay every time a user clicked on your ad impression. Your advertising program also included additional features such as a photo slideshow.
When 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 search. Yelp Ads appear above the natural search results, as well as on your competitors' business pages. The 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 us. Yelp's natural search results algorithm is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. While we can't guarantee specific results or business rankings, we are always working to improve our search tool so that we can deliver the most relevant local results to our users.
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. As stated in the advertising agreement you signed, "Please note that businesses cannot pay to remove, reorder, or otherwise impact reviews. If you decide not to enroll in a Yelp Ad Program, that won't affect your reviews, either."
We understand there are some misconceptions about this, so we invite you to visit http://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq and http://officialblog.yelp.com/2013/05/no-yelp-doesnt-extort-small-businesses-see-...⇄ to learn more.
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. It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. Please also understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.
To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
You also expressed concern about possible click fraud. We employ a variety of industry-standard measures to detect and prevent invalid traffic and click fraud. For example, we monitor our clicks and impressions for fraudulent activity, and frequently update our filters to exclude activity from known offenders. We also subscribe to the Internet Advertising Bureau's bot list, which gives us an industry-standard filter in addition to our own more rigorous ones.
You also claim that "no emails were responded to"; however, our records indicate that members of our Account Management team repeatedly reached out to you by phone and email in June, July, and August.
Additionally, you asked for your business to be removed from Yelp, but we actually don't remove business listing information. While some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law. More importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses.
Your advertising program is set to cancel as of August 31, 2015. You are responsible for an outstanding balance of $450 for advertising services delivered in June and July. Because your program is billed in arrears, there will be an additional balance due on September 1 for services delivered in August. An early termination fee of $225 will be also assessed per the terms of your contract. Once these fees have been collected, you will not incur any further charges. Thanks for understanding.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/09/01) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Unfortunately, it does not matter what is in the contract...of which I did not actually sign. I never received anything from them to physically sign. They claim that I received something electronically, but I don't remember signing anything. I checked the copy of the document they sent me, and there is a signature, but it is not mine. It is in generic handwriting.
But beyond that, I was told so many things on the phone, that just seemed to good to be true. I was called numerous times over the course of a week, in an attempt to get me to try Yelp advertising services. I was told that I could opt out at any time without penalty, and that my listing would definitely show up when someone searched Yelp.com for a computer repair service in Whittier, Ca. Of course I found this to be not true at all later on.
As I did my research into Yelp's fraudulent activities, it became apparent that they control all aspects of an account...even the clicks. Right through the first 30 days, there was no activity, and then in a flurry of activity, during the last few days, 15 clicks showed up and I was at my max monthly charge.
I called Yelp numerous times and notified them of this, and they claimed it was simply coincidence, and that there was nothing funny going on.
However, I have screen prints of said action on my account to verify what I am saying.
I also called many times to cancel my account and to prevent further charges from being accrued, and because no one ever answered my calls, and I had to leave messages, nothing ever happened. I never once had a call returned, until the middle of the month of August. When I spoke with Yelp then...again several times, one of those times the customer service lady claimed that they had no record of me ever calling and leaving any message, nor did they have a record of me emailing them, which I also did at least 5 separate occasions. I also have copies of those.
Then, when I was escalated my voice a bit, the customer service lady told me to hold on...and that sho could now see 1...sic of my emails to them. But still would not address my concerns, and denied that I had ever called in to request any cancellation before the first part of August.
I have evidence that I called, emailed and answered the phone when they called me, and wrote down their responses to me.
All I am looking for is for Yelp to delete my business from their fraudulent database, and to cease and desist all collection efforts and communications, to send me a letter stating that I do not owe anything.
I have asked them this in my emails and on the phone, and they have denied me...citing that it's against the law for them to delete my business info. That is a lie, and they will not cite any single law that proves they are correct.
Additionally, I want to go on record insisting that Yelp NEVER called me in June, July or August, because they didn't want me to quit. They make it impossible to do so as you can clearly see.
It would be in Yelp's interest to drop all efforts to try and collect money from me, because they never gave me the opportunity to quit.
Apparently, there are thousands of other people online who have writtne about their similar experiences with Yelp, and I don't think thousands of people are wrong...in fact, they bolster my case and claims.
[redacted]
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/09/21) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your response.
You wrote, "I never received anything from them to physically sign. They claim that I received something electronically, but I don't remember signing anything. I checked the copy of the document they sent me, and there is a signature, but it is not mine. It is in generic handwriting." Generally speaking, an advertising agreement is sent to the business owner's email address via Echosign, a program that collects electronic signatures for purposes such as remote contract signing. The agreement is then e-signed, meaning a name was typed in indicating acceptance of the terms of the agreement. With regards to the appearance of the "signature", with Echosign, the program creates a stylized signature for the person who e-signs the agreement, which may be why you don't recognize the signature's appearance.
You also expressed concern with the click activity. Our records indicate you signed up for a cost-per-click auction-based auto-bidding program, which means that Yelp delivered a variable and unguaranteed number of ad impressions, and that you elected to pay every time a user clicked on your ad impression. As noted in your contract, you agreed to allow Yelp to set the bid price per click price to keep you competitive in the market. It's important to keep in mind that the price will fluctuate up or down depending on competition, relevance, and other factors. However, it will always be the lowest price possible to win the click. We also want to reiterate that Yelp employs a variety of measures to detect and prevent invalid traffic and click fraud.
You also wrote, "Yelp NEVER called me in June, July or August," but according to our records, several account managers were in touch with you during those months. For example, [redacted] emailed you on June 15 and spoke with you on June 24, [redacted] left you a voicemail and followed up with an email on July 8, [redacted] left you voicemails on July 17 and 27, and Morgan emailed and spoke with you on August 7.
You have again asked that your business listing be removed, but as previously stated, we don't remove business listing information. Yelp is allowed to publish business names and publicly available information about businesses under the well-established fair use doctrine, as well as First Amendment principles. Generally 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 v. New America Pub., Inc., 971 F.2d 302, 306 (9th Cir. 1992).
Finally, we forwarded your messages to our Account Management team, and it looks like the $225 early termination fee has been waived.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/15) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted].
It looks like you were in touch with an account manager, [redacted], after filing this...

complaint with the Revdex.com. As you may recall from your correspondence with her, your advertising program is currently set to cancel at the end of your commitment period on January 31, 2016.
We are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaign. To be clear, while the goal of advertising on Yelp is to drive more traffic to the business page, which may ultimately result in more customers, it is important to keep in mind that results are not guaranteed. When advertising with a packaged Cost Per Click program, you are paying for an enhanced profile (including a photo slideshow and competitor ad removal) and you are electing to pay every time a user clicks on your ad impression.
We also want to address your comment, "As of today I was billed $400 and this wasn't even what my last contract agreement had been settled upon!" According to our records, you signed a new contract on November 8, 2015 to remove the featured video that was included on your initial contract. The service start date on your new contract was December 1, 2015. Please note that your advertising program is billed in arrears, so the $400 you were charged on December 1, 2015 was for advertising services (including the featured video) delivered in November.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/06) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] Company.
You wrote, "Yelp Contract was signed/forged by marketing agent that was hired...

by [redacted] movers not [redacted]." However, according to our records, it looks like our sales representative, Charles, was in contact with [redacted] at (XXX) XXX-XXXX, which is the phone number listed on your Yelp business page. It also appears that the advertising agreement, which has an electronic signature for [redacted], was sent to the email address that appears on under the Client Information section of the contract.
Generally speaking, an advertising agreement is sent to the business owner's email address via Echosign, a program that collects electronic signatures for purposes such as remote contract signing. The agreement is then e-signed, meaning a name was typed in indicating acceptance of the terms of the agreement. With regards to the appearance of the "signature", with Echosign, the program creates a stylized signature for the person who e-signs the agreement, which may be why you don't recognize the signature's appearance.
As advertising services were delivered in accordance with the advertising agreement, we will not be able to waive the remaining balance. Additionally, early termination is subject to a fee per the terms of the contract. Thanks for understanding.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/10/07) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
From what I am reading you company does not want to take responsibility and change their policy on contracts. I am bluntly telling you that someone forged documentation and you are coming back telling me something I have told you and your staff that the person that we hired set up the account and spoke with your staff, for this reason I requested recorded calls . I know you do record calls. If I hear [redacted] being told all the contract info and verbally accepting this then that is completely different. And in regards to the email.. the email that was given to me by you staff you said the contract we sent to that email is not our company email, also our phone XXX-XXX-XXXX is a company phone meaning not one line so the person in question is able to say oh I am [redacted] and speak on his behalf with out out us knowing. once again for this reason I requested a recorded call to be heard to see who's voice is on the call. Yelp is a bully and after your response I see that very clear!
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/10/22) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for your response.
You have again alleged that "someone forged documentation," but we can only reiterate that according to our records, it appears that our sales representative was in contact with [redacted] at your business. With regards to your concern about the email address, it looks like the email address that the advertising agreement was sent to was the same email address that was associated with the Business Account login at that time.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/10/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
It is in plain english when I have said multi times that Marketing company called Design Portfolio created the account and the email, I have stated multi times that the email the owners use is [redacted].com, after reviewing more then 50 complaints against yelp from other angry business owners over the same issue I can see that I only have one option and that is to see an attorney,. I know they record there calls but yet they have not produced this.. if someone is paid to do the marketing for a company of course they will have access to that email.. an it can figure that out... and electric signature is bull.. an actual signature should be required.. so I will be seeking an attorney for this an effort to change there bull policy on contracts!!!!!!!!!!!

Complaint:[redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
The answer does not address the issue - why YELP allowed a non existing client to post defamatory statements about my services.  At this point I am concern that a YELP representative/associate posted the review after my reluctance to use YELP's paid advertising. 
Again and again, I cannot (and should not be allowed to) review YELP if I never personally dealt with them.  However, YELP is trying to hide behind the First Amendment.  The First Amendment never intended to create organizations like YELP, where anyone can provide false information about other business.  YELP can name  the review as they wish, but in reality it is simply a derogatory statement of non existing client, with the purpose of defamation to my law firm..  
Yelp claims that "we don't adjudicate disputes between businesses and their reviewers." In actuality, they do by refusing to remove the review and simply siding with a non existing client, which I am starting to believe could be someone associated with YELP.
The "statutory immunity to online service providers such as Yelp for the content of third-party posts" is simply not an applicable argument.  The issue is not YELP themselves, but their refusal to remove a review form their site.
Yelp continues  "More importantly, we believe that the public benefits from sharing their experiences with local businesses."  How is the public benefiting from a false statement.                  
 
In short, YELP's response is same as they have done in the past - cut and paste of inapplicable case and statutory law in attempt to avoid responsibility of wilful refusal to serve the truth.
Sincerely,Vassil [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: I do not believe a word they are saying and I do not believe that they coincidentally started recommending a review that their own software flagged as suspicious, and that they promised not to recommend  (also many business have flagged this reviewer as suspicious) when I refused to return their sales reps call. This is not a coincidence. You are about to be looking at a lawsuit under the consumer fraud act and unconscionable acts and yes it applies to businesses too.  Keep it up as I am keeping track of all the fraudulent Yelp acts. Not only that there are many reputable review sites now so consumers really don't need Yelp anymore! [redacted] is ethical as they allow consumers to respond with no limitations and customers find them to be more reputable too.  Sincerely,[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/11) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding the business page for [redacted] Inc.
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 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 wrote, "we have asked customers (myself included) to write favorable reviews to make the negative one drop in rank. Now YELP is REMOVING my own personal review because I am friends on Facebook with the owner!" Please note asking for reviews is not something we encourage. For one thing, most businesses tend to ask their happiest customers to write reviews, not the unhappy ones. These self-selected reviews tell only part of the story, and we don't think that's fair to consumers. We would much rather hear from members of the Yelp community who are inspired to talk about their experiences without a business owner's encouragement. More information can be found here: https://biz.yelp.com/support/review_solicitation

It's important to note that Yelp uses automated software to showcase helpful and reliable reviews from the Yelp community. As a result, you shouldn't be surprised if our software fails to recommend the reviews that you've asked your client's customers to write. Your client's 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 their customers to post on Yelp.
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: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
Finally, please note that we have removed your review of [redacted] Inc because it appears to represent a conflict of interest.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/02) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted] & Recovery.
We are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaign. To be...

clear, while it is our hope that advertisers will find success via the Yelp advertising program, it is important to keep in mind that results are not guaranteed. When advertising, you are either paying for the delivery of a certain number of targeted ad impressions (when doing an impression-based program), or you are electing to pay every time a user clicks on your ad impression (when doing a "cost per click" program). According to our records, you initially signed up for an impressions-based program that included 500 ad impressions per month, and then switched to a cost per click program beginning July 1, 2015. Yelp delivered ad impression in accordance with your contracts. Your advertising programs also included additional features such as competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow.
We also want to clarify the difference between Yelp Ads and our natural search results. When 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 search. Yelp Ads appear above the natural search results, as well as on your competitors' business pages. The Yelp Ad is differentiated from the natural search results by an yellow border, and has the notation "Ad" in next to the business name. It's important to keep in mind that you wouldn't have seen your particular ad appear every time. Sometimes you may see an ad for a different company, sometimes when conducting a search you may not see an ad at all.
You expressed concern that "I also repeatedly searched myself and only ever made it on the third page of there yelp web page tow company search." Please note that Yelp Ads are separate Yelp's numbered search results, which have absolutely nothing to do with who is paying us. Yelp's natural search results algorithm is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. While we can't guarantee specific results or business rankings, we are always working to improve our search tool so that we can deliver the most relevant local results to our users.
You also expressed concern with the early termination fee, but as noted in your contract, early termination is subject to a fee. Since you chose to end your program before the end of the 11-month term of your most recent contract, an early termination fee of $600 was assessed.
We hope you will continue to take advantage of the free features available to you on your business account to engage with the Yelp community. For guidance, visit https://biz.yelp.com/support/using_business_account
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/17) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted]
We first want to address your comment: "I have received less business then...

when I was using the free service." We are sorry to hear you have not been satisfied with your advertising campaign. To be clear, while the goal of advertising on Yelp is to drive more traffic to the business page, which may ultimately result in more customers, it is important to keep in mind that results are not guaranteed. When advertising with a cost per click program, you are electing to pay every time a user clicks on your ad impression.
We also appreciate you bringing your concerns regarding your account manager to our attention, and we have forwarded your note along to the appropriate parties. As you may recall, you are now working with a different account manager, [redacted], who has recently been in touch with you. It appears that you have decided to stay with the advertising program for now, but if you wish to cancel, you must provide 30 days written notice to your account manager. Additionally, if you choose to cancel before the end of the 12-month commitment period, please note that an early termination fee of $700 will be assessed per the terms of your contract.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Hi Judith,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Judith Adamick - Personal Real Estate.Our records indicate you redeemed a $300.00 promotional ad credit on May 6, 2017. To redeem the $300 credit towards Yelp ads,...

you were required to sign up for our Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising campaign and put a credit card on file. You set your Cost Per Click monthly budget at $450. You also signed up for 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 be turned on and off by the business at any time through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. If you only wanted to use your $300 promotion, you would have needed to log in and end the program once that credit was used. During 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 site.Additionally, after you signed up for your advertising program, we sent you an automated email that recapped your purchase and the details of your campaign. However, sometimes this email may end up in your spam folder. It looks like you have since been in touch with our account management team, and that they resent you this email on December 5, 2017. Advertisers 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 the charges and how the promotion was applied: May 6 - 31, 2017- You received ad clicks and enhanced profile features which cost a total of $426.58- $300 of your $300 credit was used and you paid $126.58June 2017- You received ad clicks and enhanced profile features which cost a total of $426.58- You had 0 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used towards your May ads- You paid $525 for advertising services delivered in JuneJuly 2017- You received ad clicks and enhanced profile features which cost a total of $525- You paid $525 for advertising services delivered in JulyAugust 2017- You received ad clicks and enhanced profile features which cost a total of $525- You paid $525 for advertising services delivered in AugustSeptember 2017- You received ad clicks and enhanced profile features which cost a total of $525- You paid $525 for advertising services delivered in SeptemberOctober 2017- You received ad clicks and enhanced profile features which cost a total of $525- You paid $525 for advertising services delivered in OctoberNovember 2017- You received ad clicks and enhanced profile features which cost a total of $525- You paid $525 for advertising services delivered in NovemberDecember 1 - 5, 2017- You received ad clicks which cost a total of $43.14- You are responsible for $43.14 for advertising services delivered in DecemberYou can view ad click and billing statements in the Yelp Ads and Billing tabs of your Yelp for Business Owners Account at [redacted]You ended your advertising program on December 5, 2017. As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms [redacted]) you agreed to, we will not be able to waive the remaining balance of $43.14 for advertising services delivered in December. Because your advertising program is billed in arrears, you should expect to see a bill for this amount on January 1, 2018. Once this amount is collected, you will not incur further charges. Thanks for understanding.Regards,HelenYelp 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. Sincerely, [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
 
You are not finding "the conflict of the reviewer in your system"??? What a joke! WE HAVE THE THE EVIDENCE. Payroll records, other employees statement that confirm that this former employee said he was going to post a negative review ON YELP.
 
I want to submit my evidence or I contact my attorney, period, as you are now fraudulently listening to an ex employee that is intentionally trying to harm my business, and this person TOLD other employees after he was fired that he was going to "slam the company on YELP".
 
I want this comment removed or I want my business removed from YELP permanently, period.
 
[redacted]
Sincerely,[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/05/12) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your business page for [redacted]
You expressed concern with the recommendation software. As you may have read, the goal of...

Yelp's recommendation software is to showcase more reliable content. The recommendation software establishes an objective standard against which every review can be measured, and looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp.
It's important to note that the software applies the same analysis to everyone, and that it affects both positive and negative reviews. You wrote, "We would respectfully expect that our ratings from our genuine customers be posted in the 'Recommended for reading' section," but please understand that the recommendation software is automated: we cannot manually override the software to recommend or not recommend a review. However, the system is not static reviews may become recommended or not recommended over time as the system continues to make decisions based on a variety of factors.
To learn more about recommended reviews, please visit: http://www.yelp-support.com/Recommended_Reviews?l=en_US
With regards to your comment, "Are they creating an incentive for us to have to pay them??", we want to make sure you know that a business's decision whether or not to advertise on Yelp does not affect how the reviews on its listing are treated. Businesses are not punished if they don't advertise, nor are businesses awarded with preferential treatment with regards to their reviews if they do advertise. We understand there are some misconceptions about this, so we invite you to visit http://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq and http://officialblog.yelp.com/2013/05/no-yelp-doesnt-extort-small-businesses-see-...⇄ to learn more.
With regards to the order of the recommended reviews, the default order (Yelp Sort) attempts to show reviews that help consumers make informed decisions. For example, the first review displayed for a business will typically be one that reflects the average star rating of a business based on the recommended reviews. 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 by date, star rating, and those written by Elites.
Finally, you expressed concern that you were unable to get in touch with anyone at Yelp. Our Yelp Support team doesn't offer phone based support, but they do provide email based support through our Support Center (http://www.yelp-support.com). We'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 assistance. For these specific situations, there are articles in the Support Center that include submission forms to inquire about the issue.
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.

Hi Edwin,Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Edwin Mendoza - Union Bank. Our records indicate you redeemed a $300 promotional ad credit on February 6, 2018. To redeem the $300 credit towards Yelp ads, you...

were required to sign up for our Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising campaign and put payment information on file. You set your Cost Per Click monthly budget at $750. You also signed up for enhanced profile features which cost an additional $75 per month. Once the promotion runs out, advertising continues until you stop your ads through your Yelp for Business Owners Account. While a sales representative may have walked you through signing up for this program, your advertising program was a self-serve program, which means that ads can be turned off by the business at any time through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. If you only wanted to use your $300 promotion, you would have needed to log in and end the program once that credit was used. During 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 site.Additionally, 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 the payment method on file in your account will be charged monthly, up to a maximum of $825, and your programs will continue unless cancelled. Advertisers 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: February 6 - 28, 2018- You received ad clicks and enhanced profile features which cost a total of $664.99- $300 of your $300 credit was used and you paid $364.99March 1 - 2, 2018- You received ad clicks and enhanced profile features which cost a total of $75.73- You had $0 remaining promotional credit for this month because it was used towards your February ads- You are responsible for $75.73 for advertising services delivered in MarchYou can view ad click and billing information in the Yelp Ads and Billing tabs of your Yelp for Business Owners Account at [redacted]You ended your advertising program on March 2, 2018. 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 $75.73 for advertising services delivered in March. Once this amount is collected, you will not incur further charges. Thanks for understanding.Regards,HelenYelp Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/12) */
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for writing. we are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for [redacted]
We are sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your advertising campaign. To be clear,...

while the goal of advertising on Yelp is to drive more traffic to the business page, which may ultimately result in more customers, it is important to keep in mind that results are not guaranteed. When advertising with a packaged Cost Per Click program, you elected to pay every time a user clicked on your ad impression. You were also paying for the featured video, call tracking, and an enhanced profile (which included features such as competitor ad removal and a photo slideshow).
As you may recall from the email you've received from [redacted], your advertising program has been cancelled as of January 12, 2016. Per the terms of your advertising agreement, we require 30 days written notice to your account management contact if you wish to terminate your advertising program. In reviewing our records, it appears you sent your initial cancellation request in on December 1, 2015, which should have allowed your ads to be terminated on December 31, 2015. We apologize for this oversight, and are waiving the early termination fee. Additionally, you will not be charged for the advertising services that were delivered in January.
We hope you will continue to take advantage of the free features available to you on your business account to engage with the Yelp community. For guidance, please visit https://biz.yelp.com/support/using_business_account
Regards,
[redacted]
Yelp Inc.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2016/01/13) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
The sales speech is complete different to the reality. Is hard to believe in the numbers they report when you compare with the results showed by Analytical tools such Google Analytics. At the end was my fault to sign such a Yelp bias contract.