ComplaintsforYelp Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  08/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Yelp offers a promotion with free advertising dollars. The problem is that you don’t know if you’re really getting it and they won’t show you any of the analytics / statistics about it so it’s a complete fraud. Yelp cannot provide any supporting documents to prove this is not advertisement fraud.

  Business response

  08/24/2021

  Hi ****,
  
  Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for **** ***** *** *** **********.
  
  Our records indicate you signed up for an advertising program on 3/30 with a $450 monthly Cost Per Click budget (or a $15 per day average), as well as page upgrade package features which cost $120 per month (or a $4 per day average) for total charges of up to $570 per month. This monthly maximum was stated in the "Welcome to Yelp Advertising: Your Ads Are Now Live!" email we sent when signed up for this  program.
  
  Your advertising program also included a Yelp Boost promo of up to an additional $1200 in free Yelp ad clicks be applied over 3 months. Please note that this promo was for an additional ad budget of up to $200, $400, and $600 each month respectively for 3 months, and not a discount on the services you signed up for.
  
  You ended your advertising program on 4/19. As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to (https://biz.yelp.com/tos/master_advertising_terms_en_us_20210226) we will not be able to offer you a full refund. Thanks for understanding.
  
  Regards,
  Daisy
  Yelp, Inc. 
  

  Customer response

  08/25/2021

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  yelp has showed me no proof of $1200 in the promised free advertisements. Yelp said they can only see it on there end of their platform.  Yelp refuses to allow me to see any of it.  How do we know yelp is being honest?

  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ****

  Business response

  09/02/2021

  Hi ****,
  
  Thank you for your response. We are sorry to hear about your continued frustration.
  
  To reiterate, the promotion used on your account was not a free trial or credit of any sorts. This was a promotion for an additional ad budget of up to $1200 spread across 3 months, and not a discount on the services you signed up for. This could also be seen on the screen during your sign-up process through your Business Owner’s Account (steps 3 and 4).
  
  To see how your promotion was applied, please see our support article here: https://www.yelp-support.com/article/How-are-promotional-credits-boosts-and-bonuses-applied?l=en_US
  
  Our decision not to fully refund will stand. You may reach out to our Customer Success Team at 855-380-9357 with any further questions.
  
  Regards,
  Daisy
  Yelp, Inc.
  

  Customer response

  09/03/2021

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I want to know what was received from these free Ad dollars. I want to know what the cost per click was. I wanna know how many clicks were obtained from these free ad dollars. I want to know all the analytics on these air dollars and how they’re working. And you won’t show anything. I don’t want my money back. I just want to know how everything was spent. Especially including the free Ad dollars  

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ****

• Initial Complaint

  08/21/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hello,We have received many reviews on Yelp for our business and they are disappearing. This does nothappen on ****** or ********* I'd like to know why our reviews are being removed or are disappearing from Yelp. I have copies of all of them printed out. I have emailed Yelp but received no response. Customers have even told us they've posted reviews on Yelp and don't understand why they are not showing.********** **, ** 7/28/2021 5 star review with comments V JS 5 star review with comments ~7/5/2021 ************** ************, ** 4/20/2021 5 star review with comments ******** ************, ** 6/28/2021 5 star review with comments ***** A SoMa, **********************, ** 7/13/2021 5 star review with comments ****************, ***** ** 7/1/2021 5 star review with comments ****************, **. ** 5/11/2021 5 star review with comments ************** SoMa, **********************, ** 7/3/2021 5 star review with comments ************************** Springs, ** 7/5/2021 5 star review with comments ****** P, **. ** 6/1/2021 5 star ****** G, ********

  Business response

  08/23/2021

  Hi *******,
  
  Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding the business page for ******* Furniture. 
  
  One of the ways we try to help Yelp users discover local businesses is by using automated recommendation software to showcase reliable reviews. This means Yelp doesnt recommend every review from every user and is automated so that it can apply the same 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 user activity of reviewers on **********************.  Applying uniform criteria, the software decides which reviews should be recommendedfiltering out potentially unreliable reviews, like those that *** be solicited, come from an unfairly biased source (like a business owner or employee) or are written by users we just dont know enough about. 
  
  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 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 *** be recommended in the future, and vice versa. 
  
  We hope youll take the time to learn more about Yelps recommendation software here: https://trust.yelp.com/recommendation-software/
  
  You can also watch this video for an overview of how our recommendation software works: https://www.youtube.com/embed/TIaOBxcntqw?rel=0
  
  Regards,
  *****
  Yelp Inc.

  Customer response

  08/24/2021

   
  Complaint: 15786054
  
  I am rejecting this response because: There are numerous 5 star reviews with wonderful comments that go up onto the Yelp site and then are gone. I would like them put back. There is no way you can explain this away saying that an automated system is pulling all these wonderful reviews down the same day they are put up.
  

  Explain how you are going to get them put back up or I'd like our company completely removed from Yelp completely, because it seems like your automated system is blocking positive ones and leaving the negative ones.

  On ****** we have a 4.5/5.0.

  On ******** we have a 4.3/5.0.

  On Yelp we have a 2.0/5.0, and it is not accurate since Yelp is removing all positive reviews for some reason in the last 6 months.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  09/02/2021

  Hi *******,
  
  Thank you for writing back. 
  
  Please note our recommendation software is completely automated. No employee at Yelp has the ability to recommend or not recommend a businesss reviews. This approach is deliberate to avoid conflicts of interest.
  
  That being said, the software is constantly trying to improve its recommendations as it learns new information from reviews and about reviewers. This means that recommendation decisions about any review can change over time, and reviews can move from recommended to not currently recommended at any time and vice versa. 
  
  We also want to clarify that Yelp's software works to recommend the most helpful and reliable reviews to users, regardless of how many stars a user chooses. To better understand why it may seem like many of your positive reviews are not recommended Yelps software, please visit: https://www.yelp-support.com/article/Does-Yelp-recommend-more-positive-or-negative-reviews?l=en_US
  
  Lastly, you asked for your business to be removed from Yelp; however, we don't remove business information. While some business owners might prefer to keep a lower profile, this kind of information is publicly available and its use is protected under the law. 
  
  Regards,
  *****
  Yelp Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  08/21/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I registered my business with Yelp in June. Business started picking up in July and August and customers were leaving great reviews. The moment I registered my business, I started getting constant calls from ***** and *** of Yelp trying to sell me over $300 worth of advertising. I told them I was just starting out and had no money for such expense. *** told me it would "BOOST MY SALES", as they would "PROMOTE" my website. I told him no. He continued to call and then email on how Yelp could "drive more customers to my business". Finally, I stopped answering the phone and when I did, Yelp removed my reviews and left ONE displayed, as if I had one customer. These people are the epitome of unethical. They will show ALL your reviews if you give them money. And if you don't, your reviews are hidden. I understand why California filed a class action lawsuit against these people; they're filthy.

  Business response

  08/23/2021

  Hi ****,
  
  Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding the business page for ****** **** * **** ** ****. 
  
  I want to assure you with 100% certainty that Yelp treats advertisers and non-advertisers exactly alike with respect to reviews. Advertising 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 board. Furthermore, 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 a Yelp sales representative doesn't have any influence over when that might happen.
   
  We hope you’ll take the time to learn more about Yelp’s recommendation software here: https://trust.yelp.com/recommendation-software/
  
  You can also watch this video for an overview of how our recommendation software works: https://www.youtube.com/embed/TIaOBxcntqw?rel=0
  
  If you would like us to place your business on our internal Do Not Call list, so that going forward you should receive no further sales communication unless you explicitly request otherwise, please let us know. 
  
  Regards,
  Helen
  Yelp Inc.

  Customer response

  08/24/2021

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  This is the same lame excuse they give to all businesses complaining about their mob tactics. Since filing the complaint, I have been flooded with emails and phone calls from ***, still trying to sell me over $300 worth of advertisements in exchange for my reviews to be displayed. I had NO NEGATIVE REVIEWS, which is a clear indication of their cookie-cutter response.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *********

  Business response

  09/02/2021

  Hi ****,
  
  Thank you for writing back. 
  
  It is important to note that the recommendation software is entirely automated. There’s no connection between advertising on Yelp and how the recommendation software treats a business’s ratings and reviews. The recommendation software applies the same standards to all businesses, meaning reviews of advertisers and non-advertisers are treated exactly the same.
  
  Regards,
  Helen
  Yelp Inc.

  Customer response

  09/06/2021

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: they are lieing.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *********

• Initial Complaint

  08/20/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Someone from Yelp contacted me in last week of March regarding the Business Advertisement in Yelp. The Yelp rep explained me on how the Yelp works and how it can promote business. I asked about the pricing details and they mentioned that its $4 per day and will come to $120 per month. Considering this offer i wanted to try for one month and see if this program really helps and registered in Yelp in a connected session while the rep was online and helping. And then i followed Yelp rep guidance to create business pages. I never got any clicks or calls through Yelp. And at the end of the month they sent me the invoice with approximately 5 times the amount they promised me while registering. I contacted many time customer service team explaining the issue and all they are saying is there is no such $4 per day offer and i have to pay full amount. I dont understand why its offered to me when there is no offer. If i would have known this before i would never sign up for Yelp.

  Business response

  08/23/2021

  Hi ***,
  
  Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for ***** ******** *********.
  
  Our records indicate you signed up for an advertising program on 3/30 with a $450 monthly Cost Per Click budget (or a $15 per day average), as well as page upgrade package features which cost $120 per month (or a $4 per day average) for total charges of up to $570 per month. This monthly maximum was stated in the "Welcome to Yelp Advertising: Your Ads Are Now Live!" email we sent when signed up for this  program.
  
  You ended your advertising program on 5/2. As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to (https://biz.yelp.com/tos/master_advertising_terms_en_us_20210226) we will not be able to offer you a full refund. Thanks for understanding.
  
  Regards,
  Daisy
  Yelp, Inc. 
  
  

  Customer response

  08/24/2021

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  As I mentioned before, I never knew the Advertisement program charges.
  This looks the system is designed to confuse and go businesses bankrupt.
  All I knew is the charge $4 per day. And I am only prepared to pay

  $120 per month. I just started my business and there is no way I would have 

  signed up for this if I would know these confusing Advertising charges.

  And also if you look at the invoice the charges are ~ $49 per click and ~ $15 per click.. 

  Sincerely,

  ***.

  *** ***

  Business response

  09/02/2021

  Hi ***,
  
  Thank you for your response. We are sorry to hear about your continued frustration.
  
  Your advertising program was a self-serve program, which means that ads can be customized or changed at any time or turned off by the business through the Yelp for Business Owners Account. Signing up for advertising required you to click through each on-screen prompt as they appeared. These prompts displayed information which includes a full description of the promotion, cost per click estimate, daily average budget, monthly maximum budget and first expected billing date. Starting ads also required you to put your payment information on file. We also provide multiple resources such as our Customer Success Team to assist you with any issues. This information was provided in the "Welcome to Yelp Advertising: Your Ads Are Now Live!" email, which was sent to the email used to login to the BOA, after you signed up for your program.
  
  Cost-Per-Click ads are delivered in categories matching your specific business, as well as other similar categories that our ad delivery system has identified as relevant. The price you pay per click is based on competition and relevance, but you'll always pay the least amount needed to win the click. We aim to maximize the number of clicks you get for your budget over the course of the month, and you should plan to have 100% of your budget fulfilled. Occasionally competitive demand pre***ts this, but you'll only be billed for the cost of the clicks you received in that monthly billing period.
  
  Our decision not to fully refund will stand. You may reach out to our Customer Success Team at 855-380-9357 with any further questions.
  
  Regards,
  Daisy
  Yelp, Inc.
  

  Customer response

  09/03/2021

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  It’s very simple. You can do business with lot of clauses and I am not here to debate on that.

  Mine is a new business and just registered in Yelp thinking it may help in my

  business.but, I was not aware of all these hidden costs… the person from Yelp had a connected session 

  and asked to do some clicks to register and setup on Yelp.

  at that I was not aware of these Ads and the costs involved.

  this is confusing price structure and designed to confuse newbies and get money.

  which is not a ethical practices.I would have

  never ever signed up on Yelp if I had known these costs.

  this is too much for any startup company.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *** ***

• Initial Complaint

  08/20/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Yelp is crazy robbed me while my restaurant lost tones of money in 2020.Yelp charged my business credit card $300 per month from 5/30/2020 to 8/1/2021, while I setup auto pay.Yelp charged me tot$4249. I never did advertise with Yelp in 2020 pandemic.reason 1.Due to Covid-19, all shopping mall shutting down from 3/16/2020 to 6/12/2020, and 8/1/2020 to 8/30/2020 in ***********. My restaurant is inside ******** shopping mall. No customers could enter into the mall, why I (stupid?) spent $300 to advertise my restaurant when shopping mall was shutdown?. It maybe yelp misleading ads to bring me into the trap. 2.I bought ********************* by 10/1/2018. There were 2.3 star review for the restaurant I bought, When I try to call Yelp to remove my restaurant review, they didn't do that.By 2.3 Star review, the more advertisement on yelp, the less customers will have, due to 2.3 star review( by previous owner).I request full refund. I provided credit card when I upload pics on Yelp.

  Business response

  08/25/2021

  Hi Min,
  
  Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Jake's.
  
  Please note we do not create new listings or remove reviews for businesses that change ownership or management but continue to leverage the goodwill in the name used by prior ownership or management. From a consumer perspective, the businesses appear to be the same.
  
  Our records indicate you signed up for an advertising program on 5/27/20 with a $300 monthly Cost Per Click budget (or a $10 per day average) for total charges of up to $300 per month. This monthly maximum was stated in the "Welcome to Yelp Advertising: Your Ads Are Now Live!" email we sent when signed up for this  program.
  
  Your advertising program also included a Yelp Boost promo of up to an additional $600 in free Yelp ad clicks be applied over 6 months. Please note that this promo was for an additional ad budget of up to $100 each month respectively for 6 months, and not a discount on the services you signed up for.
  
  You ended your advertising program on 8/2/21. As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to (https://biz.yelp.com/tos/master_advertising_terms_en_us_20200402) we will not be able to offer you a full refund. Thanks for understanding.
  
  Regards,
  Daisy
  Yelp, Inc. 

• Initial Complaint

  08/19/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I filed a complaint several years back about a review written that listed the 1st and last names of employees and was not appropriate. It took filing the complaint with BBB to get it removed but it finally was. After that, all of my positive reviews disappeared on YELP and only the negative review were left. I really do not even care about that. What I do care about and I have contacted YELP on numerous occasions is that when you ****** my business name there are (2) Two, identical YELP advertisements. Since my positive reviews were removed that left me with a 1 star. I just want one of the ads taken down.SImple ****** my business name and you will see identical ads.*********************************.

  Business response

  08/23/2021

  Hi *********,
  
  Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding the business page for ************************. 
  
  Please note we cannot control what gets displayed on ****** search. Please keep in mind that results in ****** do change over time, so the content in question may change eventually.
  
  Thank you in advance for your understanding.
  
  Regards,
  *****
  Yelp Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  08/17/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had a sales call with a yelp representative about a year ago. Being in the industry for 10+ years, I was able to call out all the lies in real-time. I was astonished at how much this sales person lied. I ended the call asking them to not contact us via phone or email and he agreed to take us off their list. I received an email from another yelp salesman the week later, and asked them to stop contacting me. Following this, we have been contacted by yelp 20+ times since this incident all by different individuals. I have formally requested they no longer contact us 5+ times.They still continue to contact my business. At this point, this is harassment.

  Business response

  08/18/2021

  Hi *****,
  
  We have placed your business on our internal Do Not Call list, and going forward you should receive no further sales communication unless you explicitly request otherwise. If for any reason you continue to hear from them, please let us know at http://www.yelp.com/support/contact/questions 
  
  If you would like to update your email notification preferences, you can do so by following the instructions given here: https://www.yelp-support.com/article/How-do-I-change-the-emails-and-notifications-I-receive-for-my-business?l=en_**
  
  Regards,
  Daisy
  Yelp, Inc. 
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/16/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  After years of phone calls from yelp trying to get us to use there service to get Heating and Cooling referrals through there website we finally tried to give them a chance. In the billing period from April 1st through August 1st we paid $2,508.94 and received only one Job to do a clean and check on an air conditioner with a ticket price of $90.00 This job was also for a yelp employee and we were told he couldn't even write a review since he worked for the company.In all this time we were charged for clicks on our yelp page we didn't have any verbal contact with any customers. Any time would get a question and request that the customer call us for a free quote we never received a call back.We would also get charged for questions regarding services we didn't even provide.After setting up the account with ****** We never received a follow up call to go over the system.. After getting a new contact and being promised if we spent more money things would get better. 0 calls received

  Business response

  08/23/2021

  *******,
  
  Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Arrow Heating & Cooling.
  
  We are sorry to hear that 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. 
  
  Our records indicate you signed up for an advertising program on 3/23 with a $450 monthly Cost Per Click budget (or a $15 per day average), as well as page upgrade package features which cost $120 per month (or a $4 per day average) for total charges of up to $570 per month. This monthly maximum was stated in the "Welcome to Yelp Advertising: Your Ads Are Now Live!" email we sent when signed up for this  program.
  
  Your advertising program also included a Yelp Boost promo of up to an additional $900 in free Yelp ad clicks be applied over 3 months. Please note that this promo was for an additional ad budget of up to $150, $300, and $450 each month respectively for 3 months, and not a discount on the services you signed up for.
  
  On 7/26, you lowered your CPC budget to $150 per month (or a $5 per day average). Finally, on 7/28, you increased your CPC budget to $1,920 per month (or a $64 per day average).
  
  You ended your advertising program on 8/2. As advertising services have been delivered in accordance with the Terms you agreed to (https://biz.yelp.com/tos/master_advertising_terms_en_us_20210513) we will not be able to offer you a full refund. Thanks for understanding.
  
  Regards,
  Daisy
  Yelp, Inc. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/15/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am a newer business that has been working very hard to try to satisfy our customers and to build our brand. Our company and team worked incredibly hard, I'm the summer heat, for hours to ensure that our work was done right and that our customers were satisfied. As a result, we earned 3 organic reviews, which help has hidden on its platform. Because of this, our business profile is showing zero reviews as opposed to the 3 reviews that we earned. In addition, Yelp's behavior and algorithm has impacted our business as I have noticed a correlation between customers reaching out to our business before Yelp hides our reviews, versus the precipitous drop in business after our reviews are hidden. Yelp penalizes businesses that work hard and receive excellent reviews from their customers, which not sensible. All that I am asking is that our reviews be restored immediately. Our business name is ***************** in West ******, **.

  Business response

  08/16/2021

  Hi Marquise,
  
  Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding the business page for *****************. 
  
  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 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 youll take the time to learn more about Yelps recommendation software here: https://trust.yelp.com/recommendation-software/
  
  You can also watch this video for an overview of how our recommendation software works: https://www.youtube.com/embed/TIaOBxcntqw?rel=0
  
  Regards,
  *****
  Yelp Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  08/13/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was called by someone from Yelp that said her job was to help new businesses with their page. I told her that I wasnt going to pay for anything because my business wasnt ready yet. She said that I wasnt going to be charged if I signed up for their promotion deal. I checked my Yelp business account 13 days later to find a **** for over $400. I canceled my debit card thinking they made a mistake. Now they are trying to strong arm me to pay and their is not even an itemized **** or record of how they came to that amount. Either I was lied to about getting charged or they made a mistake. Ive been trying for weeks to speak to a manager or someone that can review my call with the person that set up my account and they keep giving me the run around.

  Business response

  08/18/2021

  Hi Jamonn,
  
  Thank you for writing. We are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns regarding your advertising program for Skate Sessions.
  
  Our records indicate you originally signed up for an advertising program on 6/1 with a $450 monthly Cost Per Click budget (or a $15 per day average) as well as a $120 monthly Page Upgrade package (or a $4 per day average) for total charges of up to $570 per month. This monthly maximum was stated in the "Welcome to Yelp Advertising: Your Ads Are Now Live!" email we sent when you signed up for this program. 
  
  Your advertising program also included a Yelp Boost promo of up to an additional $900 in free Yelp ad clicks be applied over 3 months. Please note that this promo was for an additional ad budget of up to $150, $300, and $450 respectively each month for 3 months, and not a discount on the services you signed up for.
  
  You ended your advertising program on 6/14. After review, our Customer Success team has approved a profile credit in the amount of $412.29. Thanks for understanding.
  
  Regards,
  Daisy
  Yelp, Inc.
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩