Completely frustrated with Google and Yelp (RANT!)

[Richard Grasa]

These online directories cannot make it any more difficult to update your info! I've been trying for days to update my info on Yelp and each time I do, it switches back to my old address the next day and locks the fields so I cannot update them again without contacting support. It says you've recently changed your info and cannot change it again at this time. So frustrating!!!

And Google, even though you sign in as the business owner with a user name and password, has to send you a postcard with a PIN # on it to verify the new address and that takes 2 weeks or more to arrive!! Not to mention I tried adding pictures to my listing 3 weeks ago and they have not shown up.

Both of these sites filter legit user reviews, or never add them to the listing at all.

I've gotten calls from people who found me online and were expecting to come to my shop location, which is now closed and I have to explain that I'm now mobile and they are like "then why does it say on yelp or whatever, that you have this physical location". And that makes me look unprofessional and I have to explain my difficulties with these sites to them so they understand.

I want to just delete my listings and start over, which may make this whole thing easier, but then the reviews I have on those sites will go away!
Should I just deal with losing the reviews and try to relist again with new info instead of trying to update, or should I keep dealing with these issues until I get them resolved? I just don't know.

Oh, and Adwords is now taking up to 3 days to approve your ad, which I wanted to run in the meantime until this all gets resolved but the wait isn't helping things.

Ok, I feel a little better. Not really, but at least this will make some people aware of these sites BS so you are prepared if you ever need to update your info.

[Ron Ketcham]

Rich, frustrating, I know.
However, just take a deep breath and understand that "stuff happens", especially when dealing with some geek sitting on a computer band who has no idea of what you do, how important it is for you to pay your bills, etc.
Take that energy, after taking a deep breath, and put it into your actual "everyday business", other wise I and others will be sending greeting cards to the mental facility they have to place you in.
Those real customers of yours are your best method of attaining new customers, not "shoppers" who eat up a lot of time.
LOL!
Grumpy

[Richard Grasa]

Good advice Ron, I just think it's important to get my info updated online asap because that's where a good deal of my new business comes from. I booked 3 details between yesterday and today from people Googling for a detailer. And since I'm now an hour from my original customer base I need to get my info updated so people in the area I live start seeing me in their searches so I can start building a customer base here too instead of having to drive an hour to every detail. I'm done for tonight, time to have a beer!

[Ron Ketcham]

Go gettim Tiger, have a couple for me.
Grumpy

[Dan]

Yelp is so crooked it's amazing. Google yelp and filtering. It's basically turned into a shakedown operation for small businesses.

A business that scammed my parents has 45 "filtered" reviews and only shows three.

[C. Charles Hahn]

some geek sitting on a computer

Hey, watch it! I resemble that remark....

[Ron Ketcham]

"If the foo sits", oh well, you know the rest!
Gonna take a break from the heat Thurs. evening and jump in the pool with the Raging Rhino's on Thursday Night Chat?
Grumpy

[C. Charles Hahn]

"If the foo sits", oh well, you know the rest!
Gonna take a break from the heat Thurs. evening and jump in the pool with the Raging Rhino's on Thursday Night Chat?
Grumpy

That's the plan at the moment, at least. Depends on what if anything shows up here tomorrow.

[Quenga]

Rich, frustrating, I know.
However, just take a deep breath and understand that "stuff happens", especially when dealing with some geek sitting on a computer band who has no idea of what you do, how important it is for you to pay your bills, etc.
Take that energy, after taking a deep breath, and put it into your actual "everyday business", other wise I and others will be sending greeting cards to the mental facility they have to place you in.
Those real customers of yours are your best method of attaining new customers, not "shoppers" who eat up a lot of time.
LOL!
Grumpy

I actually know of a few people that work at Yelp and I think it's unfair to comment on a business you have no experience in. Yelp was created to HELP small businesses. Look at most major chains, they have HORRIBLE reviews. Big business does not need Yelp. Small businesses can thrive and I know several local business owners that have stated Yelp has literally doubled their business and brought in several repeat customers. More so than any other form of advertising. It's literally the most cost effective marketing you can do (as long as you don't buy into monthly services which are stupid expensive.)

I use Yelp and yes, I agree they rip people off for what they charge. BUT, you can have a FREE account, reviewers get FREE accounts and FREE users can give FREE reviews, which essentially gives you FREE advertising.

Yes, legit reviews get filtered, but anyone can look at them. You have to realize that filtering is a MUST. Have you even looked at the filtered reviews? They are almost always from people that don't review anything else, don't have profiles, pictures, etc. Do you know how many shady business owners give themselves 5-star reviews, and then create accounts to falsely promote themselves?? Part of my market research was checking out other detailers in my area, and I found TONS of bad reviews from real customers who heavily review other businesses. I then clicked on the filtered reviews and saw one-liners, general "great job" reviews and comments that just looked fake. And the posters only had 1 post in the years they've been "registered". All just happened to be around the same time, too. THEN, I noticed the OWNER HIMSELF posted a 5-star review for himself.

Filtering is a must, whether you like it or not. But just think big picture. Without filtering, customers would be tricked by shady businesses day in and day out and no one would use Yelp, or any other service like it. Like another recent user on this site asking for people to vote for him in a competition that is supposed to pick out the best businesses in the area. He wants people to vote for him that have never used his service! He ALSO has a bad Yelp reputation with the same kind of BS reviews filtered on his account. I don't know his service, so I can only comment on my perception, but instantly, I wouldn't trust a business like that, and that's the only way Yelp can, without bias, remove reviews that MAY be fake or false. All roses have thorns...


I hope you get things fixed, I had the same problems and I just bugged the crap out of them and sent multiple e-mails. They got the point and fixed my account. Again, I don't love Yelp's business user-interface, but knowing a few that work there, they are trying to do a good job. You can't be perfect when you're a huge national company. There will always be haters, complainers and people that believe in conspiracies.


PM me your info and I'll send it to someone I know at Yelp to see if they can help. No promises, but I know your frustration and hopefully I can help.

[Dan]

I actually know of a few people that work at Yelp and I think it's unfair to comment on a business you have no experience in. Yelp was created to HELP small businesses. Look at most major chains, they have HORRIBLE reviews. Big business does not need Yelp. Small businesses can thrive and I know several local business owners that have stated Yelp has literally doubled their business and brought in several repeat customers. More so than any other form of advertising. It's literally the most cost effective marketing you can do (as long as you don't buy into monthly services which are stupid expensive.)

I use Yelp and yes, I agree they rip people off for what they charge. BUT, you can have a FREE account, reviewers get FREE accounts and FREE users can give FREE reviews, which essentially gives you FREE advertising.

Yes, legit reviews get filtered, but anyone can look at them. You have to realize that filtering is a MUST. Have you even looked at the filtered reviews? They are almost always from people that don't review anything else, don't have profiles, pictures, etc. Do you know how many shady business owners give themselves 5-star reviews, and then create accounts to falsely promote themselves?? Part of my market research was checking out other detailers in my area, and I found TONS of bad reviews from real customers who heavily review other businesses. I then clicked on the filtered reviews and saw one-liners, general "great job" reviews and comments that just looked fake. And the posters only had 1 post in the years they've been "registered". All just happened to be around the same time, too. THEN, I noticed the OWNER HIMSELF posted a 5-star review for himself.

Filtering is a must, whether you like it or not. But just think big picture. Without filtering, customers would be tricked by shady businesses day in and day out and no one would use Yelp, or any other service like it. Like another recent user on this site asking for people to vote for him in a competition that is supposed to pick out the best businesses in the area. He wants people to vote for him that have never used his service! He ALSO has a bad Yelp reputation with the same kind of BS reviews filtered on his account. I don't know his service, so I can only comment on my perception, but instantly, I wouldn't trust a business like that, and that's the only way Yelp can, without bias, remove reviews that MAY be fake or false. All roses have thorns...


I hope you get things fixed, I had the same problems and I just bugged the crap out of them and sent multiple e-mails. They got the point and fixed my account. Again, I don't love Yelp's business user-interface, but knowing a few that work there, they are trying to do a good job. You can't be perfect when you're a huge national company. There will always be haters, complainers and people that believe in conspiracies.


PM me your info and I'll send it to someone I know at Yelp to see if they can help. No promises, but I know your frustration and hopefully I can help.

Time to go back and do more research. Yelp did start out right but it has turned into a shakedown operation. Countless articles by very large papers have been written about it. Lots of lawsuits as well.

How can a business have 3 reviews and 48 filtered?

[Quenga]

Time to go back and do more research. Yelp did start out right but it has turned into a shakedown operation. Countless articles by very large papers have been written about it. Lots of lawsuits as well.

How can a business have 3 reviews and 48 filtered?

Do you have cases that have substantial backing? Any that won? I've seen a few class-action lawsuits against them, all that lost, and I still believe in Yelp. But, if you have info I don't, I'm always into gathering more.

Yelp is user-generated, their filtering system is automated and it's free advertising for all. It's like blaming auto-correct on an iPhone for not getting the word right before you sent it, when you didn't check what you typed.

If you have a link to this business, I'd be more than happy to look at it, and I'm pretty sure the same reviews will be the usual ones that get filtered. A lot of people give unreliable and irrational reviews. Like customers giving fine dining steak restaurants 1-star because it's too expensive. How does that make sense? Or, maybe they didn't like the decor, so they knock the owner to a 3-star rating. Or, because a 5-star in their mind is "perfect", they give businesses 4 stars because they don't believe perfection exists. Users unrelated to Yelp actually try to extort business owners by giving them horrible reviews. Do you have a way of sorting through millions of reviews do this any better?

There is too much cynicism towards big business and believing stuff on the news and in papers (which, c'mon, is widely known for only printing what benefit's them) doesn't help either.

[SoCal Mobile]

Wish I could delete my Yelp account. No such luck! Can't do it.