Yelp

[KingOfBBN]

Anyone use this piece of **** site? The reviews on there are filled with self important douchebags who feel empowered because they have a smart phone and feel as if they are some celebrity or food critic. I seriously just read a review that complained that the bathroom mirrors were too tall.

Yelp is also the devil to small business owners or restaurants. I could tell you some of their sham practices that our family has encountered but wanted to know if any of you actually use this site and what was the most ridiculous review you've read?

 

[GonzoCat90]

I've used it to check out places near a location I know I'll be in if I'm going to a new city. It's fun to read reviews for things online as long as you keep in mind that it's the internet and people are completely psychotic.

Read a review once for a place in Charlotte where they complained that the waitress wouldn't have sex with them. That's not something you ever forget.

The reviews by verified users are mostly really helpful, although I find my standards/expectations are lower than you typically find with the crowd who takes that kind of thing seriously enough to write several dozen online reviews for various places.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Anyone use this piece of **** site? The reviews on there are filled with self important douchebags who feel empowered because they have a smart phone and feel as if they are some celebrity or food critic. I seriously just read a review that complained that the bathroom mirrors were too tall.

Yelp is also the devil to small business owners or restaurants. I could tell you some of their sham practices that our family has encountered but wanted to know if any of you actually use this site and what was the most ridiculous review you've read?

Hey, you just did a Yelp on Yelp! But I found it too vague and not particularly helpful. That's my Yelp of your Yelp on Yelp.

 

[UKserialkiller]

People can go to Hell, that's what.

 

[anon_aawvduncd4ay0]

Anyone use this piece of **** site? The reviews on there are filled with self important douchebags who feel empowered because they have a smart phone and feel as if they are some celebrity or food critic. I seriously just read a review that complained that the bathroom mirrors were too tall.

Yelp is also the devil to small business owners or restaurants. I could tell you some of their sham practices that our family has encountered but wanted to know if any of you actually use this site and what was the most ridiculous review you've read?

Did your family's business get slammed in a review, or you just believed a review that turned out to be crap? Asking because I do read Yelp prior to trying a new spot, never posted though.

 

[Get Buckets]

Anyone use this piece of **** site? The reviews on there are filled with self important douchebags who feel empowered because they have a smart phone and feel as if they are some celebrity or food critic. I seriously just read a review that complained that the bathroom mirrors were too tall.

Yelp is also the devil to small business owners or restaurants. I could tell you some of their sham practices that our family has encountered but wanted to know if any of you actually use this site and what was the most ridiculous review you've read?

 

[RacerX.ksr]

Hey, you just did a Yelp on Yelp! But I found it too vague and not particularly helpful. That's my Yelp of your Yelp on Yelp.

Yep

 

[mashburned]

Catpaw is a very intersting website. I find the color scheme to be quite well, imo. To be honest, it could use maybe a little more pizazz, but I'm not complaining. I find that it works well overall. Now, on to the content. I Find the content to be underwhelming for a modern day internet website. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I don't feel like I gain a whole lot from visiting the site. Maybe it's the numerous penis jokes I stumble upon while reading the very offensive D League thread. It is not a part of the website you should allow your children to read. I have emailed the moderators asking it to be removed, but no response yet. Follow my blog for more updates on that. Overall, I feel that www.catpaw.com is a fair to very fair website with some interesting takes and a few bad apples. I would recommend it to most everyone, imho. I ultimately give it 3 stars. Tune in to my blog for more takes similar to this. Thanks for reading.

 

[GrandePdre]

Yelp has only one good use-- to help you find a good local restaurant in a town/city of which you are unfamiliar. That's it. It's worthless for practically any other business.

 

[KingOfBBN]

Did your family's business get slammed in a review, or you just believed a review that turned out to be crap? Asking because I do read Yelp prior to trying a new spot, never posted though.

Yelp is basically revenge for every angry woman or entitled jerk. For instance, our family's storage business has perfect scores on every website except Yelp. Recently we had this woman who has been late every month for the past six months. When you're late, you're locked out of the property and not allowed access until you pay. Well, this seemed to rock her world when she was not allowed access so she went to Yelp to post a ton of false BS and tell us how much we suck because she didn't pay.

Now here's the thing about Yelp and why so many businesses hate their guts and even sued them (failed). Yelp claims they have no control over reviews and they're not manipulated. THAT IS A LIE. You see Yelp will call around to local businesses and try to get you to buy their advertising. When you decline, your positive reviews coincidentally fall off and negative ones replace them. This is all over the net as the experience of other businesses.

Here's the thing. Next time you look at Yelp, scroll down to see in faint gray font "85 other reviews are not currently recommended." They filter tons of good reviews if they feel you're too close to the businesses' IP address or if you're not a Yelper (someone who writes a ton of reviews). However, if you've never Yelped before and you want to write a negative review IT STICKS! Funny how that works? It's leverage for them to buy their advertising to have negative reviews get hidden or fall off.

We had a guy who had never Yelped before and wrote a review but didn't understand the star rating. He wrote an awesome review with his words but only gave one star. Yelp allowed it to stick. When we contacted him about the mistake and he changed it to 5 stars, they filtered it.

Restaurants have it worse though because of idiots using it as a weapon and threatening the establishment with it. Just check out this recent story in Boston about two entitled little bs http://www.grubstreet.com/2015/03/boston-chef-counters-yelp-threats-with-instagram-shaming.html

There was another story of a guy who claimed food poisoning the next day despite everyone in the restaurant having the same dish. He said if they didn't give him a $100 gift card, he and his girlfriend and all of their friends would light them online with bad reviews. So keep this is mind when you read these reviews.

 

[Lord_Crow]

Sounding off tool for yippies. The reviews are either ridiculously glowing or over-the-top negative. They made Tacos Luchador into the greatest Mexican restaurant of all time in Louisville and while they do have decent tacos that nasty way too sweet mole they serve on fries is inedible.

My advice to a business owner is to answer back on the negative reviews. Get your side out there to at least let your customers know you are aware of the negativity and are addressing it.

 

[JDHoss]

I use Tripadvisor to find new places. If you have any common sense at all, you can spot a bogus review by a former/disgruntled employee/competitior, or just some anal ******** who bitches about everything.

 

[Deeeefense]

There are other consumer feedback sites besides Yelp, Google also publishes consumer reviews which I have found to be useful. The way I use these sites is not to look at one or a few bad reviews but to look at the overall rating trend. Anything close to a 4 star or better should be pretty good if there are at least 15-20 reviews. If there are only a couple of reviews and they are extreme it's probably not worth much. Compare the star rankings on more than one site for a business. Look for consistency. If Yelp is consistently downgrading a business it should show up in comparing to other review sites.

 

[KingOfBBN]

Read the reviews of Yelp on Yelp saying the same thing. They're like a fat guy from the mafia coming in with his two goons trying to shake you down or you'll be sorry.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/yelp-san-francisco?sort_by=date_desc

 

[KingOfBBN]

The lady that gave our company a bad review had written 18 total reviews. 13 of them were 1 star. Her review history is comical. She reviewed a car dealership that she was upset with because she called the guy to say she was interested in getting one of their BMWs but warned him that her credit was a nightmare. After he ran her credit and saw she's total trash he didn't' seem as concerned with entertaining her. She continued in her review to say, "they just want your money and if you can't give to them then they don't care."

You're right, lady. That's the point of a business is to make money and if you have no money then you're just a crazy person wasting everyone's time. In her other reviews, she seems to have real issues with Asians and Latinos.

But some of the comical ones I've read recently was a guy giving a good restaurant a 1* review because he and his hot sister and his hot sister's hot friend had to wait for their table and they don't have to wait at other places in L.A.

 

[Lord_Crow]

Consumers are savvy and they know a ridiculous review when they see one. Most people are looking for information and not opinions. Also, the over all trend. If a large number of people like a business then consumers are not going to be swayed by one or two negative reviews.

You take the one nutty woman you are talking about, if her review is in a sea of positive reviews then nobody will pay any attention to it, but if there are a whole lot of unhappy customers then it means she probably had a legitimate concern but expressed it poorly.

 

[AustinTXCat]

Yelp is basically revenge for every angry woman or entitled jerk. .

My stepson ran Game Gods Repair here in Austin for 3 years (2011-2013). They repaired Androids, iPads, iPhones ect., and operated two locations. Needless to say, he also had fun with Yelpers. At any rate, he ended up selling the business for a decent price.

 

[UpstateNYCat]

As others have said, I'll use it to check out what's around in areas I'm not familiar with. I try and keep it to recent reviews, don't care how it was 1, 2 or 3 yrs ago. I also check out the pictures people post, helps quite a bit to determine if it's a place I want to try. Always irritates me when they post pics but don't label what it is.

 

[Get Buckets]

Yelp is basically revenge for every angry woman or entitled jerk. For instance, our family's storage business has perfect scores on every website except Yelp. Recently we had this woman who has been late every month for the past six months. When you're late, you're locked out of the property and not allowed access until you pay. Well, this seemed to rock her world when she was not allowed access so she went to Yelp to post a ton of false BS and tell us how much we suck because she didn't pay.

Now here's the thing about Yelp and why so many businesses hate their guts and even sued them (failed). Yelp claims they have no control over reviews and they're not manipulated. THAT IS A LIE. You see Yelp will call around to local businesses and try to get you to buy their advertising. When you decline, your positive reviews coincidentally fall off and negative ones replace them. This is all over the net as the experience of other businesses.

Here's the thing. Next time you look at Yelp, scroll down to see in faint gray font "85 other reviews are not currently recommended." They filter tons of good reviews if they feel you're too close to the businesses' IP address or if you're not a Yelper (someone who writes a ton of reviews). However, if you've never Yelped before and you want to write a negative review IT STICKS! Funny how that works? It's leverage for them to buy their advertising to have negative reviews get hidden or fall off.

We had a guy who had never Yelped before and wrote a review but didn't understand the star rating. He wrote an awesome review with his words but only gave one star. Yelp allowed it to stick. When we contacted him about the mistake and he changed it to 5 stars, they filtered it.

Restaurants have it worse though because of idiots using it as a weapon and threatening the establishment with it. Just check out this recent story in Boston about two entitled little bs http://www.grubstreet.com/2015/03/boston-chef-counters-yelp-threats-with-instagram-shaming.html

There was another story of a guy who claimed food poisoning the next day despite everyone in the restaurant having the same dish. He said if they didn't give him a $100 gift card, he and his girlfriend and all of their friends would light them online with bad reviews. So keep this is mind when you read these reviews.

 

[Get Buckets]

Read the reviews of Yelp on Yelp saying the same thing. They're like a fat guy from the mafia coming in with his two goons trying to shake you down or you'll be sorry.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/yelp-san-francisco?sort_by=date_desc

 

[Get Buckets]

The lady that gave our company a bad review had written 18 total reviews. 13 of them were 1 star. Her review history is comical. She reviewed a car dealership that she was upset with because she called the guy to say she was interested in getting one of their BMWs but warned him that her credit was a nightmare. After he ran her credit and saw she's total trash he didn't' seem as concerned with entertaining her. She continued in her review to say, "they just want your money and if you can't give to them then they don't care."

You're right, lady. That's the point of a business is to make money and if you have no money then you're just a crazy person wasting everyone's time. In her other reviews, she seems to have real issues with Asians and Latinos.

But some of the comical ones I've read recently was a guy giving a good restaurant a 1* review because he and his hot sister and his hot sister's hot friend had to wait for their table and they don't have to wait at other places in L.A.

 

[Deeeefense]

slightly OT: some on-line retailers filter out most if not all of the bad reviews. I had a horrible experience with a pressure washer I bought at Northern Tool. I choose this brand even though it was more expensive based on the reviews compared to the models at Home Depot or Lowes. The thing turned out to be junk - had it back 3 times after only 20 hours of use (2 months out of warranty) kept paying them to fix it but it was never fixed.

After I cut my losses and got a machine from Home Depot I went back to file a consumer review at Northern Equipment. Of course they didn't publish it and then I noticed there were no negative reviews at all for that model, or any other model. Then I looked at compressors, generators etc. - same thing - all wonderful 4/5 star - amazing!

The bottom line is if your are buying a product and there are 30 reviews and not a one is below a 4 star beware. In all likelihood the site has filtered out anything negative.

 

[starchief]

slightly OT: some on-line retailers filter out most if not all of the bad reviews. I had a horrible experience with a pressure washer I bought at Northern Tool. I choose this brand even though it was more expensive based on the reviews compared to the models at Home Depot or Lowes. The thing turned out to be junk - had it back 3 times after only 20 hours of use (2 months out of warranty) kept paying them to fix it but it was never fixed.

After I cut my losses and got a machine from Home Depot I went back to file a consumer review at Northern Equipment. Of course they didn't publish it and then I noticed there were no negative reviews at all for that model, or any other model. Then I looked at compressors, generators etc. - same thing - all wonderful 4/5 star - amazing!

The bottom line is if your are buying a product and there are 30 reviews and not a one is below a 4 star beware. In all likelihood the site has filtered out anything negative.

There's your problem.

 

[Deeeefense]

There's your problem.

You got that right - never again

 

[starchief]

You got that right - never again

I bought an air compressor at Harbor Freight (pretty much the same as Northern Tools). When it broke about 3 years later (after very little use) no replacement parts were available anywhere.

 

[ktbug]

Great for finding hole in the wall type restaurants in new cities. I like it and use it.

 

[Free_Salato_Blue]

There's a whole internet marketing industry out there that has overseas internet sweatshops to write good reviews for companies.
Yelp actually cracks down on these practices.
A reviewer can still be held accountable for slander for possible loss of business.
I suggest reply to any negative review in a polite and respectful way to not defame to reviewer.

 

[Lord_Crow]

Agree. I think owner responses go a long way.

 

[We-Todd-Did]

Typical yelpers are all or nothing. I just read them as nothing was truly as bad, or as good, as they claim. I also notice that it's ok in Louisville or Lexington but useless in small towns. I guess familiarity breeds contempt in small towns because a typical review is something like, " The food was good and the drinks were great, but our waitress, Melody, is a *****".

 

[From-the-stands]

Yelp is basically revenge for every angry woman or entitled jerk. For instance, our family's storage business has perfect scores on every website except Yelp. Recently we had this woman who has been late every month for the past six months. When you're late, you're locked out of the property and not allowed access until you pay. Well, this seemed to rock her world when she was not allowed access so she went to Yelp to post a ton of false BS and tell us how much we suck because she didn't pay.

Now here's the thing about Yelp and why so many businesses hate their guts and even sued them (failed). Yelp claims they have no control over reviews and they're not manipulated. THAT IS A LIE. You see Yelp will call around to local businesses and try to get you to buy their advertising. When you decline, your positive reviews coincidentally fall off and negative ones replace them. This is all over the net as the experience of other businesses.

Here's the thing. Next time you look at Yelp, scroll down to see in faint gray font "85 other reviews are not currently recommended." They filter tons of good reviews if they feel you're too close to the businesses' IP address or if you're not a Yelper (someone who writes a ton of reviews). However, if you've never Yelped before and you want to write a negative review IT STICKS! Funny how that works? It's leverage for them to buy their advertising to have negative reviews get hidden or fall off.
.

This is true, and Yelp has been sued because of these practices. I have a friend who has 3 Bar-B-Q restaurants in Atlanta who declined to buy their advertising, and just like your situation Heisman all the good reviews went away. It's plain extortion. Anyway, that's why Yelp sucks. The reviews aren't honest.

 

[DaBossIsBack]

Depends on where you live. If you live in a large city then it can be helpful. I use it only for restaurants. I usually don't even read the reviews. I look at the food pics to get an idea about the quality of the food. Instagram is probably more helpful though.

 

[BBdK]

Yelp is garbage.

If you live in a large city, it's even worse, as you'll have several other (better) resources.

 

[Big_Blue79]

Yelp is basically revenge for every angry woman or entitled jerk.

What do the angry men do? TIA.

 

[LordEgg_rivals16573]

What do the angry men do? TIA.

drink a lot...and most address it with the business...not get on the internet and cry about it.

 

[From-the-stands]

Urban spoon is much better than Yelp for restaurant reviews, IMO.

 

[weused2luvhim2]

trip advisor/ ftw

 

[Free_Salato_Blue]

Wish I read Yelp before I went to eat at Tumbleweed's in Maysville, KY.

Figure it must been decent since the locals had the parking lot filled up.
It's was terrible, queso tasted like the nacho cheese you get from a movie theater.
Tacos, beans and rice was bland as a high school cafeteria. I need some Texas Pete on that ****.