People on Yelp: Why do you all suck?

Originally Posted by HORNS

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Awesome.

Haha, that review gave me a good laugh.

Originally Posted by East Oakland

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One thing you should know about Yelp is that, if you are a merchant, you can pay to have bad reviews suppressed or moved to the bottom of the page and to have good reviews bumped to the top.

I.e, they are basically in the extortion business.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/eastba...nt?oid=1176635

I've heard this from business owners too. Not ones with direct experience with the extortion but who have friends in the food industry who have been hit by yelp. Definitely shady

Originally Posted by chronoaug

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I've heard this from business owners too. Not ones with direct experience with the extortion but who have friends in the food industry who have been hit by yelp. Definitely shady

I'll vouch for that policy firsthand. You pay to become more prominently displayed at the top of the lists and you can squash the negative reviews.

Originally Posted by chronoaug

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I've heard this from business owners too. Not ones with direct experience with the extortion but who have friends in the food industry who have been hit by yelp. Definitely shady

Yup. A friend who owns a salon has run into this, too.

--Andre

there was a big expose on it a while back...my guess is they have to clean up their act before selling--maybe that is why google walked away from the deal (although sources are unclear as to if it was google or yelp who killed it)

Originally Posted by TACO_FLAVORED_KISSES

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I have no really issues with yelp aside from those complaing about Elitism or Portion sizes.

Gah! This is a HUGE thing in Seattle Yelp reviews. We have the granola (not to mention hipster)crowd who expects every high end restaurant to be disguised as some hole in the wall with a chalkboard menu. Anything too cosmopolitan or ambitious will always be cursed with a 3-star average and scathing reviews from the local independent newspaper within days of opening.

Ex.: "There were very few vegan options, the decor was a bit much for such frugal economic times and there were people eating there, get this, in SUITS! And the waitresses were conventionally attractive! It made me feel so unwelcome in my fleece jacket ensemble. How LAME! Two stars!"

I wish there was a way to find a review "helpful" or "unhelpful" like on amazon. There are a lot of reviews that are neither cool, nor helpful

I disregard any review that comments critically on portion size. A sure sign of a cheap fat person with poor taste buds.

Oh the Yelp ELITE

Well, it has come to our attention that certain members of the Yelp community, including the hallowed Yelp Elite, have begun to take it upon themselves to anoint themselves as members of the media, contact certain outlets and"”brace"”demand comped services in exchange for favorable reviews. Mind you, this isn't a mere special Yelp event at a new restaurant, where free drinks garner five-star reviews. Said crazy, self-entitled Yelpers are actually calling PR firms and demanding everything from free meals to entire comped weekends in Napa.

But enough talk: let's get to the smoking gun email, shall we? The following note just arrived in the Eater Inbox:
My boutique media relations firm represents high-end hotel, wine and golf properties, and media stays, rounds of golf and wine samples are very limited for the traditional media. Over the past 6 months or so, we've been getting three to four calls per week [from Yelpers] asking for comps, freebies, what have you. The most ridiculous of requests came a few weeks ago, when I received a call requesting a comped weekend at a small and uber-exclusive hotel property we represent in the Napa Valley for review by an "Elite Yelper". Let's just say rates start at $750 a night at the property, and I can barely find a mid-week, mid-winter time to get A-list media in, let alone a self-proclaimed expert from an online review network. The individual was none too pleased and dropped the call in a huff of remarks and threats of bad reviews.

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http://sf.eater.com/archives/2008/03...now_demand.php

hahaha that just made my week.

Omg, Elite Yelpers. Pathetic.


Are there any elite SFers?

I knew Yelp existed, I had no idea anyone used it let alone that it was a big deal.

this actual 1 star review (all others are 5/4 stars) of my place from a coked out female diner who threw a hissy fit because she didn't get the table she wanted (we were filled up and she didn't want to wait for her "special" table anymore, even though the table we reserved for her was ready when she arrived.)


Wilmington, DE
10/11/2009 I had to create a Yelp account just so that I can leave a review of my experience at Domaine Hudson.
We had to wait for 30 minutes for our table even though we had a reservation. We were placed on the "waiting couch" next to a bit of a roudy group of people. No problem, people are having fun. A staff member stopped over to say that they group was too loud (hmm.. large party of customers too loud for ya, Mr. Hudson?). I thought it was unprofessional to comment about customers to people awaiting their table. Unprofessional.

When we were finally seated, the table was underneat a vent which was blowing cold air. When we asked if they could seat us elsewhere, we were told that no other tables were available. They did accomodate by turning off the A/C for a while but mid-way through my meal the A/C turned on again. I had to ask the waitress to see if they can permanently turn it off so it doesn't blow food off my plate. Of course, Waiter #11 had an attitude. She kept walking back and forth to Meg Hudson and relaying my requests to her. Please note, all of this is happening right infront of my eyes. I have an appreciation for having to accomodate "high maintenance" clients, but for Pete's sake, don't stand in the middle of the dining room, discuss the client and throw looks in their direction. Seriously. Have you heard about being professional?
Needless to say, my dining experiene was ruined. I have gone to DH many times before and this was, by far, the worst experience at the restaurant and at any restaurant I dined in the past few years. I think the chef does magic, as always. However, if you are in for an experience, don't go to Domaine Hudson. It's a hit or miss with them. Unless you can close your eyes on the unprofessional staff and focus on food only.

P.S. Don't take your date there, they allow people with sneakers and
flip flops

Yelp: a bunch of noise with a few nuggets of wisdom offset by nuggets of false negatives to throw you off base. Yelp is useless to figure out whether a place you've never been is any good.

Chowhound: the closest thing to SF for food that I've found, at least in the few cities I've used it. It isn't as comprehensive as I'd like, but the threads are typically written by foodies and you can use the recommendations to make an informed judgement. At the end of the day, it's just a meal, so if it sucks, you don't have to go back.

Off Topic: Blue Bottle in San Francisco (mentioned earlier in this thread) has great coffee and food. Try it if you are in SFO.