Do you trust Yelp?

[madoka]

Generally I do, but one incident causes me to doubt them.

Several years ago, I found a long, thin piece of plastic in a bowl of pho. I felt the difference as I was chewing on it. I took it out and showed the waitress, who said "oh" and then walked off unconcerned. I took a pic and posted it Yelp along with a simple warning of what I found. Yelp took my pic and review down twice. I noticed that the restaurant in question advertised on Yelp and was regularly promoted.

How much do you trust Yelp?

 

[brainhulk]

Like with everything, a dash of soy sauce.

Throw out the highs and lows, and tend to read the in betweens.

That said I wouldn't be surprised if you can pay to take off bad reviews. But maybe they are just tucked away at the bottom of the list

 

[rommelrommel]

Not especially. They've been shown to screw over businesses that don't pay them and to remove negative reviews from businesses that do pay.

 

[KB]

Yelp is as trustworthy as any other pay to play business. Not very.

 

[Anubis]

never used it

likely never will

 

[solidstar]

not really, that's why i never use it

 

[RLGL]

no, needs seasoning

 

[sdifox]

read the bad reviews, judge the reviews of course.

 

[FeuerFrei]

My browser history, extending back to 4/2/2014, shows no record of visiting the site.

Guess I can't say if I trust it or not.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Trust WaTaGuMp, no one else.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Not in the slightest. If businesses don't play ball with Yelp's 'business model,' they get hosed.

I usually stick with Google or Facebook reviews.

 

[Exterous]

I occasionally use them for a general overview. If a place has a decent number of reviews and most of them are bad chances are I'm not going there.

 

[ultimatebob]

I noticed that a lot of the negative reviews on Yelp tend to disappear into the "not recommended" section for a business if they advertise on Yelp.

So, yeah, something is fishy there.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Yelp can be halfway useful, lots of real reviews there, but, they are shady as hell.
Google reviews & tripadvisor reviews appear to be worthy of checking, but likely shady too.

 

[boomerang]

Yelp operates utilizing a long standing business model. It's the modern equivalent of what used to be referred to as a shakedown racket employed by the Mafia. Pay up and you're protected, don't pay and bad things are going to come your way.

 

[PricklyPete]

Is Yelp still around?

 

[JM Aggie08]

Is Yelp still around?

You were probably the weird kid in class that refused to wear a jacket outside when it was snowing, because 'it wasn't cold outside.'

 

[BurnItDwn]

You were probably the weird kid in class that refused to wear a jacket outside when it was snowing, because 'it wasn't cold outside.'

You are that weird kid who wears jackets in the summer when normal people sweat to death in the heat?

 

[zinfamous]

Generally I do, but one incident causes me to doubt them.

Several years ago, I found a long, thin piece of plastic in a bowl of pho. I felt the difference as I was chewing on it. I took it out and showed the waitress, who said "oh" and then walked off unconcerned. I took a pic and posted it Yelp along with a simple warning of what I found. Yelp took my pic and review down twice. I noticed that the restaurant in question advertised on Yelp and was regularly promoted.

How much do you trust Yelp?

not really Yelp related, but my rule of thumb is that if you are eating Pho and find something objectionable in your Pho, like a plastic shard, hair, donkey penis or human finger, and the staff seems unconcerned, then it is a legit Pho place and I will likely return, several times over.

My favorite place back in Berkeley, the crazy old man that owned the place, did not like that I failed to stir my Vietnamese coffee properly, so he scowled at me and stirred it with his finger, laughed, and walked away. That place is the greatest. (granted, I never will get the coffee again, anywhere--but because that style is pure sugar, and I can't stand sweet coffee)

 

[zinfamous]

Like with everything, a dash of soy sauce.

Throw out the highs and lows, and tend to read the in betweens.

That said I wouldn't be surprised if you can pay to take off bad reviews. But maybe they are just tucked away at the bottom of the list

That actually used to be their policy, and may still be. I'm not sure. Getting bad reviews buried, that is. I'm not sure if they were ever completely removed.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I use them for a general idea. I read the bad reviews to see if their complaints are even worth any merit. Some people's reviews are "club won't let me in, 0 stars".

 

[shortylickens]

For reviews? Not really. I remember all the scandals they used to have back when they were new. Supposedly they cleaned up their act, but the trust is gone so for me it does not matter.

For entertainment? OH HELLS YES! Those people are freakin funny!

 

[shortylickens]

 

[rh71]

I mean if it's bad reviews like < 3*, then it's not good... that's all I read into it.

 

[Six]

I only read it for the bad reviews and the usually jerk replies from the business owners. That's the only meaningful part of Yelp...to me. The good reviews don't mean jack. Places with a gazillion great reviews are fishing for reviews from 20-something years old with little experience in anything.