Review Time
We gave Yelp every reason to work with us. A complete, polished profile. High-quality photos. Detailed service descriptions. Regular posts. Full case studies documenting our real work for real clients. We responded to every message. We even spent $1,000 on Yelp ads, because we wanted to do things properly.
Then, without warning, Yelp moved two legitimate 5-star reviews into their "Not Recommended" section—effectively hiding them from the public entirely.
These weren't throwaway reviews. They were detailed, genuine testimonials from verified customers. One reviewer posted video footage of the completed job. We built complete case studies around both projects. By any reasonable standard, these were exactly the kind of reviews a consumer platform should want to surface.
But here's where it gets difficult to accept: Yelp's official position is that they didn't remove anything. The reviews are technically still there. They're just hidden from everyone who visits your profile. That distinction—between "hidden" and "deleted"—may protect Yelp legally. In practice, the effect on your business is identical. Your credibility disappears overnight, with no warning and no explanation.
When we reached out to support, we were told it was "the algorithm." No escalation path. No appeals team. No resolution. Just a shrug wrapped in policy language.
Think about what that actually means for small business owners. You can invest months of effort, deliver outstanding work, earn genuine praise from real customers—and a platform's opaque automated system can silently erase that social proof while you're none the wiser. And when you ask why? There's no one there to answer.
Yelp frames this as consumer protection. But hiding authentic feedback from real customers doesn't protect consumers. It misleads them—while simultaneously punishing the businesses that earned those reviews fairly.
To any small business owner reading this: build your reputation on ground that won't shift beneath you. Your own website, your own testimonials, your own channels—places where your work speaks for itself without a third party deciding whether it deserves to be seen. If a platform profits from your ad spend while quietly undermining your credibility, the most rational response is to stop funding it. Redirect that budget somewhere your effort is actually rewarded.
If you absolutely need a third party resource, I'd go with a Google Business Profile and any number of social media platforms before ever considering Yelp.
I am extremely frustrated with how Yelp handles reviews. We have had multiple legitimate 5 star reviews from real customers removed, while at the same time 1 star reviews from individuals we have never done business with remain visible. These were genuine clients who completed projects with us and took the time to share detailed feedback, yet their reviews were filtered without clear explanation.
Meanwhile, negative reviews from people with no verified relationship to our company continue to stay up. That imbalance creates a misleading picture for consumers.
At a minimum, there should be a fair and transparent process that treats positive and negative reviews equally. Right now, it does not feel balanced or objective.
If I could give SilverRock zero stars, I would. I’ve never had to fight so hard to get reimbursed $85 — yes, just $85 — for a vehicle I just bought. They keep asking me to resend the same documents over and over. I’ve sent them five times already. Then they said there was an issue with the receipt from one of their own approved providers and asked for it again.
Every reply is the same scripted apology with no real action. I’m tired of hearing “I’m sorry” while nothing gets fixed. Just give me my $85. If this is how they handle something this small, I can’t imagine trusting them with anything bigger. Save yourself the headache.
I listed my business on yelp, from my experience reviews are a definite plus. These people remove your reviews and try to get you to pay for “Free leads” or advertising. It’s bullshit. Only concerned about your money Not your business. Just don’t
They are a manipulative blackmailing company. When I was paying them $475. They had me at the top. At a 4.8 rating. The same day I canceled. They put most of my 5 star reviews on the not recommended. Make that make sense. Evil company. They destroy businesses. And say it's thier software. That's them. Why did thier software do it the same day!!! The proof is in the pudding
If I could give them a Negative 11 I would! I started off my Small Business wanting to try advertising, like probably everyone here that tried Yelp, and I was talked into their promotional $300 Credit and Pay Per Click Customers which sounded like a decent deal but within a week my Promotional Credit was Gone as well as Hundreds of Dollars from Clicks from Telemarketers that all said they got my info from Yelp, literally Zero Customers, so about $600 Later and after numerous failed attempts to cancel their service I ended up Blocking them from my Bank. They were literally Milking Me Dry by allowing Telemarketers to click my Listing. Then I Deactivated my Account/Listing 4 Times, and it's still there so I'm still getting 10 Calls a Day from them, most times I Block them but sometimes I like to be straight up Mean to them so it makes Yelp look bad by sending them my way, and like I said I tried to Deactivate my Listing off their Platform but they wont let me at all, and now I can't even edit my listing at all because I called them Scammers on my Business Listing. They don't like that. Do yourself a favor and Do Not even do the Free Listing with these Scumbags! You Will Regret It! Their Agents will Lie to you because they need to get $20k worth income coming in before they can even get paid. There's Tons of info out there about their deceptive practices so Be Very Aware!
Yelp hides reviews. Also, when you search for a service, ie moving company, and if you make an inquiry about a service, you will be inundated with non-stop emails trying to get your business. I was just looking for information not trying to set something up, and I felt like a spam bot attack.
Yelp billed me nearly everything I made from them in the 4 days I was trying it out. I explained to them my business was just starting and that I dont have the means to pay for the services and they insisted that they would be bringing me traffic that would. They hit me hard and now I dont have money to pay for overhead to do the job I need to do today. This cant be legal can it?
Honestly Yelp has been one of the most frustrating platforms we have ever dealt with as a business.
We have had many real 5-star reviews from actual homeowners who searched us themselves and posted their experience, and Yelp keeps filtering them out while leaving random negative ones visible. The page ends up looking nothing like the real customer feedback we receive.
When you contact Yelp they basically say no one can fix it because “the algorithm decides,” so there is no real solution even when the reviews are legitimate.
Hard to trust a review platform when real customers take the time to write reviews and they just disappear.
I am so done with Yelp! After a Yelper left a misleading statement on my small business page, and left an outright lie about another business on that business' page, and I reported it to Yelp, Yelp refuses to take the Yelper's misleading statements down. Even after presenting Yelp with proof, they said as long as it doesn't violate Yelp policies, the misleading statements can stay. WHAT??? In law, writing misleading statements is called libel. In any event, the value and integrity of the Yelp platform is eroded by allowing Yelpers to post misleading statements. For that reason, I'm done with Yelp. There are other platforms out there that accurately reflect legitimate customer's experiences - not Yelp.
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