If you decide to visit my FIXCO Yelp Page, there are many more reviews than what you initially see. Almost all of my reviews have been categorized as 'Not Recommended' by Yelp and have been placed on a secondary page which is difficult for potential customers to find.
The reason for this is back in November 2018 I had a very aggressive and condescending sales person from Yelp call me. I was used to aggressive sales people frequently calling from Yelp, but it was the blatant condescension that was new. When I got off the phone with her, I called Yelp back and asked to speak to a Sales Manager. I told him I did not want her calling me again and that I would not be advertising with Yelp, ever. Before this particular call, I would politely tell them I wasn't ready to advertise with them, and to call me back in a month or two. This was the first time I told them I would not be advertising with them at any point going forward.
Shortly after, my Recommended Reviews started disappearing and were put into the 'Not Recommended' category. It wasn't long before all but 1 review were 'Not Recommended.'
I started building my Yelp page back in 2014 and have accumulated 30+ reviews from customers that are all a 5 star rating. You can read all of the 'Not Recommended' reviews by clicking Here.
There are thousands of stories like mine around the country (and world) that call out Yelp for damaging (and many times ruining) family owned businesses who refuse to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars per month advertising with them. These stories are easily found with a simple Google Search.
I have been fortunate that Yelp's business practices haven't negatively affected me nearly as much as so many others, but I still felt it was necessary to explain my own personal Yelp experience as a small business owner.
I would gladly remove my Yelp Business Page from their site and only use Google Reviews, but that's not possible. Yelp does not allow businesses to remove their own business page. Once a page is created by the business owner, it is there until you shut down your business and prove to Yelp you have shut down your business.
Recently, A documentary was made called "Billion Dollar Bully" that does a great job examining Yelp for what it is. A marketing racket that borderlines on extortion.
Thank you, Mitch (Owner of FIXCO) - August 26th, 2019
