My friend hired a cleaning crew that she found on Yelp. After describing her apartment and the job, they quoted her $200 for three hours. She hired them.
Fast forward to the morning of the cleaning. The crew shows up and raises the fee by $100 to $300 total. They argue for a while and the cleaning crew isn’t budging. They’ve raised the price and that’s final. My friend tells them “no deal” and is now without a cleaning crew. She’s wasted 2 hours of her morning, so she decides to tell them that she’s writing a horrible review of their company on Yelp. And then this amazing thing happened. They offered my friend $100 to NOT post a negative review on YELP about them. So although she didn’t get her place cleaned, they paid her $100 for her time (aka silence).
Aside from the clear moral bribery issue here, there’s a brilliant new business idea: The Yelp Blackmailers.
Approach 1,000 businesses on Yelp. Tell them to pay you $500 or your team of Yelp Commandos will destroy their Yelp profile with negative reviews. You don’t even need a team of Yelp Commandos – the threat alone will suffice. Collect the cash in a nondescript blue Chevy Caprice (or similar) in an underground parking garage. Repeat.
Good luck.
August 12, 2008 at 4:51 pm |
Here is an example of how Yelp operates. Paid Yelpers communicate on a Yelp Topic Site ( http://www.yelp.com/topic ) .
Below, 3 Yelpers who have never been in a certain establishment ( Razzberry Lips) plot revenge because of the bad press brought to Yelp by this establishment .
The worst part is that these are either Paid Yelpers or your common everyday non paid Yelper who “hang out “ in the Yelp “ether” . They hide behind Fairy Tale names and identities . They premeditate , coordinate and target rage and vitriol on businesses they have never even patronized ! :
Linda “JuRae” L. says:
Oh yeah, I totally want ROTD now! aargh!
4 hours ago Jack “.” W. says:
wtf thats some fuct up shit yo fuck rasberry lips imma give them a 1 star
08/11/2008 Sun E. says:
Glad you posted this here, Linda.
As per your words…
“For this business owner to go on the news and cry about this
forum because she didn’t like the negative post…..
You have my vote for ROTD!
If you’re wondering what ROTD means , I found these definitions on the web:
ROTD Rage of the Dragons (game)
ROTD Requiem of the Dead (game)
ROTD Return of the Dragons (gaming, Warcraft III Campaign)
ROTD Review of the Day
ATTENTION TO ALL BUSINESS OWNERS:
YELP IS NOT YOUR FRIEND . THEY ARE IN FACT PREYING ON YOU BY PAYING / ENCOURAGING UNEDUCATED , IMMATURE HATE FILLED “YELPERS” TO POST LIBELOUS REVIEWS ON RANDOM BUSINESSES SO THEY CAN THEN ATTEMPT TO SELL THEM BUSINESS OWNER ACCOUNTS TO DELETE THESE NEGATIVE REVIEWS.