FARK.com: (7129676) Yelpers to restaurateurs: If you give me a gift card, a free meal, or window seating, I won't give you a bad review. Capisce?

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		Yelpers to restaurateurs: If you give me a gift card, a free meal, or window seating, I won't give you a bad review. Capisce? (sacbee.com)		79
		More: Obvious, Yelp, review site, restaurants, meals, extortion

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3095 clicks; posted to Business » on 27 May 2012 at 4:09 PM | Favorite | share:

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basemetal		2012-05-27 09:39:33 PM

Lumber Jack Off: urban spoon

Meh, I just checked it for my area and it's just a bunch of people that like to biatch. One of the shiattiest Mexican food places in town got a better review than the place that 90% of this town, as well as I, would consider the best Mexican food in town.

/in my opinion, most reviews are written by people with an agenda
//an axe to grind
///most good service goes overlooked
////just my opinion

BumpInTheNight		2012-05-27 09:43:09 PM

ecmoRandomNumbers: OtherLittleGuy: Tad_Waxpole: [dailypicksandflicks.com image 500x600]

Okay, I'd order that just because of that sign.

Same here.

Thirded.

moothemagiccow		2012-05-27 09:46:17 PM

It's obvious that most online reviews of anything are bullshiat, but restaurants are the worst, just for the overall subjectivity of taste and service.

People on yelp give an overall star rating and complain about minutiae. Half the time it's that there weren't any vegan/vegetarian/fad-diet options. A 2000 sq ft grocery gets a negative because it doesn't sell "enough organic food." That 10,000 village place was sitting on the top 5 austin yelp for ages. I went in and they had CD wallets and thumb pianos.

Yelp users complain of "bad service" when bad service is pretty goddamn subjective. I hate wait service, period, but if you ask me what I want within a few minutes, bring it and keep my drink full I'm ok with it.

moothemagiccow		2012-05-27 09:48:06 PM

Shostie: Generally, when I read online restaurant reviews, I look over the bad ones first. If I see the reviewer complaining about irrelevant bullsh*t (e.g. THE SERVER ONLY REFILLED MY MOUNTAIN DEW THREE TIMES I EXPECT NO FEWER THAN SIX TIMES WHEN I DINE OUT), then I can generally discard that review.

What's relevant to you? I don't see the point of wait service if my drink ain't topped off every ten minutes or so. I can get up and use a fountain myself.

icam		2012-05-27 10:09:53 PM

Some of the finer reviews I have read were from some guy that was upset that a Colombian restaurant served neither tacos nor chips and queso, and from a couple that were unhappy that they were the only white couple in the restaurant.

LouDobbsAwaaaay		2012-05-27 10:15:58 PM

moothemagiccow: Shostie: Generally, when I read online restaurant reviews, I look over the bad ones first. If I see the reviewer complaining about irrelevant bullsh*t (e.g. THE SERVER ONLY REFILLED MY MOUNTAIN DEW THREE TIMES I EXPECT NO FEWER THAN SIX TIMES WHEN I DINE OUT), then I can generally discard that review.

What's relevant to you? I don't see the point of wait service if my drink ain't topped off every ten minutes or so. I can get up and use a fountain myself.

I really don't like the "let me break into your conversation and put another ounce or two into that drink I refilled ten seconds ago" style of wait service. Like managing to hit the middle of a drink is some huge, disrespectful gesture.

TheShavingofOccam123		2012-05-27 10:31:49 PM

Temescal: I don't trust Yelp anymore. I left a less than glowing review there for a local restaurant. They were slow, they couldn't get the orders right (two wrong sides and toppings on a table of four), and they sent me home with the wrong leftover box (as in, not even the food that belonged to anyone at our table).

Yelp simply deleted it. Not just "not published it", but completely deleted it, so I can't even see it for myself when I log into my account.

Ever since then, I don't even check Yelp ratings anymore. I still read some individual reviews, from people whose judgement I've come to trust, but I completely ignore the ratings, as there is no way to tell what Yelp deleted, and what the effect would have been.

Amazon deletes bad reviews about sellers who fulfill through Amazon.

Amazon take the blame then deletes the review I spent several minutes writing trying to point out that the seller sent the wrong item, didn't respond to my emails, or whatever. Amazon only ships what the seller gives them so most times my problems have been with the seller not Amazon.

Pisses me off.

moothemagiccow		2012-05-27 10:44:28 PM

LouDobbsAwaaaay: moothemagiccow: Shostie: Generally, when I read online restaurant reviews, I look over the bad ones first. If I see the reviewer complaining about irrelevant bullsh*t (e.g. THE SERVER ONLY REFILLED MY MOUNTAIN DEW THREE TIMES I EXPECT NO FEWER THAN SIX TIMES WHEN I DINE OUT), then I can generally discard that review.

What's relevant to you? I don't see the point of wait service if my drink ain't topped off every ten minutes or so. I can get up and use a fountain myself.

I really don't like the "let me break into your conversation and put another ounce or two into that drink I refilled ten seconds ago" style of wait service. Like managing to hit the middle of a drink is some huge, disrespectful gesture.

Yeah but then there's "I know what you're drinking and sat an extra one next to yours without saying a word" or "I brought a motherfarking pitcher because wait service is stupid" that explains why service is subjective and yelp is dumb.

Omnivorous		2012-05-27 10:46:46 PM

Yelp has been incredibly corrupt since the start. I was the first person to review a local restaurant, then had it expunged repeatedly by Yelp staff. All of the accusations against its sales staff for corruption are correct and the company should DIAF.

Don't Troll Me Bro!		2012-05-27 11:03:53 PM

Tad_Waxpole: [dailypicksandflicks.com image 500x600]

That's brilliant. I'd stop in there after seeing that.

theteacher		2012-05-27 11:04:30 PM

The hand of the free market is getting itchy.

Archimedes' Principal		2012-05-27 11:13:41 PM

Health inspection reports are far more valuable than a Yelp comment when looking for a decent restaurant.

Some people may not like slow service, but I don't know anyone who likes rat feces in their food.

skinink		2012-05-27 11:14:17 PM

1) For the few places I've used TripAdvisor for, it's been good. You're better off doing further research in the Forums for a city, because if a person goes too far on a negative review, many people will come forward to correct them.

2) Yelp filters overly positive reviews as well as bad reviews (I guess for the businesses that don't advertise w/ Yelp, Yelp is afraid businesses will self-review). I think Yelp should just show all reviews and let us sort through them. How can they really know who's a shill for a place or not?

BarkingUnicorn		2012-05-27 11:17:25 PM

Yelp stock closed Friday at $18.32. 52-week high was $31.96. Somebody's learning.

The My Little Pony Killer		2012-05-27 11:18:49 PM

I only use Yelp to find nearby restaurants to the tune of whatever I'm in the mood for, and to check their pricing. People around here are too picky about the stupidest farking things.

TheShavingofOccam123		2012-05-27 11:30:52 PM

ecmoRandomNumbers: SpaceBison: ecmoRandomNumbers: When any forum starts to resemble YouTube comments, you can safely abandon it. The more common Yelp gets, I think the worse it's going to get. I don't need reviews from 12-year olds with atrocious spelling and grammar complaining that their Dino Bites chicken nuggets were too soggy.

And yet you still continue to post on Fark.

This place is a gathering of Rhodes Scholars compared to Yahoo! and YouTube.

Cogito ergo fapum.

The Voice of Doom		2012-05-27 11:32:06 PM

VictoryCabal
This whole thread is filled with reviews of Yelp, which itself is filled with reviews. Very meta.

I rate your comment with 4 out of 5 squirrel nutsacks for noticing and correctly assessing the nature of this thread.
I'll have to substract one nutsack for not using the opportunity to take this thread into a recursive meta direction by
reviewing this thread reviewing yelp reviewing restaurants while posting in it.
But overall: Well done, would read again!

i.imgur.com

Ken at Popehat		2012-05-27 11:38:56 PM

optikeye: It sounds like Yelp is really wanting a rackettering charge under RICO laws.
Especially if they require money to hide reviews: In the example of a protection racket, the racketeer informs a store-owner that a substantial monthly fee will be required in exchange for protection. The concurrent "protection" provided takes the form of the absence of damage inflicted upon the store or its employees by the racket itself.

95% of what people say about RICO has no relation whatsoever to the actual provisions of RICO.

Wait. That's probably too narrow. 95% of what people say on the Internet has no relation to what they think they are talking about.

Kyoki		2012-05-28 02:43:50 AM

BumpInTheNight: ecmoRandomNumbers: OtherLittleGuy: Tad_Waxpole: [dailypicksandflicks.com image 500x600]

Okay, I'd order that just because of that sign.

Same here.

Thirded.

Can I get mine to go?

/fourthed

dumbobruni		2012-05-28 04:19:19 AM

try Chowhound

sk8r		2012-05-28 08:24:52 AM

TheShavingofOccam123: ecmoRandomNumbers: SpaceBison: ecmoRandomNumbers: When any forum starts to resemble YouTube comments, you can safely abandon it. The more common Yelp gets, I think the worse it's going to get. I don't need reviews from 12-year olds with atrocious spelling and grammar complaining that their Dino Bites chicken nuggets were too soggy.

And yet you still continue to post on Fark.

This place is a gathering of Rhodes Scholars compared to Yahoo! and YouTube.

Cogito ergo fapum.

Brilliant!

Somewhere out there a Latin teacher just seized.

broomballwilson		2012-05-28 08:43:26 AM

If you ever check reviews for anything ever online, you should know by now to only look at the negative ones. If they aren't that bad, then you might have something good on your hands. Never trust the overall rating or individual high ratings.

For some reason Yelp let me be Elite the last couple years, so I feel more confident that my trashing reviews won't get filtered. I checked just last night on one I did for a crappy place in Miami Beach. Still there! That restaurant had a suspicious number of filtered reviews that were obviously written by real people. Very annoying , though we didn't check Yelp before going.

Mr.Tangent		2012-05-28 09:14:26 AM

broomballwilson: If you ever check reviews for anything ever online, you should know by now to only look at the negative ones. If they aren't that bad, then you might have something good on your hands. Never trust the overall rating or individual high ratings.

That's funny, I usually dismiss the overly negative ones because they are usually written by pissed off people who are not in their most rational state at the time of writing.

blood_and_thunder		2012-05-28 09:55:34 AM

dumbobruni: try Chowhound

Hahahaha

Nemo's Brother		2012-05-28 03:05:57 PM

Archimedes' Principal: Health inspection reports are far more valuable than a Yelp comment when looking for a decent restaurant.

Some people may not like slow service, but I don't know anyone who likes rat feces in their food.

Asians. Asians like rat feces.

rka		2012-05-28 05:24:17 PM

Mr.Tangent: broomballwilson: If you ever check reviews for anything ever online, you should know by now to only look at the negative ones. If they aren't that bad, then you might have something good on your hands. Never trust the overall rating or individual high ratings.

That's funny, I usually dismiss the overly negative ones because they are usually written by pissed off people who are not in their most rational state at the time of writing.

Avoid the opinions of people who chronically post reviews online and those who call into talk radio shows.

DrPainMD		2012-05-29 03:59:49 AM

Why would anybody even go to a restaurant review site. Here's how to find a good restaurant. Drive around looking for restaurants. If the parking lot is empty, skip it. If the parking lot is full, eat there.

AlgertMan		2012-05-29 06:46:53 AM

DrPainMD: Why would anybody even go to a restaurant review site. Here's how to find a good restaurant. Drive around looking for restaurants. If the parking lot is empty, skip it. If the parking lot is full, eat there.

McDonald's is the greatest restaurant of all time!

sandi_fish		2012-05-29 01:25:16 PM

I have a co-worker who sends back food all the time, just because he doesn't like it. It's not made wrong, he just ordered wrong and expects the restaurant to eat the cost of his first meal. I hope he gets food poisoning. It's so embarrassing when he does that.

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