Yelp Is Awful for Everyone Involved

“Your review on Yelp is destroying my business,” he says to me, clearly clenching his teeth, “How long do I have to suffer because of your negative review?” A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from a contractor because of a review I’d left. What ensued was a weirdly emotional conversation that ventured between harassment and a plea for empathy.

I’ve only written a couple of Yelp reviews in my life. Like many people, it was a negative experience that triggered it, because I felt like I had to do something. In this case, it was a botched home remodel job at my significant other’s house. It wasn’t a huge job, but it was expensive, and I felt like I had to warn others away from this contractor. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t take this stuff lightly. I’ve had retail, restaurant, and blue collar jobs in my life, and I know that most complaints on Yelp are garbage from people who just don’t get it. But I also know that finding a home contractor is difficult, and the least I can do when I find one truly bad is say, “hey, don’t use these people.”

The review itself was what you’d expect from a negative review of a contractor. They took forever to get the job done, showed up late, left a mess, were unprofessional, and misrepresented the quality of their work in a variety of ways. It’s the same contractor-gone-wrong story you’ve heard before. The review wasn’t even vitriolic, it was mostly a play-by-play because the events spoke for themselves.

Things got interesting when, three months later, the owner called. It started with subtle threats, then moved into potential bribes. It was as weird as it sounds.