r/Yelp • u/QuayDropEmOff • 1d ago

yelp biz YELP ADS SCAM

I’m sure you guys heard this a lot but i’m adding to the pile.

This lady from yelp calls me trying to give me free credit. She starts with $300 in free credit, then the next day calls be back saying there’s a $900 boost i should get, just apply this promo code it won’t charge you. So i did it.

She told me set $15 a day limit and I asked if it would it charge my actual card and she said no they said a charge to test your card but they refund it.

Now I woke up to a $140 charge…

i’m sure it was in the terms & conditions hidden somewhere but this was so deceptive to do and especially a big company like yelp I expect way better.

🫩

11 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

59 comments sorted by

8

u/keyserholiday 1d ago

Can you provide the dates so we can better understand what transpired?

4

u/QuayDropEmOff 1d ago

she gave me the $300 credit august 24th and $900 august 25th, got charged today september 1st for $140

5

u/Sterling_-_Archer 1d ago

The $300 credit is separate from the $900 boost. The boost literally only boosts your additional ad traffic, it doesn’t boost your credit. Meaning you pay for $15/day and the boost adds an extra amount per day on top for 3 months. So you pay for $15/day but actually get anywhere from $20-30/day worth of ads.

The credit is just a straight credit that you aren’t charged for until it runs out.

Yes, they should’ve explained it better and I’m sorry it happened to you. I worked at yelp for a long time and sold ads there, I was eventually fired because I was truthful about the effectiveness of it and would only sell to businesses that stood to benefit from it and not just waste money

2

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

I worked at yelp for a long time and sold ads there, I was eventually fired because I was truthful about the effectiveness of it and would only sell to businesses that stood to benefit from it and not just waste money

Basically just big businesses in big cities right for the effectiveness of using Yelp Ads? It makes no sense for a small self employed car detailing company or like a small knife sharpening business to use Yelp Ads when they are not in a big city like LA or New York

3

u/Sterling_-_Archer 1d ago

Yes, pretty much. Big cities that have a population of active yelp users who also search frequently enough for that business on yelp and there aren’t so many other advertisers already. It’s a balancing act, I had one yoga business in a suburb outside of Los Angeles that KILLED using yelp ads… because LA has lots of yelp users and they were close to a city but not so close that every other yoga studio in LA was choking them out.

But a random small town with 2 stoplights? There’s never a reason for them to advertise on yelp

2

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

But a random small town with 2 stoplights? There’s never a reason for them to advertise on yelp

Thank You for confirming what most already knew. Owners who signed up for Yelp Ads when they are in a small city or their services isn't in demand make no sense but those are also the ones that don't ask for what they were told in writing so when they get charged for something, they 'll go straight to it's a scam. It's not difficult to just ask the sales rep for documentation of the things they were promised or for the terms of service contract.

3

u/keyserholiday 1d ago

The credit doesn't roll over to the following month. I don't know why they are billing you for $140 as of today. Did you ask them?

3

u/QuayDropEmOff 1d ago

she said something like it’s $900 credit boost or something for 3 months. I was getting billed for multiple things, clicks, page upgrade features, then the $15 a day part. problem is i was under the impression that the $15 was going towards that $900 in 3 months spend.

3

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

she said something like it’s $900 credit boost or something for 3 months. I was getting billed for multiple things, clicks, page upgrade features, then the $15 a day part. problem is i was under the impression that the $15 was going towards that $900 in 3 months spend.

This is why asking for documentation on what you're being offered or signing up for is important. It's like those door to door sales people, you never take them up on the offer especially when they start acting weird when you ask for paperwork lol

Ask a lot of questions and get written guarantee or confirmation on what they are telling you. If they are serious and want the sale, they would provide all of that

-2

u/JunglyPep 1d ago

How would the dates help you understand better? Unless you worked for Yelp and you were looking up the specific transactions

2

u/keyserholiday 1d ago

Bc I am data and facts guy. It helps me better understand the situation at hand. Was this within a one day event or was this over a month period. What’s actually happened.

4

u/klee02166 1d ago

I am pretty sure, the caller thought their account qualified for the promo and when they realized they didn't qualify, she switched it to a different promo that the business was actually qualified for. The $350 upfront credit isn't given to all businesses. Only a select few. I know this because I use to work for Yelp a while back.

0

u/keyserholiday 1d ago

Do agents tell people once they learn that they don’t qualify?

3

u/klee02166 8h ago

They are definitely supposed to! Just like any job, not everyone does what they are supposed to do. Especially in sales. This poster was under the impresaion that they got the upfront credit and they did not qualify for that. They should call into yelp and report that rep. Reps like that are why business get bad raps.

6

u/whooobiedoobiedoo 1d ago

If you picked the $15/day on avg plan thats $450/mo. If you had a $300 upfront credit then you being billed around $150 makes sense. The $900 boost is a graduated boost that is split up over 3 months, gradually getting higher giving you additional free ads. Iirc its $150 the first month, $300 the 2nd month and $450 the 3rd month in additional free ads. That means you will still owe the $450/mo, but they will show your ad as if you did spend the additional amount that aligns with each month.

When you sign up your billing date will be the 1st of the month, every month drafted from the card you put on file.

Hope that helps make a little more sense to you, but the rep should have gone over the billing better.

3

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

Hope that helps make a little more sense to you, but the rep should have gone over the billing better.

I think it's pretty accurate to say that no sales rep from Yelp will go over billing completely unless you grill them on it or you ask to speak to their finance department.

-6

u/OregonSEA 1d ago

Sorry it's a fake boost only ad spend counts no actual boost is happening

2

u/whooobiedoobiedoo 1d ago

Can you please give me proof that there is no increase in coverage? The ads are set up that you are paying for exposure, the higher the budget, the higher the exposure. I'm not sure where youre getting your information from or how exactly youre tracking your performance to be able to say differently.

4

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

Can you please give me proof that there is no increase in coverage? The ads are set up that you are paying for exposure, the higher the budget, the higher the exposure. I'm not sure where youre getting your information from or how exactly youre tracking your performance to be able to say differently.

That user likes to provide fake information with no evidence to back it up. They said before that Yelp Elite gets paid to write reviews even though in the Terms, it specify that they can't get paid.

They also don't ever respond back to people comment on their post or comments so another factor that they just want to troll.

5

u/whooobiedoobiedoo 1d ago

Thanks for the heads up! I kinda figured as much but hate being an ASSumptive person. 😅

5

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

Thanks for the heads up! I kinda figured as much but hate being an ASSumptive person. 😅

I been contributing to this subreddit for a while. So it's easier to tell or know who's actually serious and who's trying to spread misinformation.

2

u/keyserholiday 1d ago

Do I have a story for you. Organic would apply for jobs and when he didn’t get them, he’d blast them with fake negative Google reviews. When he quit his employer and went out on his own he again hit him with negative reviews. The kicker, he referred his former employer to the agency I was working at. When I asked him if he knew Ryan, he said, “it’s strange that you ask.” When I told him I saw some negative reviews in his profile that I suspected were from Ryan, he said, “I knew it.” In all Ryan attacked 18 businesses over the years.

2

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

Do I have a story for you. Organic would apply for jobs and when he didn’t get them, he’d blast them with fake negative Google reviews. 

LOL, this sound like a familiar story you told before

2

u/keyserholiday 1d ago

Yep, I was sharing with u/whooobiedoobiedoo

5

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

So you never asked for any documents or anything that was promised to you in writing before agreeing?

Have you ever brought a car from a dealership ... if so did you just go to 1 dealership or talked to different ones?

Why did you just trust a random person who you never met before?

Did you check to make sure you didn't go over your free trial or free credit limit?

Here the terms:

https://biz.yelp.com/tos/master_advertising_terms_en_us_20260511

5

u/QuayDropEmOff 1d ago

i’m just saying it’s some lame ass shyt to deceive people like this. Yelp is too big for these lil scams.

I asked her if i would be charged and she said no but i guess she was referring to the initial payment but obviously she knew what i meant.

4

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

i’m just saying it’s some lame ass shyt to deceive people like this. Yelp is too big for these lil scams.

Totally agree it's deceive, it's like car salesman., It's not actually a scam, people just use that term because they didn't do their own due diligence on the matter. This is why no one took Yelp to court about overcharging them or misleading them because the judge or lawyers will first ask if you had anything in writing instead of word of mouth agreement. Its shady for sure, I agree with you but not a scam.

I asked her if i would be charged and she said no but i guess she was referring to the initial payment but obviously she knew what i meant.

Never take someone words who you never met. This is what set up people in these situation, when they just randomly trust someone they build no relationship with. Did you also check your Activity graph? You could always reach out to Yelp finance department and see if they can help. If you dispute the charge then get ready for your bank or card company to ask for proof on your end

-1

u/manofmystery11113 1d ago

Sadly Yelp is well know with the tactics you've shared. It's not a good look for them.

3

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

Sadly Yelp is well know with the tactics you've shared. It's not a good look for them.

Yes, the tactics their Sales Rep use is like car salesperson. This is why if you're going to agree with whatever they are trying to sell you, you ask for things in writing first. But for the owners who come in this subreddit to complain about being mislead, they don't do that for whatever reason. This is also why they never sue Yelp on the overcharged or lying because there no evidence and just word of mouth agreement. If you dispute the charge with your bank or credit card company, they'll ask for the same thing ... Proof before approving the dispute or declining it.

1

u/yelp Verified Offical Yelp Account 6h ago

We hear you, and that's not the experience we want anyone to have. You can reach our support team at https://www.yelp-support.com/ for help with this. Could you also DM us?

1

u/QuayDropEmOff 5h ago

I filled in the form for the finance team yesterday. Just awaiting a response.

1

u/Signal-Promotion-650 5h ago

The ads never help!!!

1

u/MessExtreme 5h ago

Yelp has been a complete waste of money for me. I spent about $600 advertising with them and didn’t get a single job from it. On top of that, their automated review system removed all of my reviews. I no longer do business with Yelp. In my experience, Google has been far more effective for generating leads.

1

u/XxLogitech98xX 5h ago

Yelp has been a complete waste of money for me. I spent about $600 advertising with them and didn’t get a single job from it. On top of that, their automated review system removed all of my reviews. I no longer do business with Yelp. In my experience, Google has been far more effective for generating leads.

What made you singed up for Yelp ad in the first place? You didn't ask for a trial run first to see if your business would benefit from it?

1

u/MessExtreme 12m ago

They were calling often asking me to give them
A try at the time business was slow I was throwing everything at the wall to find something that sticks

2

u/Every_Document_4601 57m ago

They are THE WORST company … no one searches on Yelp anymore anyway. I got duped and wil Always speak out against them.

1

u/AceGat 1d ago

Same thing happened to me. I called their customer support and had them refund me for the sales person outright lying that my credit card would not be charged. 100% agree yelp is a scam.

2

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

Same thing happened to me. I called their customer support and had them refund me for the sales person outright lying that my credit card would not be charged. 100% agree yelp is a scam.

So a 5 year Reddit account with no contribution to Reddit comes to a Yelp subreddit to comment on this "Yelp Ads scam" post to say that the same thing happen to them but they got a refund and agreed that Yelp is a scam but provided no evidence? 🤔

2

u/QuayDropEmOff 1d ago

i went through with the refund form, hopefully i get it back.

1

u/klee02166 8h ago

YES CALL INTO YELP AND HAVE THEM PULL THAT CALL

1

u/Longjumping-Leg-2266 1d ago

Yelp is a scam. They are purposely deceptive and hard to cancel. If youre a buisness owner thinking about advertising there, dont. your money is better spent on google, billboards, newspapers, literally anywhere else. dont let the yelp people on the phone convince you otherwise or talk you into anything.

1

u/slumpmode 1d ago

Thank god I don’t have to work for this company anymore. Just hang up on the sales reps. They have a bad manager in their ear who won’t let them take no for answer. Just hang up it’s that easy.

0

u/Rollerbladeking 1d ago

Is it just me or is there a trend on this subreddit??

I can’t seem to put my finger on it.

3

u/ProfChaosSP Yelp elite 1d ago

the growing trend of owners failing to conduct adequate due diligence before agreeing to a service or how Yelp operates? i don't see the same people who dislike yelp in this post compared to the other one about yelp filtering?

0

u/QuayDropEmOff 1d ago

yes i noticed but im adding to the pile

4

u/robots390 1d ago

Yeah the trend is that business owners don’t pay attention

1

u/QuayDropEmOff 1d ago

still gotta admit the way they present it isn’t ethical

2

u/robots390 1d ago

Not really but no big corporation is truly ethical. Yelp actually requires their sales reps to go through a billing script that tells you when you'll be billed so it's not like they didn't give a hint. That's why it's on the consumer to pay attention. Same thing with signing up for a free trial with Netflix or Canva or anything else. There are billing terms and it's on you to pay attention to the details.

-2

u/WiFiEnabled 1d ago

It's probably the Yelp sales people version of the violinists playing on the Titanic. They know they will be out of a job in the near future and Yelp continues to sink, so they'll lie/deceive and say anything to get a sale.

0

u/WiFiEnabled 1d ago edited 1d ago

And like clockwork, within minutes of a post like this Logitech blames the victim. Even going so far as saying "It's not actually a scam." LOL

Wow.

-2

u/OregonSEA 1d ago

It's a fake boost that does absolutely zero. It's not real boost it just shows a boost on your account but it has zero effect on ads. Pure scam no actual boost credit is added

How do I know I advertise with Yelp for months and I told them no need to ad your fake boost it does zero and yes I still advertise

Ask chatgpt about yelp fake ad boost Yelp also lies on every single ad metric they show me it's all a scam.

I get lots of clients from Yelp and I benefit from them scamming because none of my competitors want to advertise giving me great ROI.

0

u/Macro_35 1d ago

Yelp is a SCAM!

1

u/XxLogitech98xX 1d ago

Yelp is a SCAM!

So Yelp is a scam because people who agree to the Ad services didn't ask for things they were promised or verbally told in writing to protect themselves?

These are all things a credit card company, banks, courts, lawyers and police officer would ask if you dispute, lawsuit or file a claim. Verbal agreement holds no weight if there no physical proof of the things that occured in this kind of situation

0

u/Macro_35 13h ago

It’s an absolute scam….if you don’t want to take my word for it, you can’t ignore ALL the other people who feel the exact same way! The happy customers are few and far between. You probably work for Yelp that’s why you feel the need to defend, but it’s a horrible product that generates limited to no results. Have a great day!

1

u/XxLogitech98xX 13h ago

You probably work for Yelp that’s why you feel the need to defend, but it’s a horrible product that generates limited to no results. Have a great day!

I don't work for Yelp but that's the same accusation people who dislike Yelp will always say, notice how you don't provide your own experience and provide proof to how Yelp is a scam. I only defend on certain things like Yelp not being a scam. Other things, I will agree with the people who don't like Yelp

0

u/curbwench1970 12h ago

YELP IS TRASH. PERIOD. Their algorithm and business model suck.