Yelp is Snopes for Shitty Illegal Alien help.

zzyzzx says

which I may find and repost here later.

Sure, please do repost it here, with the picture.

The review had been there for years, and most likely the contractor saw it and reported it because it was a negative review. I don't see why complaints about a business practices or policies should be a legitimate complaint to post, since that is something that I would like to know about before hiring any contractor. Like when someone I know bought an expensive HVAC system that broke, but the contractor still charged to fixed it within warranty period, stating that the warranty only covered parts, and not labor. That is something that I would like to see in any review.

Translation: "Yelp received a hefty, lucrative advertising contract with Handyman From Heaven. Thus, your false and misleading review has been removed. Thanks for your help in provoking Handyman From Heaven into loosening it's wallet to remove false and misleading negative reviews!"

Patrick says

Sure, please do repost it here, with the picture.

On the far right is the no parking in the back alley sign.

I don't know why contractors seem to think that parking laws do not apply to them. In this particular case they are essentially blocking a bunch of people's driveways.

zzyzzx says

I don't know why contractors seem to think that parking laws do not apply to them. In this particular case they are essentially blocking a bunch of people's driveways.

Usually a few rounds from a 9mm through the windshield will cure that. :)

A 30 second burst from M134 would have cleared this up in well under a minute.

zzyzzx says

I posted a negative review of a home improvement contractor because they were illegally parked. Review included a picture of the infraction, which I may find and repost here later. But Yelp removed my review

It sounds like the removal was per their stated policy. Just wondering, did you talk to the contractor about moving their vehicle, or did anyone who was blocked in talk to them?

I agree that he's parked like an asshole- NO effort to park to the side or out of the way.

That said, it's good that Yelp removes reviews from not-even-customers.

Once I was making a legal left turn into a parking lot, towing a trailer. This cunt pulled out of Starbucks and laid on the horn as she accelerated toward me. She miscalculated and ran into the rear corner of my trailer. Proceeded to accuse me of "hitting into her." Sued me in small claims court and lost. Made a yelp account just to post a bad review of my business. Yelp removed it as a TOS violation. THAT is the kind of scenario the rule is in place to protect from.

NuttBoxer says

It sounds like the removal was per their stated policy. Just wondering, did you talk to the contractor about moving their vehicle, or did anyone who was blocked in talk to them?

I did not speak with the contractor. In Baltimore City, if you complain about anyone breaking the law, YOU are the problem.
Besides that, the contractor doesn't give a fuck and the person whose house they are working on will take it personally and hate you. Yes, this is based on personal experience.

Automan Empire says

That said, it's good that Yelp removes reviews from not-even-customers.

We typically remove reviews that don't focus on the reviewer's firsthand experiences as a customer of the business

If they are blocking my driveway, then yes, I'd call that first hand experience.

zzyzzx says

The review had been there for years, and most likely the contractor saw it and reported it because it was a negative review. I don't see why complaints about a business practices or policies should be a legitimate complaint to post, since that is something that I would like to know about before hiring any contractor. Like when someone I know bought an expensive HVAC system that broke, but the contractor still charged to fixed it within warranty period, stating that the warranty only covered parts, and not labor. That is something that I would like to see in any review.

It seems pretty clear why they took your review down, you where not a customer. In your HVAC example the person was an actual customer, did they get their review removed?

zzyzzx says

We typically remove reviews that don't focus on the reviewer's firsthand experiences as a customer of the business

If they are blocking my driveway, then yes, I'd call that first hand experience.

What work did you have performed?

zzyzzx says

I did not speak with the contractor. In Baltimore City, if you complain about anyone breaking the law, YOU are the problem.
Besides that, the contractor doesn't give a fuck and the person whose house they are working on will take it personally and hate you. Yes, this is based on personal experience.

Understood, but if you've never dealt with the person before, it's pretty passive-aggressive to just assume and not give them at least one chance to prove you wrong.

It doesn't sound like anyone was actually prevented from leaving if no one asked them to move, and based on that I would agree with deleting the review. Now if someone had asked them, and what you expected happened, then that to me completely justifies a bad review, as you had a direct negative interaction with their business.

Why should I have to CONSTANTLY ask people not to do something illegal and quite rude?

I think if some of you lived someplace where you were constantly blocked in, you might have a different perspective.

zzyzzx says

Why should I have to CONSTANTLY ask people not to do something illegal and quite rude?

I think if some of you lived someplace where you were constantly blocked in, you might have a different perspective.

Maybe if Baltimore was a sanctuary City they would have more time to deal with these matters.

zzyzzx says

Why should I have to CONSTANTLY ask people not to do something illegal and quite rude?

Apparently because the government does not care to enforce the laws and the citizens feel their only avenue is to write bad reviews on Yelp.

zzyzzx says

Why should I have to CONSTANTLY ask people not to do something illegal and quite rude?

I agree fully, and this is something I deal with many times a day, every day, forever at my business. I don't know what it is about auto repair, but when people pull into one its as though they forget how to drive, park, and generally not default to not only in the goddamn way, but in the most in-the-way way topographically possible, that mathematicians with limitless time could not devise a more diabolical placement for maximum inconvenience. Then when you ask them to move they cop an attitude, decide for themselves how it's acceptable to park in MY lot, and whine about how I treated them so terribly. It's as though situational awareness became a negative attribute over the last 20 years.

Even when they are my OWN customer, people actively resist parking not-in-the-way, which if you think it through for half a second is like a much higher stakes game of being rude to restaurant staff BEFORE they prepare your food.

Strangers with no connection to you? Bullet holes in the windshield seems to have become the only way they'll learn. It sucks, but I've watched the erosion of civility proceed over 30 years.

There is a bigger problem.
Republicans & Democrats voting. Now that's an inconvenience!

zzyzzx says

Why should I have to CONSTANTLY ask people not to do something illegal and quite rude?

If this was a repeated incident with this contractor, and at least one person off that alley had asked them not to do it, I would totally agree with you.

Sounds like city-sickness to me. You have less patience for bullshit caused by crowding way to many people into a small space. Consider a move to the country, or at least get out for some camping/hiking once in a while. It's the only thing that keeps me sane.

Looks like Yelp likes ot make up reasons to remove other negative reviews:

https://www.yelp.com/topic/los-angeles-yelp-censorship <--Complete with commentary

https://www.reddit.com/r/Yelp/comments/72elt0/yelp_review_censorship/ <--Also with comments

https://yelp.pissedconsumer.com/censorship-of-valid-reviews-with-no-recourse-by-reviewer-201805141255304.html <-Someone just bitching

https://www.yelp.com/topic/los-angeles-yelp-and-censorship

I posted a review about a Chinese buffet across the street from my home. I've eaten there numerous times over the past several years. Recently the ownership changed hands and the quality of food declined precipitously. I offered up an honest review and within 24 hours it had vanished from that restaurant's Yelp page. This is a restaurant that has been cited for health code violations 6 times in the past year by the local dept. of health, but according to Yelp only positive reviews are allowed. I'm done with this fraud of a review site.

https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2vrxhv/yelp_still_censor_reviews_my_review_was_moved_to/

We refused to pay protection (they call it "advertising") and the only reviews for our store that weren't hidden was the one bad review.

Yelp is full of bullshit! I started researching them as the company I work for frequently gets Yelp reviews. I found that many would appear, and then disappear. I found some odd things, 'good' reviews that were the most current would show up on the front page when they were initially posted, but then end up hidden in the end hidden section by the next day, with maybe a 3 year old 'bad' review listed as the most current. My research educated me about Yelp's advertising/protection scheme.

Website devoted to Yelp censorship:
http://www.yelpcensors.com/

Not only that, Yelp's mobile site is one of the worst when it comes to nagging you to download their fucking app. It's completely useless unless you switch to desktop view.

Reviewing has become big business, which has brought in the bottom-feeders. I've found Yelp to be fairly reliable, but I always make sure to read more than a few reviews, from both sides before making a decision. Same for Amazon reviews.

Although I don't trust Yelp for food. People seem to think any half decent shit is worth max stars.