What is Yelp's deal, anyway?

This is the verbage from a Yelp review written on November 23, 2009, by a client of mine. It was up on the Yelp site for a few weeks, and then it mysteriously disappeared. They have left up a couple of reviews written by other clients of mine, but they have not taken down all the not-so-happy comments about our service department, however. (Our service department won Mercedes-Benz' most coveted service award last year, but that's another subject.)

There appears to be a disconnect widening at Yelp between the truth and some manipulated fictions.

Their representatives visited our dealership a while back offering to remove bad reviews for a small monthly fee. This smacked of extortion. Many instances of this ended up documented on the interweb, and Yelp issued a rebuttal. They categorically denied the practice, but everyone I spoke to knew some business owner who had had their business threatened by the mighty Yelp. Anybody can make a mistake, and I thought they would have put those not-so-best business practices behind them.

I did receive some calls from potential clients from my good reviews on Yelp, and did sell some cars from those referrals, too. Then they took down my good review from Robert S.

They had a good thing going, engendering the trust of thousands of people, but they just lost mine for good. I will take all their reviews with a grain of salt, knowing they are cherry-picked for content depending upon which side of Yelp's good graces the business is on. What a pity. We expect corruption from "foreign diplomats" trying to recover funds from abandoned bank accounts and all we have to do is put up a few thousand in earnest money, but what about being deceived about honest business owners in our own neighborhood?

This is my livelihood they're messing with, and I think it's just mean.



"Mercedes-Benz Of San Francisco





500 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

Reviewed by Robert S.



I walked into Mercedes Benz of San Francisco after being completely disturbed by my service experience at an equally local Land Rover dealership. I had a perfectly beautiful Range Rover. But, the new E series Mercedes peaked my interest.



I visited several Mercedes dealerships and, as everyone is clearly aware, the internet has tons of information. I had my pricing guidelines in hand and thought that I was prepared. If you are going to purchase a Mercedes Benz in the state of California I have two words for you: LIZ BOEDER.



Liz Boeder is the most helpful, interesting, and interested sales "friend" (I can't really call her a salesperson because it just doesn't do her justice). I could tell - from the moment that I entered the dealership - that I was probably "small potatoes" for her. I was looking at a fairly mid-priced vehicle when compared to the amazing G63 or CL600. And, of course, I thought that I was fully armed with all applicable information. I was wrong.



Liz immediately took me upstairs and basically visually disassembled a vehicle for me to highlight the 800+ safety features etc. on this car. She spent more than 2 hours with me explaining the car. It's roots. It's concept. As I was going from a Range Rover - which is safe just from it's 6,000 pounds - safety was important to me. She pointed out that the vehicle actually does active work to avoid and predict issues - and that it had so many sophisticated features that Mercedes Benz actually shares with other car manufacturers for goodwill only.



I explained that I wanted a very specific color combination. She found it in about 10 minutes. We settled on a fair price and the transaction was done. After I took delivery, I had highly technical questions about the media register and ipod system - and as the model was brand new and little information was available - she just picked up the phone and called the creator of the system. Incredible!



I had other questions about the tire pressure management system and she answered them honestly and took the time to explain what was going on and basically gave me a physics 101 lesson. And, she does it in a way that is helpful and not at all didactic.



A few things. She knows the most. She's available. She's nice. She's professional. She's honest. She's passionate about Mercedes Benz. She is the perfect synergy that balances client interests with dealership success. It's just a fair and pleasant experience all around.



I can't think of a more pleasant car buying experience. And I do mean experience. She loves her job and I feel as though I made an excellent decision on my vehicle because she had real questions to ask me about my driving style, expectations, and needs. Granted, I am aware that I was choosing a Mercedes - but on a lot where there are cars ranging from $34,000 to $125,000 or more - I could have just been an annoying tire kicker. I don't think it would have mattered. Liz Boeder wanted me to know about the car she sells and represents.



She's the best."

If you're interested, I will be happy to email you a copy of the exact Yelp review, replete with the five red stars.