Providence Restaurant Claims “Billion Dollar Bully” Yelp Tried to Damage Business

A restaurant on the East Side of Providence is claiming that online review site Yelp hurt their business -- alleging that Yelp took down positive reviews when it refused to sign a contract with the billion dollar company.

India, located on Hope Street, now has a sign placed outside the restaurant, urging people to watch "Billion Dollar Bully" -- a documentary released in 2016 which features businesses who say Yelp removed "good" reviews when they refused to advertise with them.

See "Billion Dollar Bully" Trailer HERE

"We had all these great reviews, but in over one week they took down about 25-30 good reviews," said India owner Amar Singh, who said he captured a portion of the reviews that he said were removed -- after he said India opted not to sign a contract with Yelp.

Yelp, when reached on Friday, spoke to the allegations, with a spokesperson offering the following.

"There's no amount of money you can pay Yelp to alter a business's reviews or rating, and we treat reviews for advertisers and non-advertisers exactly the same," said a spokesperson for Yelp in an email to GoLocal.

India, Yelp, and Clashing Claims

"I just talked with a couple of customers today. They are 'Yelp Elite' members, they come in once a week, they love it so much," said Singh. "They said what is happening [to us] is not right."

Singh said it was "about three years ago" that he last interacted with Yelp, about advertising with the company.

"We'd advertised several times over the years," said Singh. "The [last time] a rep came to us with a presentation, me and [several managers], we all sat down, it was on the computer."

"I told [the rep] we'd think about, and I told her we'd call back, that I wanted to sleep on it. She said I had to do it that day," said Singh. "There was a back and forth, I said I needed time to think about it. She said I wasted her time on the computer -- on the video conference -- and I said she was the one who approached us. I said we took the time ourselves here, how did we waste your time?"

It was soon afterward, Singh said, he saw the positive reviews removed by Yelp -- which is when he started doing research and came across the "Billion Dollar Bully" documentary.

About the Movie

The documentary about Yelp, which was released in the summer of 2016, was reviewed by Eater.com. Virginia Chamlee wrote the following:

San Francisco filmmaker Kaylie Milliken says she never intended to be on the bad side of one the largest tech companies in the world. But, after she heard from a small business owner (her doctor) that Yelp seemed to be engaging in questionable business practices — removing positive reviews because the doctor hadn’t advertised with Yelp — she grew concerned. That concern grew into a forthcoming documentary, Billion Dollar Bully, which calls into question the business practices of the hugely popular review site.

"Every since we turned them down, every once in a while we'd get a call from them, and we just say we can't afford it," said Singh. "Yelp in a discreet way tries and tells you they can 'help' you. I've talked with other restaurateurs -- I've heard from other people."

Yelp refuted the claims when reached.

"We help thousands of small businesses connect with consumers every day, but there will always be some business owners who are unhappy with the steps we take to protect consumers. Feel free to read about some of the studies and legal cases that have soundly dismissed extortion claims: https://www.yelp.com/extortionmeme," said a spokesperson for Yelp.

Singh said he is done with Yelp, however, and has been focused on improving the restaurant.

"We've been at this location over 20 years. We had other locations, which we sold. This has been a good location, " said Singh. "In the last two years, we did a complete renovation. The kitchen used to be one-third the size it is now. We built a new kitchen with better ventilation, which has improved the working conditions for the employees. We use a lot of advances. We have induction ranges, which reduces the heat."

"When I was gearing up to renovate the restaurant, I was going to a lot of trade shows," said Sing. "I found that Yelp reviews [for other restaurants] were hit or miss. Personally, I look at Zagat's -- they tend to be just for larger restaurants though."

"This does impact businesses," said Singh of his experience with Yelp. "I encourage people to not post their reviews with them."

Related Slideshow: 25 Things You Need to Eat in RI Before You Die

Related Articles

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.