Yelp (NYSE: YELP — $1.50 billion) claims to “help businesses of all sizes reach a large audience, advertise their products and drive conversion of their services.” Not all businesses on the platform agree.
Through Freedom of Information Act requests, The Bear Cave has obtained hundreds of consumer complaints alleging a pattern of misleading and fraudulent billing by Yelp, deceptive free trials and cancellation notices, and excessive, harassing, or misleading telemarketing by the platform. Many of the complaints allege that Yelp’s remote sales reps push small businesses into “free” ad campaign trials. Then, after merchants believe they have successfully cancelled trial campaigns, they are surprised months later with hundreds or thousands of dollars in unexpected charges from Yelp or a collection agency representing Yelp.
Some of the complaints allege Yelp sales reps would call businesses repeatedly even after requesting to be on Do Not Call lists.
For example, a phone repair company in Chicago filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General that began:
“On July 1, 2025, I received a telemarketing sales call from a Yelp representative named William on my business phone line. This was not the first time. Over the years, I have told Yelp’s sales representatives multiple times to stop calling me and to place my number on their internal Do Not Call list. These requests were made clearly and verbally in prior calls going back years. Despite those repeated instructions, Yelp continues to contact me for sales purposes…”
(August 2025 complaint to the Illinois Attorney General against Yelp, obtained via public records request)
Because of the repeated unwanted Yelp sales calls, the business owner decided to record the July 2025 sales call and submit it to the Illinois Attorney General. The original audio is reproduced below (and on YouTube here), with subtitles added by The Bear Cave.
The business owner states several times that he is on a Do Not Call list and requested to stop Yelp marketing calls:
“So with Yelp we’re actually on a Do Not Call list.” (0:48)
“The reason is we’re not interested in marketing with Yelp.” (1:10)
“When I say Do Not Call us, we are not interested.” (2:20)
“I’m notating that we placed a Do Not Call… you guys are basically calling us when we told you Do Not Call.” (3:54)
The business owner also added, “I don’t need to pay into the Yelp mafia” (3:00), referencing views by some merchants that Yelp extorts business owners into paying Yelp in exchange for preferential ratings and treatment on the platform.
The Yelp sales rep explained that Do Not Call requests can expire after two or three years and repeatedly tried to get the owner to agree to a “free” ad campaign.
In our February “Problems at Yelp (YELP)” investigation, The Bear Cave raised concerns “of a broken sales culture” exemplified by Glassdoor reviews from Yelp sales reps:
“Cold calling which isn’t surprising but having to recall the same people 3x per week gets exhausting for them and us.” (March 24, 2026)
“Pitching business owners who have been harassed by previous reps.” (March 4, 2026)
“Sketchy top performers who lie to business owners…” (February 3, 2026)
“Terrible product with extremely high-pressure sales tactics. If you’re not on a call every five minutes, you can get written up. Expect to call the same businesses multiple times a day…” (February 2, 2026)
“Lots of sales pressure. Lots and lots of calls. Did not like calling the same people over and over and being hung up on.” (January 27, 2026)
On r/Yelp, one sales rep wrote, in part,
“You are expected to call a business 6 times before you can leave them alone. After that another rep can take over. That is why so many of the small business owners say you’re getting nonstop calls for months. When one rep drops the account, another can take over….”
These are no isolated incidents. In a December 2025 complaint to the Illinois Attorney General, a different business owner wrote:... 2 weeks ago
Through Freedom of Information Act requests, The Bear Cave has obtained hundreds of consumer complaints alleging a pattern of misleading and fraudulent billing by Yelp, deceptive free trials and cancellation notices, and excessive, harassing, or misleading telemarketing by the platform. Many of the complaints allege that Yelp’s remote sales reps push small businesses into “free” ad campaign trials. Then, after merchants believe they have successfully cancelled trial campaigns, they are surprised months later with hundreds or thousands of dollars in unexpected charges from Yelp or a collection agency representing Yelp.
Some of the complaints allege Yelp sales reps would call businesses repeatedly even after requesting to be on Do Not Call lists.
For example, a phone repair company in Chicago filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General that began:
“On July 1, 2025, I received a telemarketing sales call from a Yelp representative named William on my business phone line. This was not the first time. Over the years, I have told Yelp’s sales representatives multiple times to stop calling me and to place my number on their internal Do Not Call list. These requests were made clearly and verbally in prior calls going back years. Despite those repeated instructions, Yelp continues to contact me for sales purposes…”
(August 2025 complaint to the Illinois Attorney General against Yelp, obtained via public records request)
Because of the repeated unwanted Yelp sales calls, the business owner decided to record the July 2025 sales call and submit it to the Illinois Attorney General. The original audio is reproduced below (and on YouTube here), with subtitles added by The Bear Cave.
The business owner states several times that he is on a Do Not Call list and requested to stop Yelp marketing calls:
“So with Yelp we’re actually on a Do Not Call list.” (0:48)
“The reason is we’re not interested in marketing with Yelp.” (1:10)
“When I say Do Not Call us, we are not interested.” (2:20)
“I’m notating that we placed a Do Not Call… you guys are basically calling us when we told you Do Not Call.” (3:54)
The business owner also added, “I don’t need to pay into the Yelp mafia” (3:00), referencing views by some merchants that Yelp extorts business owners into paying Yelp in exchange for preferential ratings and treatment on the platform.
The Yelp sales rep explained that Do Not Call requests can expire after two or three years and repeatedly tried to get the owner to agree to a “free” ad campaign.
In our February “Problems at Yelp (YELP)” investigation, The Bear Cave raised concerns “of a broken sales culture” exemplified by Glassdoor reviews from Yelp sales reps:
“Cold calling which isn’t surprising but having to recall the same people 3x per week gets exhausting for them and us.” (March 24, 2026)
“Pitching business owners who have been harassed by previous reps.” (March 4, 2026)
“Sketchy top performers who lie to business owners…” (February 3, 2026)
“Terrible product with extremely high-pressure sales tactics. If you’re not on a call every five minutes, you can get written up. Expect to call the same businesses multiple times a day…” (February 2, 2026)
“Lots of sales pressure. Lots and lots of calls. Did not like calling the same people over and over and being hung up on.” (January 27, 2026)
On r/Yelp, one sales rep wrote, in part,
“You are expected to call a business 6 times before you can leave them alone. After that another rep can take over. That is why so many of the small business owners say you’re getting nonstop calls for months. When one rep drops the account, another can take over….”
These are no isolated incidents. In a December 2025 complaint to the Illinois Attorney General, a different business owner wrote:... 2 weeks ago