When I first moved to Austin in 2014, exploring the neighborhood I lived in was priority. What’s to eat around here? What’s a good bar for catching a cool drink and a Spurs game? I turned to the resource that’s at the forefront of business review: Yelp. But after some initial setbacks and its own inherent flaws, I wondered who Yelp was actually there to service: itself or me.
While Yelp is a great tool for me to praise a business’ efforts or post a word of warning, I began to lose faith in others’ reviews and found little use of the services Yelp provided beyond maps and menus. My distrust toward other reviewers probably has more to do with my egomania than the credibility of their reviews, but I still identified a disconnect between the review I read about any given restaurant and my own experience at that restaurant. And here’s why.
Reviews Can Be Posted by One-Time Visitors
It’s no secret that Austin is full of transplants and transients, individuals who may be in town for a music event or tech conference. And yet, these are the people whose opinions I’m supposed to value: outsiders who have never had a breakfast taco in their lives and tout Austin as the birthplace. I’m not saying there’s a lack of great food in this city, but I’d rather the most recent review I’m reading about that food not be written by someone who is already safely back in their hometown.
Inaccurate Business Information
I had a hankering for a meatball sub that weeks of eating well simply could not stifle. I had been eyeing this little food truck right around the corner from my apartment whose stately Italian title practically had me salivating marinara: Regal Ravioli. I stopped in one day around the time of their lunch rush and was pleasantly surprised to find there was none. So I strolled up to the truck’s window where I saw a man prepping food and began to place my order. Except they weren’t open. We conversed for a few minutes and he informed me about his upcoming new location. He also explained to me that the hours posted on Yelp were wrong and that he’d requested they be changed repeatedly, but Yelp moderators had not updated the listing. It seems a business’ information should be updated by the business itself, not through some arbitrary process.
Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen
Theoretically, Yelp is great. Not only can you see how other people enjoyed a business, you can view photos, view menus, and even order directly through the app. Like I did one night when Thai food was a necessity. EAT24 services the online ordering through Yelp in my area and I had full confidence when I conveniently completed my transaction through the app. I received an email confirming my order and got in the car a few minutes later to make the pickup. As I got out of my car, I got a call from a toll-free number, which I immediately ignored because who wants to be bothered by toll-free numbers at dinner time? When I approached the food truck, a few staff members were outside trying to restart the generator to no avail. The guy at the window told me they’d been having issues and were unable to remain open for the night. He said EAT24 should have contacted me. They hadn’t. That is until I got back to my car and checked the voicemail the toll-free number left 20 minutes after I’d placed the order. It was EAT24 letting me know that my transaction had been cancelled and they were issuing me a full refund. Between Yelp, EAT24, and the vendor itself, not one of them could communicate this problem to me well within that 20-minute window.
Although technical glitches like the incorrect business info and online ordering were few and far between, they were the icing on the cake for someone who had already lost trust in the main point of Yelp: its reviews. Where once the phrase “It gets good ratings on Yelp” held meaning for me, it soon became the cause of sideways glances and heavy eye-rolling. Oh sure, I still peruse Yelp on the sly, reconnecting with it like an ex in those aching, confused months after a breakup. But I know we can never be again. I just want driving directions.