Businesses want equal time on Yelp

NEW YORK -- Business owners are challenging the adage that the customer is always right, especially when clients bad-mouth them online.

The Internet has become a free-for-all of complaints against businesses, and few sites for griping are as popular as Yelp.com. The pervasive chatter is a new phenomenon for businesses to contend with, challenging traditional customer service and even fundamental rights -- the right of the accused to confront the accuser.

Yelp thought it was time for businesses to talk back.

In April, the site launched Yelp for Business Owners, which allows owners to e-mail critics.

"Owners would often say, 'Wouldn't it be great to be in touch with the people reviewing my business?'" says Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder and CEO of Yelp. "So we thought maybe we can turn that into a real feature of the site and encourage productive dialogue."

Yelp has come under criticism, however, because while it allows owners to e-mail one critic at a time, there's not an option for posting general messages to defend themselves. Owners could do that if they become advertisers, which costs at least $150 a month.

Didier Pawlicki, chef-owner of the New York restaurant La Sirene, became an advertiser so he could communicate more broadly with Yelp visitors.

"I like to explain myself," Pawlicki says.

The site provides mass feedback unheard of before critics found their online voice, and it's changing Pawlicki's business. He removed profiteroles from his menu after Yelpers dismissed them as "bitter."

Glenn Jason of Glenn Jason Hair Design in New York views Yelp as both a blessing and a curse. "It does wonders for people's businesses," he says, adding that a number of customers have found him through the site. "But it has little or no regard for business owners."

He does not advertise with Yelp, so he said he is left out of the more interactive features available to owners. Plus, responding to online critics is not so simple. "Yes you can e-mail reviewers," he says. "But most people use fake names and fake e-mail addresses."