I'm 90% sure that the people calling about removing bad review are shady marketing services companies that are offering this.

The same thing happens with Google. Someone says "hi I'm your local Google specialist..." They're not exactly claiming to be from Google, but it's confusing to an offline small business owner that thinks Google is calling them.

I've heard many of these messages for Google. I don't recall any from Yelp, but if you have any friends or family that claim that Yelp is doing so - ask to listen to the recording. I wouldn't be surprised if it's some other company claiming they can help.

I too have heard from a few businesses telling me directly that they don't trust Yelp and they know someone who got threatened. But like the parent comment said, it's hard to find a direct link.

At the end of the day it's shady businesses claiming to be a Yelp or Google specialist that are muddying the waters from what I can tell.

I'm not on the bandwagon (I don't use Yelp regardless, and I suspect long-term it would be damaging to the brand if good Yelp reviews don't correlate with good experiences), but the evidence Yelp present here is hardly cast-iron. I can see a number of ways such a suggestion could be made without it being evident in those recordings, such as:

- [Unlikely] Recordings have been edited, or certain recordings not disclosed

- Additional contact before/after this series of interactions where review removal was discussed

- Threats not made to this plumber, but another company/plumber who passed on a warning

- Raised by the plumber, and so not recorded ("Will you remove my bad reviews if I advertise with you?" "Yes, sir, we will do that" sounds perfectly benign if you only hear the Yelp end)

- [Not Yelp's fault, though could warn against(?)] Scam by a third party - Attempting to blackmail the plumber by pretending to be Yelp and threatening to post bad / remove good reviewss