It seems that Yelp is turning into something like the BBB, ultimately holding the good name of organizations hostage, whether or not that was the original intent.
I think that's a little unfair. Yes, there have been some instances of that happening with the BBB... but when one of their sales people contacted me to sign up to become a BBB accredited business, I asked if it would affect my rating negatively if I refused, and the sales person was very adamant that it would not. So I declined, but she updated my profile with how long I was in business (adding an extra 3 years), and that improved my rating from A- to A+. Which is my company's current rating, even though I have never given them a dime.. all I do is respond to customers who file complaints with them.