Yelp Weeds Out Angry Reviewers for Bridal Shop

BY Michelle Garcia

August 19 2011 1:50 PM ET

Many took to social media to spread the news about a lesbian customer being turned away from a bridal shop in New Jersey earlier this week, but one popular review website says the bad reviews are against its terms of use.

According to Cnet, at least 69 1-star reviews on Yelp.com were posted Thursday for Here Comes the Bride in Somers Point, N.J., admonishing the shop for its treatment of Alix Genter. However, the site's terms of use stipulate that reviews should be about the customer experience "and not the views of a business or its employees," Yelp's Chantelle Karl told Cnet.

She added, "Reviews that go against these guidelines are regularly removed by our Customer Support Team. That said, Yelp DOES encourage dialogue on the site via Yelp Talk; just not on business reviews."

Still, some users point out that the store was already poorly rated before the incident with Genter took place earlier this week.