Earlier this month, we brought you the story of a New Jersey bridal shop that refused to sell a bridal gown to a woman once the store’s owner found out she was one half of a lesbian couple. Since news broke of the situation, hundreds of negative reviews were posted to the boutique’s Yelp page, many of which have since been removed.

Yelp’s representatives send notifications to the removed reviews’ writers, stating that although they appreciate the review, the site’s guidelines state that reviews are for “consumer reviews” – not responding to a news story. The notification directs those reviewers to discuss the issues on the site’s “Talk” section.

Interestingly, there are some reviews that were posted by first-time Yelpers – people who have only reviewed that bridal shop, whose accounts were created very recently. Are these ones fake? You tell me.

Helene M., from Seminole, FL, writes:  “I went to “Here Comes the Bride” to find a dress for my wedding. My fiancé is American and I am French, the sales associate told me that Americans should only marry other Americans and that I should “go back to France.” She also added that there are too many illegal immigrants in the USA. I was speaking French with my mother and she told us, ‘This is America, speak English.’ Worst shopping experience ever.”

It sounds like a legitimate review, and Yelp has left it posted because of that, but  Senior Public Relations Manager at Yelp, Chantelle Karl, says that even reviews like that may be fake. Could it be, perhaps, that those types of reviews are from women who indeed had a bad experience, but didn’t post a negative review until now, based on one of many factors? For example, maybe they forgot the name of the shop. Or perhaps they didn’t want to seem whiny. Either way, the bridal shop in question clearly deserves its bad publicity.

yelp source photo

Tags: lesbian couple, gay marriage, alix genter, here comes the bride
Categories: What in the world?