Kara M.

Thanks to a "heads up" note from a past client whose sibling is getting married and found it online, I've just discovered that there's a listing for my business (along with reviews) on The Knot and WeddingChannel. I had no idea it was there or how it came into existance, but sure enough, when I performed a browser search it popped right up. No membership or login or credentials whatsoever required to see it. I have NEVER advertised with WeddingChannel or The Knot or paid them for anything so this "whoa, where did that come from?" listing was a big surprise. It has to be an automated listing (with info perhaps gathered from a crawler search) because there are no photos, no business logo, and the address is incorrect.

To add insult to injury, there is a fictitious, 1-star negative review post from 2 weeks ago from a "bride" (who knows who it really is since the person has no other reviews and who knows what freebie product WeddingChannel promised as an incentive to get them to leave a vendor review) who claims she recently met with me but didn't receive a quote or any response from me after "many emails and calls". I know this review to be completely false and bogus as I put my entire business on hold last year so that I could care for my elderly, terminally ill parent full time, and I haven't met with potential clients or accepted any new business since then. I also have an automated eMail response setup on the business eMail account and a clear, concise outgoing message on the business voicemail that the business is temporarily suspended for a serious family health issue and I'm not taking any inquiries or business at this time.

So what do I do now? I tried but can't seem to remove/delete the listing or even edit it to let people know that the business is on hold because, and get this, in order to be allowed access to update the listing WeddingChannel/The Knot wants me to PAY FOR ADVERTISING. Yup, you read that correctly. Whenever I click the "Is this your business?" link to claim the listing so I can delete it or at least add a message so brides know what's happening and don't call me for inquiries, I am redirected to a page wanting me to pay $160/month in order to be able to update the listing.

So it appears that I can't delete or update the "whoa where did this come from?" listing without paying. And the worst part is that people (competitors, brides mistaking my business for a similarly named new business competitor in our same metro area, or whomever) can keep leaving bogus reviews and there is nothing I can do about it. I would feel at least a little better if I could claim the listing and be given the right to refute or add a response comment to the fake review, but it looks like the ability to do that comes at a cost -- $160/month. It's utterly ridiculous to me that there's no free way to delete/remove or temporarily suspend this business listing that I never asked for or paid for. I've been researching and reading other similar posts the past couple of hours, and it sounds as though WeddingChannel/The Knot is not very cooperative with or responsive to vendors (particularly non-advertising vendors), who want to delete/remove their listing or who report receiving fake reviews. I'm so frustrated that my hands are tied and I cannot claim or access the listing to suspend or remove it. I don't know what else to do other than wait all weekend until their customer service line opens on Monday, and then if they refuse to suspend, remove, or give me free edit access to the listing I had no previous knowledge of and that is misleading to brides to have active when my business is on hiatus, an attorney may have to get involved and take things a step further.

Has anyone else discovered a listing for your business, along with reviews (legitimate or not), on WeddingChannel and The Knot? Were you able to get the entire listing removed or at least updated with correct address/contact information and business status? If so, what did you do to get action?