Nadia Kalnieva says she can no longer bear to check online reviews about her Toronto moving company on Yelp. “I feel it’s too much bad energy.”

Her troubles with the hugely popular customer review website began about two years ago when she noticed a couple of negative reviews about her business were prominently featured. To make matters worse, she says, positive reviews about her company were hidden below in a "not currently recommended" category.

'What I got without spoken direct words is, "Start paying, and we'll find a way to get rid of the bad reviews."'— Nadia Kalnieva, S & Sons Moving

Then she starting getting calls from a Yelp sales representative trying to convince her to pay to advertise on the site.

She says she got the distinct impression from the salesperson that if she accepted, her problem would disappear: "What I got without spoken direct words is, 'Start paying, and we’ll find a way to get rid of the bad reviews.'"