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Comment by prophesi | Hacker News Reader

I do wish the article touched on what the owners' actual complaints are. The only two that come to mind is:

1) Owners who aren't active on Yelp may never notice this feature, and so the money is never claimed.

2) Yelp may be taking a cut? But I can't find any evidence to substantiate this claim.

Edit: The article has been greatly edited since this post, and any additional points of frustration can be found in the children comments.

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Well, let's see. They're soliciting for _donations_ to a business that hasn't asked for it and possibly doesn't need it. I doubt JWZ needs it. If you want to throw money at something, how about a legitimate charity. Maybe this would be welcome if it where opt-in, but c'mon. What's the point of trying to ram a GoFundMe down everyone's throat?

I mean, imagine of Facebook tried this and started spamming your friends asking for donations to help you. I can't believe that even in Silicon Valley anyone can be this tone deaf.

> I doubt JWZ needs it.

Dude's broke AF. https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2016/12/19.html

Lol I didn't think he would setup that HN-redirect-to-ballsack for his bar's website too

Might be the same physical server

Hahahhahaha I loved that redirect when the referrer is HN. For the confused: copy the link and manually navigate to it in a new tab.

"In the 17 years since I signed the lease on DNA Lounge, I've spent about five million dollars on it. ... DNA has never turned a profit. ... Well, here's the thing: I've run out of money."

There were also two failed pizza restaurants involved. One reason, when someone got some money from a startup and asked HN what to do, one of my comments was "Don't buy a restaurant."

Now we have Yelp mooching off a very marginal industry. That's pathetic.

One of the big breakthroughs of the tech boom has been developing new ways to squeeze money out of poor people. Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Grubhub... What "tech"? - they're job shops.

Let's say it becomes public knowledge that Hackernews user prophesi is experiencing some sort of problem and that you could arguably use some charitable donations.

Let's now say I, user himinlomax, set up a fundraiser in your name without telling you. We've never talked before, you don't know who I am, but you notice that I play up how terrible your situation is, and ask people to send ME money on your behalf. Also when you ask me to stop I request a copy of your driving license and a picture of you with a shoe on your head.

How would you feel about that?

That's a cool exaggerated example, but it's common knowledge that restaurants everywhere are currently struggling. The ID request is the only part I'd personally be outraged by.

The only exaggeration in his comment is the shoe, and that hardly changes the substance of his comment. Yelp is very clearly in the wrong here. If you can't see that, your moral compass needs to be re-calibrated.

Yelp isn't clearly in the wrong when you live in a society where you need to depend more on corporations than the government. Platforms like GoFundMe play a critical role in providing coverage for people who would otherwise would be left stranded in their governmental care, or lack thereof.

Sure, surface-level pride is important for restaurants. But not if they're in the USA in the middle of a pandemic.

I'll also leave this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22704051

It doesn't matter what sort of society we do or should live in. Yelp is in the wrong for doing this without the consent of the supposed beneficiaries. This shouldn't be hard to understand.

3) They have their own plans to make money now, and this conflicts with it

3.5) worse if said messaging tied around not wanting donations, but e.g. selling gift cards or other things that give a benefit instead

4) They now have extra work to do that they didn't ask for

5) Yelp claiming "all proceeds going directly to the business" without having set up a channel for proceeds to be transferred

I think they take issue with Yelp deciding they need charity for them. Many reputable business don't want to beg or appear desperate.

I’d be pissed off, if I have a business the last thing you want customers and suppliers knowing you are struggling

That's the _only_ justification (and it's a extremely weak one) I can see for making it opt-out - it doesn't single you out as struggling, its the default.

From TFA:

> However, critics of the partnership fast discovered that GoFundMe was setting the recommended tip, which is how GoFundMe funds its own operations, at 15 percent.

My guess is that they feel like Yelp is kind of taking over responsibility without their permission? I'm not a business owner but I imagine I'd feel quite protective of all aspects of it, especially when asking for money (even in dire circumstances)

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