Reviews definitely help. Working with contractors is a pain because of the trust issues that OP mentioned (yes OP, people SHOULD avoid Kelbie. Everything about your experience was unacceptable. That also needs to be posted online!!), so when disti finishes itself as good and trustworthy, reviews like yours help them stand out. It's beneficial to both homeowners and the contractor.

Yelp kind of sucks for contractors but that couldn't hurt, but there are other sites like Houzz and even Google reviews (which also suck) that would benefit them as well.