Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Is Google My Business Cutting Back on Live Support?
Two weeks ago I saw that Google had eliminated a public Help file URL from which a user could contact Google My Business support.
This evening I saw this Tweet from Miriam Ellis:
Hey @GoogleMyBiz, been on hold on your phone support for half an hour. Anyone manning Twitter right now?
— Miriam Ellis (@Miriam_Ellis_) January 27, 2017
And this afternoon in the forum I saw this post: No More Contact Us? where the user noted:
Ive just logged into my account to see that there is no longer a contact us under the support tab. It just states “Need More Help?” and that does not let me fill out a form to contact and a “Send Feedback”. Have they cut off phone support for us who need it?
Well all support is not lost but it sure has been buried very deeply within the bowels of the Google My Business Center and signs seem to be pointing towards a desire to cut down on support phone calls.
Even after the public form was removed two weeks ago you could still go into the GMB, select support from the drop down and fairly quickly both find the correct button to get a call back.
Google now seems to hasve buried it at least two levels deeper and offered fewer support choices.
Here is the new instructions I wrote to now find it:
To get in touch with Google My Business Support ou need to:
1- log into your Google my business dashboard http://www.google.com/mybusiness
2- select support from upper left hamburger menu
3- a help screen will appear to the right
4- It used to be just a scroll down to contact us
5- But now you have to dig into the specific problem
6- Click though to the appropriate help page
7- Read the help page and then
8- Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose most appropriate contact method for you (some are not always available)
At the end of that path, once you dig deep enough, you MIGHT see something like a contact request at the bottom of the help page. I did see one screen that offered a call back but after hitting it once, it disappeared on me. So while I think they may still offer limited call backs, the availability seems to have been dramatically decreased.
Could this be a bug in their support or a fluke in the phone system? Sure. I am waiting to hear whether these are mistakes or intentional actions to reduce call volume. I fear the latter.
© Copyright 2024 - MIKE BLUMENTHAL, ALL RIGHT RESERVED.
Comments
27 Comments
…just wonderful 🙁
I was able to make calls until yesterday. Got into an account today to work on something for a client and my options are gone as well. Can’t even find the email option anymore. And haven’t heard back from anyone on the calls I made in the last two weeks. Yaaaayyyyy! 🙁
They’ve been plagued by at least one bug. It took two calls to correct.
The first call, the rep was trying to steer me towards a paid listing but then backtracked. Um, no. Just no….
The second call, the rep determined it was a category failure where it required moving the pin on my end to get the update to process. They then told me they did something on my end. Of course they denied it was a bug.
What’s the saying? Sometimes you have to look reality in the face and deny it. AKA “plausible deniability”.
Have had 5 calls to them this week with very little hold time. Just had a call this morning and wait was 4 minutes. I have seen no change in the support.
I remember the day we celebrated the launch of phone support after years and years of grousing about it. Ah, Google, do not make it all but a distant memory. Thanks for this post, Mike. Bookmarking.
Ho-hum. So much for leaving a lasting legacy.
Though, I would note, if there’s a technical issue with phone support, it will dynamically be removed from the contact options.
I am able to request a phone call from within the product.
@Joel
Welcome to the world of outside looking in.
How deep was the phone option? What struck me was that it was now two levels deeper in the process than even several weeks ago.
I did this:
Need more help? > Ownership or access to my business > Other problem > business account (link). Need help? was appearing at the bottom of the article with phone, chat, or email options.
I have been able to contact with the Spanish support in the way that Joel Headley proposes
I asked the guy why they were hiding the phone and I have been told that the idea is to cut with many calls that can be easily solved by reading the automated answers.
It seems that now the telephone support will be left only for more specific questions
Man, just ran into this earlier this week. They are also not meeting the 5 day post card estimate. A local client of mine didn’t get theirs for nearly two weeks. No call in support was available, was on hold for 15 minutes and gave up. Fru.Strat.Ing.
Follow-up. I did hear from a GMB rep via Twitter next day. They helped resolve my issue. So, that was good. But not a fan of phone support going into hiding. The livelihoods of real businesses are at stake, just as they were in the pre-phone support days.
Have sent multiple requests for a new location for my business, but they never send the postcard, certainly not much going on there
Haven’t seen any issues, just the usual 2-3 day reply time.
That contact issue has always been a massive pain, they must be getting so many requests and don’t have enough staff to cover it possibly?
Hello Mike,
Hello All,
Have you tried this two numbers:
844-442-8695 & 844-491-9665
I have reached GMB support at both of them about verification issues directly.
Will update you if there are new info.
Thanks
Thanks for leaving these numbers! Though the representative wasn’t helpful, at least I have an avenue besides Twitter to get support.
Based in South Africa,where Postcards are estimated to arrive within 22days,but unfortunately our postal service is non existent resulting in 2-3 requests for additional Postcards and if you are lucky a month or two later your postcard arrives but then it is no longer valid. I submitted a proposal to GMB to make use of 360 photos which have geo location embedded in metadata in pictures clearly displaying and verifying the existence of a business….Response I got was a link to a YouTube video on how to verify your business,this after I verify on average 5 businesses a day,after replying on what a insult the video link was ,they agreed to do video verification through Hangout Call which was the last time I was able to access any form of direct communication.
They need to seriously consider the infrastructure available to businesses in third world countries.Why not make use of readily available technology?
@Morne
Verification is the single biggest issue that crops up in the forum. With the cutback in support it has become even more of an issue.
I would suggest though, rather than requesting postcards 2-3 times that you request 1 and then on day 23 follow the support options noted above from within the GMB dashboard. That should at least put you in touch via email and should allow for resolution more quickly.
We see this happen regularly when the Google UI is going through an overhaul. I think to avoid getting an increase in calls to the support team about UI bugs or changes, they temporarily disable the support feature.
We are still able to access support here: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3039617?from=cuf
As well as call the sales support line that was provided above.
My hunch is that standard support will be available again in a few weeks.
Hi everyone
From France, the GMB support direct access (phone, chat, email) has just disapeared a few days ago (beginning of July…).
Did it finally came back in US UI ?
Thks
In my experience over the last 6 months, the ‘call back’ option is becoming harder and harder to find, buried even deeper into the menu options.
I’d imagine with the merging of Google Map Maker, Google Partners, and GMB into that consolidated forum interface, they want people to use that as much as possible.
Our team has been noticing similar issues over the past few months. While the help forums and support emails can be useful for some of the more basic issues you may run into, more unusual challenges or anything related to verification really needs to be solved with an old-fashioned phone call.
Dec 6, 2017 the options are all completely gone.
found it through a search, was not available anywhere on the articles.
https://support.google.com/business/contact/business_c2c_m?from=cuf_c2c
I called Google My Business support to ask if Google would merge reviews for my business that are showing up in two distinct locations on the internet. The support team saw the problem but refused to help me because they said my business sign does not comply with Google’s signage policy. I a lead a small Soto Zen Buddhist meditation and practice group in a rented room at our local Unitarian Church. My sign includes our name, website, and meeting schedule. It is taped in a window inside the door of the church and is clearly visible from outside the church. We also have signs inside the church directing visitors and members to our rented room. I’ve read Google’s policy. I think I’m in compliance with the policy which seems to only require that our group (we are an established 501(c)(3) charitable, religious organization) is consistently identifiable across signage, website, and letterhead. I can’t believe Google is refusing to help us based on my business sign.
The guideline of which they speak is this one under ineligible businesses:
Ineligible businesses
The following businesses aren’t eligible for a business listing:
An ongoing service, class, or meeting at a location that you don’t own or have the authority to represent.
Interesting. Thanks, Mike.
It seems entirely likely that that even though we use our rented space at the church to offer meditation, services, and classes 5-days a week, and on 2-days twice a day, Google could pull the plug on our eligibility based on the above.
Yet, they are not quibbling over whether or not my 501(c)(3) charitable, religious organization is eligible for a business listing.
They are refusing to merge my internet reviews because they’ve deemed my business sign “improper”. And they’ve said they’ll only help me merge my reviews if I get a “proper” sign.
I’d like to comply with their request.
I’d like to know the minimum threshold a sign has to rise to to be deemed proper by Google. But Google My Business help won’t tell me. They can tell me what’s improper, but not what’s proper.
Thank you!
No easy answer: Something that is bolted to the outside of the building?
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