Can't reply to reviews

[richardwaine]

Hey all,

I have had an issue replying to reviews on my Google Business Profile for around 6 months. Each time I attempt to reply to a review, the dialogue box pops up telling me that it was posted. Upon refreshing the screen, the review disappears. I have been engaged with Google for 6 months in an effort to have them fix this. Customer support has been relatively useless, as they ask for patience and understanding, and tell me that Google reserves the right to disable certain functions on profiles.

I have asked them why Google would disable my ability to reply to reviews. No answer. I ask them when I can expect a fix. No idea. Basically, the needle hasn't moved in 6 months.

But, the kicker here is that not being able to reply to reviews is not the only issue. I'm also completely unable to create a new update/post on my GBP either. The system marks everything (with a photo, without a photo, literally everything) as spam and rejects it. No solutions there either.

Does anyone have a contact at Google Business Profile who can actually do something? Playing with customer support for 6 months has not been enjoyable, and it hasn't been productive either. I need some real help on these issues.

Thank you so much in advance!

Rich
info@richardwaine.com

 

[richardwaine]

@richardwaine was the secondary email address you tried to add a Gmail account or a branded account?

I have had two issues in the past where invites would not be sent to branded alias accounts (email forwards).

If you are troubleshooting this way to see if there is a restriction issue related to the current primary owner account, you would have to set the new email as the primary owner and remove the current primary owner (but as you mentioned, that is straying away from where you want to be).

One thing I don't see in the thread, sorry if I missed it, have you tried logging into your GBP dashboard via Chrome Incognito mode? That removes strange cookie issues, cache issues, corrupt Chrome profile issues and Chrome Extension issues.

My apologies for the delay in replying and giving some form of update.

At last update, there has been absolutely no movement on a solution to the issue of being unable to reply to reviews. I have been in contact with a supervisor from Google's support team, but information is nonexistent. They don't know what is causing the issue, and they don't know when a repair will be in place. They have told me that I'm not the only one dealing with this, but I suspect that if this was really as widespread an issue as they say, it might have ruffled more feathers.

More than that... I still cannot make an update post without instant rejection. They acknowledge that this is an issue, but tell me that they are happy to post it for me, as long as I reach out to them and as long as the post doesn't violate guidelines.

To compound matters, my quantity of reviews WAS at 520. The support supervisor acknowledged that in an email to me. After sending them a screenshot showing that the count was reduced to 518, I was informed that they were pleased to tell me that one was reinstated (it has not been reinstated yet), and the other cannot be because it violated guidelines. This was more horseshit than I could swallow, because they couldn't cite which review violated policy, nor can they tell me which policy was violated.

I am STILL unable to reach an executive that actually manages the entire product line of Google Business Profile. THAT person needs to get involved STAT. There are SO many issues with this platform, and even more issues with their tech support and engineering team. Is there ANYONE... literally ANYONE that can get me in touch with someone at Google who has a bloody clue?! Their support team has to check with engineers and other people. Those people need to check with other people. In the end, no one has a clue, and nothing gets solved. Someone needs to interface DIRECTLY with an engineer, product person, or THE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT.

I have been dealing with these issues for more than 7 months now, and still no resolution.

When I chime in on webinars and live videos asking for help with these issues, it's met with radio silence.

There are no issues with my settings, and there are no hacks that will magically reinstate my ability to reply to reviews or to make update posts. This is genuinely an issue with Google itself.

HELP... please!!

Thank you!

 

[GoLocal]

I doubt it applies here but I have real world experience with the word "headshot" causing issues on multiple platforms. When I swtiched to "business portraits" all problems ceased.

 

[richardwaine]

I doubt it applies here but I have real world experience with the word "headshot" causing issues on multiple platforms. When I swtiched to "business portraits" all problems ceased.

I have seen that as an issue in Europe and other countries. In the USA, not an issue. Google understands this is a photography business. They also understand what a headshot is. My profile is packed with all the information they require, and they have never challenged the nature of my business. My profile categories are photography-related, photos are all photography-related... nothing of a sinister or even questionable nature. So, I'm relatively certain that the word headshot is not an issue.

however, My email exchanges with the "support" personnel are frustrating me exponentially. They tell me that reviews are removed for violations. When pressed on which review violated which policy, they can't tell me that.

how can a company, whose very existence is predicated on high-functioning technology, be unable to tell me which review violated which policy?! Of course, that is a very rhetorical question, loaded with plenty of sarcasm.

The answers are all the same: The support team is ineffective, in every way. The engineering team has no intention of fixing anything, especially if they don't know it's broken. And, if they do know it, then it's certainly not a priority for them. And... there is ZERO managerial oversight here. The sheer fact that there is no way to contact a manager of the GBP team is ridiculous. They simply don't want to hear that they have issues.

This is why I have been asking everyone if they have a real human contact at the company...someone who could make an introduction or implement some sort of fix.

 

[GoLocal]

I hope this gets sorted for you ASAP, I feel your frustration. It shouldn't be this hard.

 

[norr9075]

I have seen that as an issue in Europe and other countries. In the USA, not an issue. Google understands this is a photography business. They also understand what a headshot is. My profile is packed with all the information they require, and they have never challenged the nature of my business. My profile categories are photography-related, photos are all photography-related... nothing of a sinister or even questionable nature. So, I'm relatively certain that the word headshot is not an issue.

however, My email exchanges with the "support" personnel are frustrating me exponentially. They tell me that reviews are removed for violations. When pressed on which review violated which policy, they can't tell me that.

how can a company, whose very existence is predicated on high-functioning technology, be unable to tell me which review violated which policy?! Of course, that is a very rhetorical question, loaded with plenty of sarcasm.

The answers are all the same: The support team is ineffective, in every way. The engineering team has no intention of fixing anything, especially if they don't know it's broken. And, if they do know it, then it's certainly not a priority for them. And... there is ZERO managerial oversight here. The sheer fact that there is no way to contact a manager of the GBP team is ridiculous. They simply don't want to hear that they have issues.

This is why I have been asking everyone if they have a real human contact at the company...someone who could make an introduction or implement some sort of fix.

I had this exact same problem. Everything you have mentioned was exactly what was happening to me. It's been over 1 year since this issue randomly occurred, I hounstly suspect one of my local competitors flagged my profile somehow, regardless, I came across this thread tonight, added another user with owner permissions to my GMB profile, and BAM, review replies are working and so are updates and offer postings!! I'm so happy. Thank you all very much.

 

[NevenaIvanova]

I had this exact same problem. Everything you have mentioned was exactly what was happening to me. It's been over 1 year since this issue randomly occurred, I hounstly suspect one of my local competitors flagged my profile somehow, regardless, I came across this thread tonight, added another user with owner permissions to my GMB profile, and BAM, review replies are working and so are updates and offer postings!! I'm so happy. Thank you all very much.

Hi norr9075,

Thanks for sharing this valuable insight!

Can you please specify, have you transferred the ownership fully to the new account, or simply added it as an Owner, and kept the previous one as a Primary Owner?

 

[norr9075]

Hi norr9075,

Thanks for sharing this valuable insight!

Can you please specify, have you transferred the ownership fully to the new account, or simply added it as an Owner, and kept the previous one as a Primary Owner?

Hello.

I simply added a new user. I did not transfer ownership.

 

[NevenaIvanova]

Hello.

I simply added a new user. I did not transfer ownership.

I see. Unfortunately, this hasn't solved the ongoing restrictions on my end, as apparently they are not related to account restrictions.

 

[yigitc]

Man

I had this exact same problem. Everything you have mentioned was exactly what was happening to me. It's been over 1 year since this issue randomly occurred, I hounstly suspect one of my local competitors flagged my profile somehow, regardless, I came across this thread tonight, added another user with owner permissions to my GMB profile, and BAM, review replies are working and so are updates and offer postings!! I'm so happy. Thank you all very much.

Man you saved my life Thank you very much.. I had this problem with my two primary accounts and I have been talking to useless Google customer service for months. They provided me no solutions. Only if I knew solution would be that simple. Today I gave one of my old gmail acoounts ownership and BOOM I CAN ANSWER my customer reviews and make new upgrade. Thank you sir if you come to Turkey let me know you will be my guest. God bless you.

 

[norr9075]

Man


Man you saved my life Thank you very much.. I had this problem with my two primary accounts and I have been talking to useless Google customer service for months. They provided me no solutions. Only if I knew solution would be that simple. Today I gave one of my old gmail acoounts ownership and BOOM I CAN ANSWER my customer reviews and make new upgrade. Thank you sir if you come to Turkey let me know you will be my guest. God bless you.

Your absolutely welcome brother. I felt as happy as you did when my account issues were resolved. It wasn't my idea either, I was just following the thread and came across this suggestion by another user.