GMB listing suspended

[kathleen.rhodes]

We claimed my client's GMB listing on July 31, 2020, only to have it suspended on the same day. We initiated the reinstatement process but hadn't heard anything back, so contacted Google. Now, we have a case number, [5-3079000031000], but no response.

The business information is as follows:
Thunder Star Charter
2124 Fremont Dr
Santa Rosa, CA 95409

Thunder Star Charter

This is a service area business, but we cannot make that, or any other edits/updates, until the listing is no longer suspended. We cannot even "see" the listing any longer, as is shown in this screenshot, Thunder Star Charter - Dashboard.png

Due to COVID, the client is rather urgently updating her business model (from large buses and tour groups to small vehicles with very small groups). So, it is imperative to be able to access and update the GMB listing.

I believe that this is the dashboard #, 12442118918487446605

And the maps URL, Thunder Star Charter

 

[Phil Rozek]

@kathleen.rhodes, it appears to be a soft suspension, in that I can pull up the GMB page just fine. The screenshot you sent indicates a bug, but that's probably unrelated to the soft suspension.

So at least the GMB page is up. The good news and the bad news is it's susceptible to public edits. That's good news in the sense that you may be able to make a public edit that sticks, which buys you some time until you can get your access reinstated.

My hunch is that it's an address issue, and that the address was changed recently, possible without also updating the address (or creating listings) on the non-Google directories. In which case Google sees a sudden change to a residential address and things, "Whoa - that's odd, especially for a bus charter."

In any event, you'll probably want to follow these steps from @BenFisher: What to Do If Your Google My Business Listing Is Suspended - BrightLocal

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

@kathleen.rhodes, it appears to be a soft suspension, in that I can pull up the GMB page just fine. The screenshot you sent indicates a bug, but that's probably unrelated to the soft suspension.

So at least the GMB page is up. The good news and the bad news is it's susceptible to public edits. That's good news in the sense that you may be able to make a public edit that sticks, which buys you some time until you can get your access reinstated.

My hunch is that it's an address issue, and that the address was changed recently, possible without also updating the address (or creating listings) on the non-Google directories. In which case Google sees a sudden change to a residential address and things, "Whoa - that's odd, especially for a bus charter."

In any event, you'll probably want to follow these steps from @BenFisher: What to Do If Your Google My Business Listing Is Suspended - BrightLocal

Thanks, Phil, although the address has never been changed. This is one of those listings that "appeared" without the business owner even knowing it was there. She doesn't want her home address showing, plus the business name is actually Thunderstar Stages. I don't really want to suggest a name change until we actually have access to the listing. We have a verification PIN but no way to enter it :-(

 

[Phil Rozek]

Now that's a compound problem. There is no perfect way to get it resolved, in terms of a solution that will definitely work, work soon, and not leave you in some odd purgatory for at least a little while. (Not least because Google's involved, with its near-nonexistent support.)

Given what you say, what I'd do is:

1. Remove your own access to the GMB dashboard, and do likewise for other admins.

2. Do a "suggest an edit" in which you choose "Remove this place" -> "Private place or home," so that (we hope) Google removes the page.

3. Once it's removed, create a new GMB page, with the correct name. You'll probably need to use the home address for verification, but can "hide" the address as soon as you've completed the verification.

4. Immediately do a citation clean-up, to reinforce the current name and address (or lack thereof).

 

[BenFisher]

Kathleen,
Please make a thread on the GMB support community and email it to me, with a loom video please explaining the issue. I will send it to the powers that be. Also, please try editing from another browser or incognito first.

 

[BenFisher]

Hey Kathleen,
I found your thread about this and will be escalating it.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

Hey Kathleen,
I found your thread about this and will be escalating it.

Hey Kathleen,
I found your thread about this and will be escalating it.

Thank you! Just so you know, I tried editing it in Chrome, Firefox, and in an incognito window and got the same blank screen every time. We have a verification PIN now but are unable to enter it.

 

[BenFisher]

Thanks! Was the listing verified before this happened?

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

Yes, this happened right after we "claimed" the listing but before it was verified. We have a verification PIN now but are unable to enter it.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

@BenFisher - thanks for your assistance. We received an email from Google that the listing has been reinstated and that Google wants to schedule a verification call. However, we are still unable to "see" or edit the listing, Thunder Star Charter - Dashboard.png. (I've tried accessing the account in various browsers and in an incognito window.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

Now that's a compound problem. There is no perfect way to get it resolved, in terms of a solution that will definitely work, work soon, and not leave you in some odd purgatory for at least a little while. (Not least because Google's involved, with its near-nonexistent support.)

Given what you say, what I'd do is:

1. Remove your own access to the GMB dashboard, and do likewise for other admins.

2. Do a "suggest an edit" in which you choose "Remove this place" -> "Private place or home," so that (we hope) Google removes the page.

3. Once it's removed, create a new GMB page, with the correct name. You'll probably need to use the home address for verification, but can "hide" the address as soon as you've completed the verification.

4. Immediately do a citation clean-up, to reinforce the current name and address (or lack thereof).

Thanks for your reply, Phil! Given that Google now wants to schedule a verification video call between 9:00 AM to 3 PM EST, I'll see if I can get the call set up next week. If that doesn't resolve the issue, I'll follow your suggested steps.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

@BenFisher and @Phil Rozek - I just responded on the GMB Forum, How do we get a GMB suspension lifted? - Google My Business Community

Regarding this Case [5-3079000031000]:

We had a video verification call on 8/18 and received this information, "Congratulations,Your business listing is verified and under pending review status on AUG 19 Thunder Star Charter at 2124 Fremont Drive, Santa Rosa, California 95409-3036, United States is live on google search results.Please don't do any edits at this time,Please allow 24-48 hrs for the information to be reviewed from system end."

We have repeatedly replied to the case email thread that we have ABSOLUTELY no ability to edit the listing because the screen is entirely blank, Thunder Star Charter - Dashboard.png

A day ago we received this reply, "We found that your Google My Business concern is the result of a technical issue. Our engineers are working on the issue but they don’t have an estimate for when they'll resolve it."

The business owner and I are beyond frustrated about this situation.

 

[BenFisher]

Kathleen, try these steps, it involves old brand accounts.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

Thanks, @BenFisher but that didn't work. The client doesn't seem to have an old brand account, yet alone a login for it. We tried the regular email address and password that was used to claim the GMB, but to no avail. This has been going on since early August, Re: [5-3079000031000]

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

@BenFisher - I may have an additional ticket number now. I responded to Re: [5-3079000031000], indicating our frustration and letting Google know that the screen is still "blank" (Thunder Star Charter - Dashboard.png)

and received two replies yesterday which had a different case number, Re: [7-9143000031045].

Here's what they wrote:

1. Hi Kathleen,
Thank you for your question about verifying your business -Thunder Star Charter at 2124 Fremont Drive, Santa Rosa, California 95409-3036, United States
We apologize for the delay with Google My Business support.I hope you understand our limitations over this and it's never our intention to cause any kind of inconvenience to you as we value your relationship with us.
We have re-verified the listing on AUG 26 & 19 and is still under pending review status more than 2 weeks.Please don't do any edits until the information goes live.
Thanks for getting in touch addressing the query for " Pending review status/edits are not going live "We are not trained on other issue.Please help us with relevant screenshots if needed we will reach you out to escalate to the other team is its relevant to GMB profile.For any other queries,You can reach out Help Center
Please be assured that your case is with me and I’m keeping track of it. The moment I get an update about the issue being resolved, I’ll definitely call or email you to share the status.

I’d like to thank you for being patient and understanding in this matter.

I’m just an email away so if there is anything besides this you’d like assistance with, let me know and I’ll be happy to help.

If you have further questions related to this issue, reply to this email and we'll be happy to help! For additional support on a different issue, you can always reach us at our Help Center.

Have a great day ahead!

Regards,

Mounika


2. Hi Kathleen,
Thank you for your question about verifying your business -Thunder Star Charter at 2124 Fremont Drive, Santa Rosa, California 95409-3036, United States

We have re-verified the listing on SEP 10 and is under pending review status.Please don't do any edits until the information goes live.If the issue still persists reach us out for assistance.Allow 24-48 hrs for the information to go live.

Note : If you are trying to do major edits on primary attributes(Business address,business name,category,website,contact number it might ask you to re verify the listing, you need to go ahead with verification process again by requesting for postcard)

The system has to review the information.it is completely judged by algorithms.If you do any edits later once it is verified, we cannot process the request till 6 months of placing the request for verification.

If you have further questions related to this issue, reply to this email and we'll be happy to help! For additional support on a different issue, you can always reach us at our Help Center.

You may receive an email survey regarding your interaction with GMB Support. We value your feedback.
Have a great day ahead!

Regards,

Mounika