Is a client's Crazy Video Call with Google Support for re-verification normal?

[TheRD]

I have a law firm client in Connecticut (ctinjurylawyers.com - the firm is Leighton, Katz & Drapeau LLC) that moved from Vernon, CT to nearby South Windsor, CT at the end of June. When we updated the GBP, it triggerd a video verification which uploaded successfully, but kept showing as pending. Eventually, the client arranged a video call for verification with Google Support and sent me this email afterward. I'm curious if this is normal? The whole section about service areas seems bonkers to me...

The client wrote:
"That was crazy… and it made absolutely no sense. I did the video call. They made me change the business name to mirror exactly what our sign says outside. Then they made me remove all the service areas completely “because we do not go to those areas.” When I said there are time we do have appointments outside the office, they said “show us the car that drives to those locations. We need to see the license plate.” I got a tad irate asking what my personal vehicle has to do with this. I also asked why we need to remove areas of the state that we cover, and it was “because customers go to you, you do not go to the customers.”

After a very highly frustrating and confusing live video call, apparently, we are verified and the address change will take effect in 24-48 hours."

Any insight here would be helpful to know about these restrictions going forward.

Thank you!

Leland

 

[willy_evans]

I think them saying “show us the car that drives to those locations. We need to see the license plate" is definitely unusual, but the other changes they requested are consistent with my experience.

It sounds like this support agent had a bit of a power trip. Glad you were still able to get the listing verified.

 

[keyserholiday]

I have a law firm client in Connecticut (ctinjurylawyers.com - the firm is Leighton, Katz & Drapeau LLC) that moved from Vernon, CT to nearby South Windsor, CT at the end of June. When we updated the GBP, it triggerd a video verification which uploaded successfully, but kept showing as pending. Eventually, the client arranged a video call for verification with Google Support and sent me this email afterward. I'm curious if this is normal? The whole section about service areas seems bonkers to me...

The client wrote:
"That was crazy… and it made absolutely no sense. I did the video call. They made me change the business name to mirror exactly what our sign says outside. Then they made me remove all the service areas completely “because we do not go to those areas.” When I said there are time we do have appointments outside the office, they said “show us the car that drives to those locations. We need to see the license plate.” I got a tad irate asking what my personal vehicle has to do with this. I also asked why we need to remove areas of the state that we cover, and it was “because customers go to you, you do not go to the customers.”

After a very highly frustrating and confusing live video call, apparently, we are verified and the address change will take effect in 24-48 hours."

Any insight here would be helpful to know about these restrictions going forward.

Thank you!

Leland

Service areas have no impact on rankings. Since you are showing the address, they are not needed. Google is becoming stricter with reinstatement.

 

[JoyHawkins]

This situation sounds normal to me. You wouldn't need service areas for a listing with a storefront (like a law firm) as there really is no purpose for it.

 

[JS Girard]

It sounds like this support agent had a bit of a power trip. Glad you were still able to get the listing verified.

My coworkers dealing with video calls have reported similar bull from support.

 

[TheRD]

Thanks for the responses, everybody. After a week, the account still showed as "needing verification." When I finally heard back from them as to why, they said "As we discussed on the video call, we asked that you not make any edits to your business profile. However, it appears that changes were made to your service areas, which now require you to re-verify your profile."

I checked with the client and they confirmed that they had added a service area for "South Windsor" the town where their office is located...and Google won't allow that. They re-verified on a live call again today and supposedly the account will be live in 24-48 hours.

Sheesh. I understand that service areas don't affect businesses with physical locations, but it seems odd that a business with a physical location CAN still use the service area option. It does seem intuitive that if you have a business with an office in S. Windsor, you'd select it as a service area. I'm just shaking my head at this issue...why doesn't Google make the feature inactive for some businesses?

 

[TheRD]

Ok, new wrinkle. The account is finally showing as verified, but all of the information that was on the account - reviews, photos, posts, any performance data - are all gone. It's like the entire account was reset. Is this something Google Support can restore?

 

[JS Girard]

Ok, new wrinkle. The account is finally showing as verified, but all of the information that was on the account - reviews, photos, posts, any performance data - are all gone. It's like the entire account was reset. Is this something Google Support can restore?

This sounds like a situation where the GBP was controlled by a different account and you had to "steal it" by revalidating it to get control.

IF the above situation is what happened, then all content added by the previous profile owner is irrecoverably gone. Because in that situation Google does the same content suppression it would do if the profile were liberated completely (either that or it goes briefly through a state of not having owner, triggering the same, but the results is what matters). This is why you should always try your best for a normal "transition of power".

As for the Reviews, this should be temporary. We run into it sometimes, though it's more common with with fusions or restoration. Give a couple days to a week and most of them should come back (you can expect a few losses as they seem to go back through the review filter first).