Likelihood of Redressal Complaint Approved

[BWrightTLM]

I’m curious your thoughts on how common it is for a complaint through the Redressal Complaint Form to get approved. To be more specific, this is a service area business that had a verified address at an auto parts store and they are in the moving and storage industry.

Not sure if it helps, but I can provide the case number if needed.

 

[WesM]

Hi, @BWrightTLM -

The redressal form works well, it's just a matter of Google's backlog (delay) and the circumstances of the listing that's being reported. It's recommended you provide all the details in the notes section of the form, as many people experience lackadaisical results, which is often tied to being too shallow in your explanation. I'd recommend stating everything you've shared here, but with the links to the profiles and site. You can also share image uploads, which will actually remain private with Google, unlike if you were to attach a photo in the self-edit option on the listing directly.

Google's front of the line workers are hit and miss on understanding their own policies and violations, so you might have to try a couple of times, but I wouldn't expect them to address it any sooner than a couple of weeks minimum. In the notes, state something along the lines of:

"This business on GMB is a Service Area Business, but the GMB listing is classified as a public-facing location with staff and sales office. That is not the case, as you can see it's a home with no signage, no office, no full-time staff to meet with customers, and so on. Additionally, it's categorized incorrectly as an auto parts store when they're actually in moving and storage. Please correct this listing by making it a proper SAB (without address present) and update the category."

I'd then note the Case ID, as if you have to file it again, it can be helpful to know exactly which ID goes with which report and listing.

Does that help at all or did I basically rehash what you already tried? Let me know and I'll proceed appropriately.

Good luck!
Wes

 

[BWrightTLM]

Hey @WesMichy thank you for the reply. It does help and gives me an idea of how long to wait for a response. I've done most of what you have already mentioned, but I do think I could have added more details in the "notes" section. I'll remember to share more in-depth details next time.

 

[WesM]

Hi, @BWrightTLM. Sorry for my delay in reply. I just wanted to let you know that Google's team will NOT notify you either way from a redressal form. You'll have to manually check in on the listing to see if anything has happened. As a heads up, we're regularly seeing reported listings go untouched by Google Support for several weeks, as they're perpetually backlogged due to the abundance of spam listings on their platform. If you go 3-4 weeks and nothing has happened yet, I'd rereport it using a Google Drive document (there's an attachment field on the redressal form) and be certain your document settings are open to anyone with the link and they have edit permissions. Anyway, my point is you can check the viewer history and that will let you know if someone outside of yourself has looked at the document (ie a Google employee). Just note each time you open it, so you can log your openings vs any of Googles. If you see they opened it and nothing was done, that's indicative of them seeing something you don't (making the listing actually legit) or they didn't see enough to correct it. It's minimal, but it at least lets you know that they saw it.

Good luck and come back to the forum if you have more questions. Thanks!

 

[Chris Barnard]

Great idea @WesMichy, thanks for that lil diddy - just re-submitted one yesterday. Also seems like a lot of spammy listings are back (empirical only).