WOW Bing LIVE Chat Support - Why Can't Google Local Offer This?

[Linda Buquet]

As I wrote the title: "WOW Bing LIVE Chat Support - Why Can't Google Local Offer This?" The answer immediately came to me - Because Google+ Local is so buggy a live support team 2000 strong could not keep up with it.

But still I wanted to share a Bing live chat customer service experience with you. Basically a consulting client of mine was able to get 2 locations manually verified over live chat RIGHT AWAY over at Bing.

My client, who wishes to remain anonymous due to fear of somehow being sandboxed by Google if her company name is shared wrote:

Two of our locations recently had address changes and I submitted those changes online through Bing. I waited for my 7-10 days to get the postcard from Bing with the PIN to verify my new address. After 10 days, I didn’t get the card, so I submitted again. Waited, still nothing, submitted again. Nothing.

So I went online today to submit yet AGAIN, but I saw this tiny, little “support” link at the bottom of the Bing Portal page, so I clicked on it and lo and behold, it went to a chat window. I thought, “yea, right”, like I’ll get a live person, but I gave it a try anyway.

Not only did I get a live person, but she was able to verify my listing manually and made the change. This took all of about 10 minutes. Now WHY can't Google support do this!?!?!

Here is a partial transcript of the chat log:

Klarisse: Thank you for contacting Bing Business Portal Support. My name is Klarisse and I’ll be assisting you today.
Business Owner: hello - Our office moved to a new location a few weeks ago. I have submitted that address change 3 times and I haven't rec'd a postcard yet. Can you help?
Klarisse: I'm sorry to hear about that. Let me help you out.
Klarisse: To check on this, can you give me the email address you used to
Klarisse: I was able to confirm your report and I do apologize for the inconvenience.
Klarisse: To speed up the process, let me verify the listing for you. To do that, all I need is a reply coming from [email address]. Do you currently have access to this account?
Business Owner: yes.
Klarisse: I did send an email to that account. It may take about a minute or two to reach your mailbox.
Business Owner: OK, just got it and replied.
Klarisse: I did receive your reply and I'm happy to inform you that I have manually verified your listing.
Business Owner: WOW!!! That's fantastic!
Klarisse: Please allow 3 to 5 business days for the changes to take effect in Bing.
Business Owner: not to be pushy, but I have another account that the same thing is happening, however, I've only requested the postcard twice. Can you help me take care of that??
Klarisse: Certainly!
Klarisse: Can you give me the email address associated with that listing?
Klarisse: I also verified the 2nd listing for you. Again, allow it 3 to 5 business days to update in Bing.
Business Owner: That is so great! Man, oh man, this "chat" feature beats your competition a million times over!! BING just proved it CAN be done!!! Thank you so much!
Klarisse: You're welcome. And thank you for your feedback. It makes us really happy to hear that.

I don't deal with Bing so was not aware of the live chat feature, were you?

 

[Colan Nielsen]

We have had to use it several times. Communication from BING staff is always clear and they are quick to solve problems.

We mostly use it when we need to claim a listing that has already been claimed somewhere else.

 

[Nick.SEOSpark]

Yeah, this is yet another example of some of the great things Bing are doing to compete with Google. The changes earlier this year to Bing Webmaster Tools is another (which is now fantastic and very comprehensive).

Yes, if only Google could have the same.

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

I use Bing chat extensively. I never have to wait that long and every issue is usually resolved within minutes. It's quite amazing.

Just a little tip...you can also you Bing chat to claim the listing (instead of waiting for the postcard). What I do is play dumb. I jump on Bing chat and I simply tell them I'm in the process of verifying my listing and I want to know how long it takes to get the postcard.

Every time they say they can help me claim it right there on the spot. You have to have access to the business owner's email address, however, because the rep will send you an email that you have to reply that you are indeed the owner.

I love Bing chat!

Travis Van Slooten

 

[JoeSweeps]

Yep! I used it last week to claim the 1st of our 3 listings on Bing. The tech sat there idle while I stepped thru the process. Then he signed off and sent me a follow up email with the transcript with a link to re-initiate the session anytime I want.

3 things about this: 1) yes the chat support is instant and useful. 2) the claiming process is simple, clean and thorough. I got to decide what my address and phone number are, along with the descriptive information. The NAP was right and looking up our other 2 offices also had the NAP right, with no duplicates. Google???? Take a lesson. 3) Rosy at Google's Local-support said, "We determine which
reviews to show, which reviews to remove, which reviews to remove. We do
not disclose internal practices and our decisions are non negotiable." That is a direct quote from Rosy's last email to me. A level of arrogance and I don't think I have seen since Microsoft owned the world in the mid-90's!

Let's hope Microsoft can drive the traffic to make these listings matter. Apple made it a little easier to compete with Yelp by screwing up their maps, but Yelp seems to be the real contender to consider. Maybe Bing and Yelp can make G+L seem to be the also-ran. All I can do is hope.

 

[Flash]

To be honest, I'm unimpressed. The first, because you're likely talking to people in the call centre I used to work in; and there's a reason I left.

The second, because it sounds like you could game this to verify anything and hijack listings. It will lead to a very degraded map.

The answer, I think, to why they can offer it and Google doesn't... because they are so far behind that they are willing to take a loss and throw more money at it then it makes for them. That is not a long term solution; it cannot stay that way.