Summary:
My local Costco store has been there for years, the Google Maps / Google My Business entry for it was always 100% accurate and had reviews, photos etc that were for Costco. They started a Hertz van rental offering last year, someone decided to change the Costco entry to Hertz rather than add a new business that was located inside the existing. No matter what I do I can’t seem to change this.
I presume that whoever did this has taken ownership of the entry somehow, presumably someone at Hertz rather than Costco.
Link:
Actual Hertz at this location:
Problem:
All of the data for “Hertz” is for Costco, and quite rightly so. All the new images are for Costco, reviews are for Costco, if you Google “Costco Leeds” it brings up this “Hertz” entry.
Unfortunately because there wasn’t a named “Costco” any more people keep creating new ones so there are now several.
What Have I Tried?
- I’ve tried to edit the entry to correct things and put them back as they should be
I’ve done this in the app, I’ve done it on the website and my changes are never accepted, they generally “time out” eventually when it’s deemed that they can’t be verified.
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I’ve reported the issue to Google using the feedback option in Maps - I’ve been ignored.
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I’ve opened a case via Google 1 - they basically said they could do nothing to help.
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I’ve tried to ask other Local Guides in my area to try and edit the entry to see if multiple attempts to change to the correct info might have some impact. Nobody could influence it.
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I’ve contacted Costco to see if they can take ownership and correct the entry - they have ignored me despite me being a long standing member, frequent visitor to the store. Presumably as long as they have their own website with the info and the incorrect duplicates they are happy enough… or just don’t appreciate the impact a Google entry has on their business.
What Next?
This is why I’m posting here - I need guidance.
I can’t just let this go, it’s not how my brain works, it was all running perfectly and one individual has managed to screw it up to the point of nobody else seemingly being able to change it back.
Hertz has an entry setup correctly, I did it. Costco needs to go back to being Costco - how can this happen?
Click the links, it’s so obvious it’s Costco and not a van hire company operating from within a Costco store, it was always Costco… I can’t believe how many times I’ve typed Costco now… argh!
I fully appreciate that edits are taking longer to approve right now due to the current issues but I’ve been trying to sort this since last year.
Each time I visit it drives me insane and nobody seems to be able to help, how can I escalate this within Google or to someone with the power to change things to how they should be. It seems like a total no-brainer to me which frustrates me even more.
What I’m not asking for here is a generic “click this link on the map to report” type of answer, trust me, I’ve tried all the usual paths, what I need now is input from some kind of all powerful level 11 Local Guide or Google themselves… oh and some therapy, it’s making me far more annoyed than it has any right to 