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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Zoe Wood

Google listed my restaurant’s number as its British HQ

Contacting Google in the UK? You may get a restaurant instead.
Contacting Google in the UK? You may get a restaurant instead. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Four years ago, Google mistakenly published my restaurant business’s details, including the phone number and address, in the search results for “how to contact Google in the UK”.

At first I got just a few calls from people trying to get through to it but now I receive up to 300 a week, including on my personal mobile, as well as messages and letters. I have more than 130 voice messages.

I feel obliged to answer each call because it might be a potential customer. This situation is leaving me tired and anxious and has turned running my business into a nightmare. I have made numerous attempts to contact Google but no one ever gets back to me.

DI, London

You want customers to be able to find your restaurant on Google not instead of Google, and this listing error has resulted in several years of unnecessary harassment.

When I first contacted Google, it advised that you use the “feedback” button, which appears at the bottom of search results. When I suggested this, you wearily replied that you had done that many times over and got precisely nowhere. So I went back to Google, and this time it investigated.

Google says: “We’ve analysed the issue in line with our search policies and taken action, and can confirm that this telephone number will no longer appear for this query.”

You are relieved that the Google calls have finally stopped, and grateful for my help, but feel it could have at least offered an apology for the bother you have suffered.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.

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