Local Search Group / Business Listing Center = Idiots with Stupid Deceptive Business Practices.

August 25th, 2023

If you are receiving automated calls from someone claiming they work for Google or that they can negatively affect your Google business listing(s), you might wish to question that company’s motivation and ethics. Local Search Group today has really ticked me off with their lying, scheming, and bothersome tactics.

The following occurred today. I have had to almost 2 hours and 30 minutes to try to deal with this today. This is NOT the way I wish to start my day.

This business, [Local Search Group], is involved in DECEPTIVE and ILLEGAL BUSINESS PRACTICES. At 9:20 AM, I received an AUTOMATICALLY DIALED CALL prior to my business opening times. The automated caller left a voicemail message threatening that my Google Business Listing would be negatively affected if I did not call them back. The following is a transcript of that phone call:

“Hello, this is the Business Listing Center calling with an Urgent message. Your business listing has been flagged for review! If you are the business owner, please call us at 866-493-8165 to verify your business with Google. If your Google account is not verified properly, customers searching for your services on Google WILL NOT FIND YOUR LISTING. Please call 866-493-8165 to speak with a live representative to confirm your Google Listing Verification.“

To me, that sounds like this company, The Business Listing Center, can affect my Google Business Profile or its Listing Status in Google Search Results. So, I called the number.

Cameron, or someone claiming to be Cameron, answered the phone. He didn’t identify the company he was working for at first. He asked for the name of my business and my phone number. I asked him who he was, the name of his company, and what they do. The conversation became ugly right from the start. Eventually, Cameron says that he works for Local Search Group. Later, he would admit that he does not work for Google and cannot affect my Google listings in Google. He kept denying that he called me and that he had no idea what I was talking about.

However, Cameron answered the phone as if all he does all day long is field incoming calls generated by an Automated Dialer. I asked him if he could see the number I was calling from. He said Yes and called it out. I asked him if his company had any information for that number. He looked it up and stated that I had 2 business listings currently in Good Standing using that number. Because I had 2 listing, yes, his verification department may have called me to clarify the listing or to let me know something was wrong with the listing.

Again, I asked him if he worked for Google or had the ability to affect my listings. He said “Not without my authorization.” Several times I told him that he does not have my authorization and I tried to reconfirm that he has no capability to affect my Google listings or their rankings in search engines. I asked him to REMOVE my information from his companies’ records, to stop calling me, and make sure that his company never again dials my number threatening me with the ability to affect any listing that I may have.

At first, he said he would comply and remove my information. By the end of the call, he was lying again. He said he HAD NOT removed my information. I asked to speak to someone else. He refused. I asked him for his legal business address. He gave me an address in Belmont, NC close to my personal residence. I asked him over 3 times for his company’s legal business address. Every time he just kept spouting off the residential address near me. I did a search for Local Search Group. It has the address of 17515 Spring Cypress Rd Suite C – 579, Cypress, TX 77429. I read that address off to him. I asked if that is where he was located? He said Yes (potentially another lie). I asked again. He spouted off the Belmont address. I told him that my attorneys would be in contact with him. As we hung up, under his breath, he said that was the wrong address.

I do not appreciate the tactics being used by this business. NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO CONTACT ME AND THREATEN TO DESTROY SOMETHING OF MINE, to RUIN MY BUSINESS, or MY REPUTATION. I will not stand for it. This company is going to remove my information from their records, and they are going to leave me alone. They are not going to dial my number ever again. IF THEY DO, I will charge them $500 per incident and $1000 per incident if they continue to harass me or cause me to invest my time to try to determine if they are legitimate or not.

I’m posting this on my website TOO for all to See!

I tried to leave the above business review of Local Search Group moments after my call back to the number I was told to dial ended. Although I was already logged into Google when I located the review, upon trying to submit the review, I was asked to login again and verify via my phone that it was me making the review. I did that correctly, but GOOGLE refused to accept the review and kept telling me that “something went wrong, please try again later.” I tried about 5 times. Same thing. So, I went ahead and posted this page to my website. THIS IS WHERE IT WILL REMAIN. I will try one last time after posting this page to get the business review to post on Google Reviews. If it fails, I’m not going to worry about it. But again, For Your Information, you should be aware of the deceptive, bothersome, advertising tactics of these 2 companies (if they are 2 different companies). I hereby BLACKLIST them both and they will not be used by me where I have any say so about it. I will continue to share my experience with others regarding their behavior. I have already relayed this story to a business client who called me while I was trying to file the review on Google.

If the review is accepted, I will post a link to it right here:

If you have received similar treatment from either of these 2 businesses, I encourage you to leave your review on Google, if it will let you. I am closing comments on this post because I do not want my site filled up with what other people think regarding this topic. Make your own decision on whether or not to do business with Local Search Group and Business Listing Center. I chose not to do so and THEY ARE GOING TO STOP bothering me I’m going to keep on billing them until they are BROKE!!!

Google better get their act together too, or they are next!!!

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