One business apparently lost hundreds of dollars due to the error in patronage.
As is the case with all other popular GPS applications, Apple Maps does more than just assist you in traveling from point A to point B. Additionally, it brings to light the landscape that surrounds you, regardless of whether you are on vacation, traveling through an unknown neighborhood, or settling into a new city. Due to the fact that small businesses are more dependent than large chains on the ability of their customers to “discover” new locations, this feature of Apple Maps is essential to the survival of small enterprises. You are unable to spend your money at a company if you are knowledgeable about that company.
However, what happens when applications such as Apple Maps provide an inaccurate representation of those businesses? It is possible that they will lose thousands of dollars in lost patronage, as demonstrated by a recent example. A couple in Queensland, Australia, discovered that their Thai restaurant had been tagged as “permanently closed” through a regular patron, as reported by ABC Sunshine Coast in Australia.
During an interview with ABC, co-owner Chris Pyatt stated, “We have no idea when this change went through.” However, we have observed a sudden and significant shift in the behavior of our customers near the end of November and throughout the entirety of December. We’ve observed a big decline of approximately twelve thousand dollars. (That approximately amounts to $7,877 in US money.) Pyatt attempted to amend the listing by contacting Apple, but the firm responded by stating that it was unable to assist him because he did not own any Apple products whatsoever. In the end, Pyatt was successful in opening an Apple business account online, asserting ownership of his company, and subsequently indicating that it was open. It was necessary to make the necessary adjustments when the listing for the Pyatts was moved to inaccurate GPS coordinates as a consequence of this.
When it comes to Apple Maps, the Pyatts are not the only business owners who have experienced difficulties with erroneous labels. There have been a multitude of entries on the Support Community forum of Apple claiming that businesses have suddenly changed their status to “permanently closed,” which has resulted in the loss of customers who may have otherwise supported those enterprises.
One post from 2021 states, “The clinic I work for is listed as permanently closed on Apple Maps; however, we are open and fully operational with our regular hours.” This indicates that the clinic is open and operating normally. “We are receiving calls from individuals who claim that they noticed that we were closed on Maps, and they are not showing up for their scheduled appointments. Our company is suffering as a result of it. Incorrect labeling, lost consumers, and difficulty amending affected Apple Maps listings are all issues that are reflected in posts that are similar to those from 2023.
There is a lack of clarity on the factors that lead to enterprises being classified as “permanently closed” when they are fully operational. It is expected that owners of businesses would be able to use Apple Business Connect to manage the listings of their organizations. Even so, there are proprietors who are unaware of the software, and there are others who discover it challenging to operate. According to one user on Reddit, their experience with Apple Business Connect has been so negative that they find themselves reporting problems with their listings far less frequently. Despite the fact that they prefer the user experience of Apple Maps over that of Google Maps, the business listing team of Google Maps typically reacts to error reports within minutes.