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I bet your Amazon rep just searched for Reolink and clicked on a Google ad that happened to belong to the scammers.

Well this initiated a rant, not directly related to ads, but Google in general. This is an internet literacy issue I’ve noticed more and more. People will refer to Google listings as an authoritative source even if the data comes from some third party.

“Is this Jordan’s Tiles?”

“No. This is Patrick. You have the wrong number.”

“It says on their website this is the number!”

“Their website is wrong, this isn’t Jordan’s Tiles.”

more argument with me just hanging up because they’re clueless (someone even had the audacity to ask me what the number was for Jordan’s Tiles like I’m their personal assistant)

And finally I went on Google and searched for Jordan’s Tiles. There my number was on the listing and on a third party source. The right number was on the lower ranking Jordan’s Tiles website. They were so argumentative about being so wrong, it was outside of their ability to understand that the internet can and does give you the wrong information.

Wrong opening hours on Google is a niggle for me. And having been on the other side of the equation, changing the hours Google says a business is open is not always straightforward.

whoa, dude, language

Not sure if you're joking, but the etymology of this word does not appear to be racist. According to [0], it derives from the same root as "niggardly", which according to [1], is unrelated to the racial epithet.

[0]: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/niggle [1]: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/niggard#English

This is a great opportunity for you to learn more English language.

Yeah, you hear about this with the people who get taken in by Grubhub or whoever that's spoofing a restaurant's phone number/ordering site. I would never take a third-party source as authoritative, but apparently people do it.

I never take restaurant phone numbers directly off of Google, I always check their (hopefully existent) website before calling, or at least crosscheck it against other sources. There is no way Grubhub or any of the other mediating greedholes will get even Caller ID data from me if I can help it.

Related. Finding real locksmiths has become so difficult that I have resorted to calling a business across the street and asking them to tell me if there is, in fact, a locksmith at the purported location.

Maybe there is a business in physically verifying a given business is the actually the real thing.

KeyMe are one of the perpetrators of this shady practice. They have vending machines for keys and put them all over the place and then their machines show up when you search for a locksmith. If you call the number their rep will act as middleman to connect you with an actual locksmith and they take a cut.

I've decided I will do my searches through https://www.findalocksmith.com/ which is from the associated locksmiths of America

Google used to send a postcard to a business address before adding a listing (in UK at least). Do they not do that now?

Wait until you find out that Grubhub and ilk have been known to prop up fake websites for places.

When a small guy does something like this it's called fraud and heavily punished. When a VC-funded company does this it's called "growth hacking" and applauded.

Grubhub et al promoting their own phone number as a restaurant's is exactly what I'm talking about.

Go to the right address in person. If you have no real-life connection with the restaurant, or any restaurants, give up and take what you get.

Honestly, how do you know what the right number is though? Everybody outsources their stuff. The real website is at jordans-eatery.outsourcedsite.com. Or maybe the guy at jordans-eatery.seo.com is taking calls and placing orders to the real site at a markup. Or maybe the real number is on jordans-eatery.com. Or maybe it's none of those.

Easy, go to the restaurant in person and order takeout or dine in if you want. On your way out ask them what their official website and phone number are. Then you can put them on your "safe to order from' list

I order all the time from a restaurant with a distinctive name and menu near me. They might have their own website, but their real website is one of these outsourced menu ordering things.

Last time I went to order, I looked up their name, went to the page by that name on the known third party menu site, ordered my usual order from their usual menu, only to discover after the charge went through that a scammer had copied their name and entire menu onto a new restaurant on the same site.

Called immediately to cancel the order (why doesn't the site have that option??) and the woman on the phone feigned ignorance. A few minutes later a gruff man called me back and told me I wouldn't be getting a refund. Not sure what I said to convince him, but maybe enough threats and he decided to change his tune.

The scammers are running the asylum.

Sure, and I agree that this is really the only way, but also isn't super practical for a lot of things.

Apple Maps from my experience is quite bad about this. I know of one city where it happily provides the locations of four DHL counter locations even though there is only one. Numerous other store locations on Apple Maps also often do not exist, so however they are sourcing their data is full of errors or outdated information.

I've had that happen to me as well - person finds a wrong number online someplace, calls me, and then is mad at me that I am not who they are looking for...go figure.

Had this happen to me when I was in IT. I got a cold transfer of an angry customer who wanted to talk to a guy who had a very similar name. I told the customer that they wanted the other guy, I was in the wrong department, and they wouldn’t believe me. They said “I know it’s you from yesterday, I recognize your voice!” How was I supposed to argue against that?? Eventually I convinced them and did a warm transfer to the correct guy. We do have similar voices…

"Call Google. Ask for Sundar."

I think this might just be a people thing? I've had the same experience (some one calling for the YMCA, I inform they have the wrong number, they proceed to argue and berate me) but they probably just misdialed.

Not that I don't also feel like Google search results have gone down hill.

My friend booked one international flight with departure and destination having 12+ hours timezones difference. The email listed the departure time & duration of journey and arrival time, all in local times (as expected). Gmail auto creates an event about flights and hotel bookings, and thus shows the correct departure time, duration & then that AI simply added that duration to departure, and showed departure city's time flight lands. Wrong. My friend, no blame, believed it; until I pointed it out.

i'm confused, what's wrong there? event starts at departure time and goes for duration. the arrival time is correct, and can be reported in any time zone.

Sorry for not being detailed in my comment. Or i might have butchered. I will simply explain with numbers.

Email said, flight departs 31st March 9pm.

Flight duration 15 hours.

Flight reaches Apr 1st. 9pm. No indication of timezones, but as super common in flights, all times are local. Both cities have about 12 hour difference.

Google thought Departure 31st March (correct);

Duration 15 hours (correct).

Arrival Apr 2nd, 12pm. (Not correct, it added 15 hours duration to Arrival city time. Apr 1 9pm + 15 hours = this).

“It says on their website this is the number!”

"What do you think is more probable: that the website is wrong or that I don't know who I am?"

That is one of those situations where the right move is to leave an uncomfortable silence so they can think about what they said.

I responded with almost that word for word once on one of these calls. They made some angry sounds and hung up!

You should have spun up gour own tile business, preferably just dropshipping from the real Jordan’s Tiles!

The SEO thing sucks, I notice it like if you're trying to find a tow truck, it'll be some call center that then directs you to an actual tow truck nearby with their cut added to your cost.

you've got caller and callee flipped

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