Register with the TPS Telephone Preference Service, and if they call again report them to the ICO.

:-)

Or just tell them not to call you, I expect that could also work.

Part of the problem is that you have a business relationship with them, if you run Google Ads, so you cant stop them calling with the TPS. However, they are not doing themselves any favours if you've asked them to stop.

So they called me again yesterday.

Same attitude. They just try and bully you into making the changes they want. They don't listen and it ends in argument where I have to explain for 30 minutes why I don't want to make the changes.

I hung up on them again.

She rang straight back and I asked to speak to a manager. I wouldn't talk to her other than saying that she wouldn't listen to customers and to ask to speak to a manager. None available but one would call me straight back. I am still waiting, so I've filed a complaint this morning on their webpage.

Let's see what happens now.

Unfortunately, engine is right about the TPS and the ICO are so useless, they wouldn't do anything anyway.

PCink what sort of changes are they trying to get you to make?

Changes made include bidding strategy which has cost me a fortune over the weekend. I've changed this back and so far spent 35 minutes on the phone complaining to them about this. I asked if this respected my manual bids and was told yes. £1.22 per click is not close to £0.06.

Other changes I refused included tracking on call extensions because this advertises Google's phone numbers instead of mine. It also allows them to track and charge you for calls. I'd rather delete the extension.

They have tried to force me to add negative keywords to a campaign when I wanted to add them to a list so I don't have to duplicate the work on other campaigns which let to an argument where I just put the phone down after about 10 minutes of explaining why I didn't want to do it their way.

Further, they've tried to get me to change negative keywords from exact match to broad match. They are exact match for a reason yet once again they would not listen.

Google - "Do Evil".

[edited by: PCInk at 1:22 pm (utc) on Feb 4, 2019]

That's awful. It's as if they haven't got a clue, or are simply wanting more spend. It could be a bit of both, imho.

They never call me. I manage quite a few clients too.

I've spent over two hours on the phone to them today and got nowhere. Absolutely disgusting. Gone are the days when they were understanding, helpful and quick to respond.

...or are simply wanting more spend

That's it. But I've already moved some of that money over to Bing and will be moving more over now. If they want more spend, make it worthwhile for the customer.

They never call me

Hopefully it will stay that way for you.

The reps have "target changes" and likely bonuses tied to those targets. I imagine the targets are generated much the same way the "Recommendations" are generated in the google Ads account.
These changes are rarely beneficial to the advertiser in terms of business goals. They are almost always beneficial to google, both in terms of the revenue from the individual account and from the ecosystem as a whole.

The really sad thing is, many years ago discussions with the ad reps were wonderful, productive conversations.

I don't answer their calls or respond to their emails and I dread having to call their support line.

...were wonderful, productive conversations

I agree. Shame it hasn't remained the same.

...I dread having to call their support line

Same here. I've tried ringing the London, UK number but you can't get to speak to anyone.

The Ireland team were not always the best, however you could sort out issues in one phone call. Now it is India, the worst place in the world you can put a call centre as their reputation is so bad, there is no help at all.

Out of interest, I am calling from the UK and getting through to India. Is the US also being connected to India when you call?

The US Adwords help center is in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The team is very young and unfamiliar with their product in my experience. Unless you need admin assistance (read ad approval or billing issues) there is no reason to ever dial their number.

#HateGoogle

I wish they would hire me to come train them.