Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series about a local man who discovered fraudulent businesses in his own field and in the process of uncovering them, ran the risk of losing his family’s own business.
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After losing his company's Google business listing in May of 2023, Robert Rushing knew he had to act.
But the manager of Aledo Overhead Door, a family-owned and operated business, found himself in a difficult spot.
He had to prove that his five-year old company existed, while another “company” called Aledo Garage Doors and Gate, whose listed address turned out to be an empty field in Aledo, was allowed to advertise fraudulently and with seeming impunity.
The problem was, Rushing did not know exactly what to do.
"I had to kind of guess and see what the problem was, and in the process of trying to figure everything out, I ended up talking to a couple of companies," Rushing said. "In October, I had already spent the previous five months trying to get our listing reinstated, and wasn't getting anywhere, so I called a company out of New York that was supposed to help us get our listing reinstated.
“After explaining everything to them about what happened, and why we couldn't get our listing back, they went about reinstating the listing, but did it in the wrong manner.”
Though frustrated, Rushing was determined not to give up.
“From there, essentially, it led me to talk with a lot of other people from other companies,” Rushing said. “I ended up talking to the president of Steady Demand (Ben Fisher), which is the largest company that helps small businesses get their listings reinstated. I was told that if I had a sign made and take a picture of it, and then send it in along with a utility bill in the business' name, then that should be enough to get the listing reactivated."
It worked, and Rushing was informed that the timing of the loss of his listing also correlated with another significant event for Google.
"In May, when we lost our listing, he (Fisher) said it was no coincidence that took place, because in May Google outsourced all of their information for that department to India," Rushing said. "And in India, I don't think that have the same concept of how things work over here, especially when they saw my business didn't have a sign."
A total of seven months elapsed between the time that Aledo Overhead Door lost it's Google listing to the time it was reinstated, which happened right at the end of 2023.
"After getting the sign back in December, we were just hoping to get it reinstated by Christmas," Rushing said. "Christmas Eve came around, and we ended up getting our listing back."
It was a great relief for the Rushing family to have the listing reinstated, but Rushing said the incident took it's toll on he and his family.
"It was terrible in that I was frantically trying to do everything that I could to make sure we still had the same amount of business coming in, but also at the same time trying to communicate with people that don't really know how to communicate back,” Rushing said. “It was a really frustrating process that was highly-stressful, but I just kept pushing all the buttons I could to make it a better situation."
Rushing said it is difficult to determine how business was affected over the seven-month time frame, but said he does believe it had an impact.
"We were fortunate in that business stayed the same," Rushing said. "But I knew it should have been more, and that's the tough part, because it is not quantifiable. Before the listing was removed, we had started to see an increase in calls because of the growth in the area, but it just ended up plateauing.
“I knew it should have been more, and since we've gotten our listing back, we've been busier than we've ever been."
The matter is over from the standpoint of Aledo Overhead Door, but not quite for Rushing himself yet.
"It's closed in the respect that I don't have to worry about it anymore," Rushing said. "But I still am trying to figure out who actually did this. In the process, we were also able to get rid of the listing that was in the empty field...now we're the only thing that shows up in Aledo. That just happened two or three weeks ago."
Rushing said it bothers him that this could happen to a company like his and said he had some advice for other small companies to protect themselves.
"This seems to be more of a problem with businesses that are being run out of the home," Rushing said. "So if you have a storefront, the chances of having something like this happen are lower. If a business being run out of the home ends up getting flagged, the quickest, fastest solution is to print up a big sign, and get a utility bill in the business' name."
Rushing is happy to have this chapter of his life behind him, and hopes it serves a good cautionary tale for other small businesses.
But the Aledo man is certainly going to do his part to continue to help other small businesses by starting an organization called StopListingFraud.com.
“Our mission is to hold the people responsible for these fake listings accountable, create new laws that will hold Google and Apple accountable for allowing these fake listings to flourish and help small businesses across the country get this problem fixed for good,” Rushing said.
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