A blunder on Apple Maps might have hit a small Aussie business hard, costing them a bunch of cash. They wrongly tagged a Thai restaurant, Pum’s Kitchen, in Queensland, Australia, as “permanently closed” and messed up its location. Chris Pyatt, who runs the joint, got a shock when a regular asked why his place had shut down. Turns out, it hadn’t, and there were no plans to close shop.
ABC News reported that Pyatt found out about the Apple Maps blunder when someone told him his restaurant was listed as “permanently closed.” Pyatt mentioned, “We have no idea when this change went through,” but after digging deeper, he noticed a significant and sudden shift in customer behavior from the end of November through December.
Throughout that time, Pyatt noticed a substantial drop in business, amounting to about AU$12,000 ($7,877). “This is our livelihood,” emphasized the restaurant owner, who, along with his wife Pum, has been dedicated to the business for almost a decade.
They suggest that because they use Android smartphones and Windows PCs, they weren’t aware of the Apple Maps problem, stating that they “cannot see anything that’s on the Apple system at all.”
When he rang up Apple customer care, they supposedly told him they couldn’t assist because he wasn’t an Apple customer. Instead, they directed him to leave feedback online, but all he got in return was an automated message. And it’s not just businesses facing Apple Maps hiccups. Back in April 2023, a guy in Texas had a tough time because Apple Maps and Find My consistently led people to his home address, making him the target of repeated theft accusations.
Apple does permit businesses to be claimed through web browsers using Apple Business Connect, but Pyatt had some issues doing it with Microsoft Edge. It wasn’t until he switched to Google Chrome that he could submit the changes, but even after reaching out to the company for comment, the modifications weren’t reflected days later.
And it wasn’t just the incorrect closure notice that was causing trouble for the restaurant; they also noticed the location was off.