Marks & Spencer phone number listed on Google belongs to South Wales family

Richards family inundated with calls from Marks Spencer customers
Family’s home number is listed on Google as being superstore’s number
Father owns firm called MS Security Systems – causing confusion online
Family say they are being driven ‘up the wall’ by constant calls about store opening times, job possibilities, and people checking if goods are in stock

Emma Glanfield for MailOnline

Published:
10:35 GMT, 12 November 2015

|
Updated:
12:02 GMT, 12 November 2015

View
comments

A family has been inundated with nuisance phone calls from Marks Spencer customers because Google lists a local store as having their telephone number.

The Richards family are being flooded with calls from shoppers trying to get in touch with the recently opened superstore in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, because their home number pops up in Google by mistake.

Martin Richards runs a small security firm called MS Security Systems from his home but people searching on Google for ‘MS phone number’ get his instead of the new Marks Spencer store.

The Richards family are being flooded with calls from shoppers trying to get in touch with Marks Spencer in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, because their number pops up in Google by mistake. When a searcher types ‘MS Merthyr Tydfil phone number’ into Google, the family’s number appears along with their home address (above)

The family are being hounded with calls about store opening times, job possibilities, and whether or not it will be stocking Christmas trees.

Mr Richards’s wife Karen, 50, admitted the round-the-clock calls have been driving them ‘up the wall.’

She said: ‘We’ve had constant phone calls wanting to know when they’re opening, can we put them through to the children’s department, are they selling Christmas trees, what times it opens, and how do they go about getting a credit card.’

Shopper ‘gobsmacked’ to see MS staff removing trolley-loads…

Lidl goes posh with new look – that’s just like Waitrose!…

We all stood up to yobs – and lived to regret it: More…

That really is fowl! Family discover their £4.50 Tesco…

The name mix-up has seen the home phone ringing constantly since the store opened two weeks ago.

When a searcher types ‘MS Merthyr Tydfil phone number’ into the search engine, the Richards family’s home number appears at the top of the results along with their home address and a picture of their street.

But when ‘Marks and Spencer Merthyr Tydfil phone number’ is typed in, their number is not listed.

Marks Spencer has apologised for the error but said it has no control over Google listings or other websites.

The family are being hounded with calls about store opening times, job possibilities, and whether or not it will be stocking Christmas trees from shoppers who are trying to get in contact with MS in Merthyr Tydfil (above)

The Richards family’s home number appears at the top of the Google results when searchers look for ‘MS phone number’, along with their home address and a picture of their street in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales (pictured)

Mrs Richards added: ‘I’m a bit wary about answering the phone.

‘I’ve phoned the head office of MS and they said they can only go by what is on their web page.

‘We’re getting a bit irate now. Weekends are worst. The phone is going on until 10pm.

‘I must admit that half the time I don’t answer it.’

A spokesman for Google said it was investigating and hoped to have the issue resolved imminently.

An MS spokesman said: ‘We are sorry to hear about the inconvenience this has caused Mr and Mrs Richards.

‘We are looking into this with Google and hope to have the issue resolved as soon as possible.’