Google Business Profile disappeared or deleted

Recap: 

- On 11/14/24 my 51yo home services business (HVAC) with 750+ reviews somehow had its Google Business Profile (GBP) deleted. Every day of being deleted from Google can cost 10's of thousands in revenue.

- I opened multiple support cases with Google and was stuck in a loop because I could not go through the Appeal Tool to select the business whose deletion I was appealing since the business no longer existed to select from the tool's dropdown.

- On 11/18/24 I had a marketing agency partner schedule a Google Meet meeting ($40) with a Small Business Advisor from Google. This individual gave the standard disclaimer that they were unable to change or reinstate a profile or do anything technical, but that they had some limited visibility into the timeline of the deletion and even who (which GBP owner) deleted it. They also helped me open a new support case under the guise of 'Changed business name not showing up,' which is at least a support case type that doesn't have a dead end and can usually get real human support. 

- I recognized the email that Google showed to have deleted the profile and dug deeper with that individual, a close business contact and friend who had not been in my GBP for over a year. It just so happened that the week that my GBP was deleted off of Google, that individual had made some structural changes to one of their email accounts (not even the one that showed as having deleted my GBP), and this somehow triggered a sequence of events that deleted my GBP (from completely outside of the GBP settings/management). We hypothesize that one email that they intentionally deleted was a connected alias to the email that showed as responsible for deleting my GBP. Both emails were connected to my GBP in some form. *Be very careful in deleting or dropping emails that could be an Owner or Manager in your GBP account.

- The support case was going slow and was only via email communication while I pleaded for a phone call from the support team. I kept an earpiece in my ear all day to not run the risk of missing a call from them. On 11/18/24, I did receive 2 calls from a California Google number that would light my phone up for a fraction of a ring and then drop. This was salt on the wound and its a number that you cannot call back.

- Now getting pretty desperate, and after reading others' horror stories of never getting their GBP back, or starting all over, or Google's protocol to delete all data from a deleted GBP after 20 days... I decided to try a hail mary and look for Google Business Profile Product Managers on LinkedIn to see if I could get the case escalated. Of the 3 I tried, one got back to me on 11/19/24 and magic happened. They replied that they would have the case escalated and that a representative would reach out shortly. I received a call from that same California number and this time I was able to pick up the call. The representative said that they should be able to reinstate my GBP, reviews, review responses, content, etc within 24-48 hours. 

- Well, in about 48 more hours, we did get the GBP back online! However, the 750+ reviews were still missing. I did my best to hold my breath, but as another day went by, I messaged the contact I had made through LinkedIn. They again nudged their support team and the original representative that I had the phone call with emailed saying they were opening a separate case for the 'missing reviews' team and it could be another 24-48 hours but not to worry, they would restore my reviews. 

- On 11/23/24, 9 days after going dark, we are back!! It is hard to describe the gravity and emotional rollercoaster of this experience. I share all this in case it can help another business owner not lose everything they've worked so hard for. 

I have been pointing out this issue and advocating for Google to make changes. This is definitely not the way things should work. I've also discussed this with my fellow PEs and I am warning other business owners about this.

Thanks again for going into the details here,