After a Maryland couple’s house was mistakenly marked on Google Maps as a 24-hour marijuana dispensary, strangers rang the doorbell both day and night in the hopes of picking up marijuana.
Despite the homeowners’ best efforts to persuade them that they are not a cannabis shop, the steady stream of would-be stoners captured on camera continued for weeks.
This is the story of how the couple battled to have the listing taken down.
In April, Edd Beavers and his wife started having problems at their Laurel house. People began to arrive at all hours of the day. They can be seen on their doorbell camera on video.
“The first one was just before midnight, and we had no idea, so it was very scary,” Beavers stated.
Beavers, who is in a wheelchair, watched the camera’s live broadcast in fear as stranger after stranger arrived. Many of them appeared as perplexed as he did.
The first time, he claimed, “The scary part, the first time, was people peering through the windows to see what they could see. We had no idea what was going on.”
Strangers who had paid online for gummies and other cannabis treats and had arrived to pick them up turned out to be customers rather than misplaced delivery drivers. According to Google Maps, the Beavers’ home address is Green House Gass, a 24-hour marijuana shop.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Beavers stated.
He claimed that after two weeks, he filled out form after form, called the police, and Google, but nothing changed either online or at his door.
How, then, did Beaver’s residential address end up being confused with a dispensary?
The Beavers’ house was identified as the storefront for a phony cannabis website created by a scammer.
A few unhappy consumers left harsh reviews.
Reviews characterized them as “scam,” “do not trust,” and “they expect you to pay without receiving a single thing.”
Beavers claimed he was terrified for his safety after the encounter.
“They think, ‘Well, this is a cannabis dispensary. They got money.’ They’ll come here and rob the place,” he stated.
He eventually put up a sign warning people that they had been duped.
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“This is not a dispensary. Google has scammed you with a wrong address. File a complaint with Google,” it stated.
Someone using an online Telegram account to pretend to be James, the manager of the dispensary. He was informed that it is a private property, but he claimed that the address was accurate.
In response to a request for documentation of a Maryland dispensary license, which is mandated by law, “James” sent a screenshot of what looked to be a medical marijuana identification card and a purportedly Department of Defense document pertaining to military leave in the United States – singular – of America.
Police noted that since there was no crime in Laurel, Google needed to address the problem. Other than police visiting the Beavers’ house and filing a report, there was no investigation.
Beavers expressed his relief that the commotion is finally over.
