Boutique blueberry farmers finally back on the map after Apple bungle

Nestled on a lane at the foot of the Scotsburn Hills of western Victoria is a small, family-run blueberry farm called Thistleberry Farm — however that hasn’t always been the case, at least not according to Apple Maps.

For at least the past week the farm, run by Laura Ridout and her husband Robert Klumpp, was wiped off the map.

The lane that leads to her farm gate was missing and her business was listed as “temporarily closed”.

Ms Ridout only discovered the change when a lost and confused customer brandished her iPhone in dismay.

“Honestly, it felt crushing,” she said.

“We’re a really small business and this is all new to us.

“It’s scary enough as it is without having a giant corporation that I’m not even a user of wipe us off the map.”

After days of frustrating back-and-forth with Apple’s technical team, Ms Ridout contacted the media. 

Some issues were subsequently resolved and her street is now again visible on the map, but there’s more to be done. 

Ms Ridout said she wouldn’t consider the matter finished until she had the ability to control her hours on the app to show customers when the farm gate was open. 

“You need to show that you’re a serious business, that you are available when you say you are, especially when you’re in a rural location,” she said.

Hard to find

Ms Ridout and her husband started their farm outside Ballarat, around an hour and a half from Melbourne, in 2020.

The blueberry picking season near Ballarat is short, running from Christmas to the end of February.

So having a major retailer telling her customers that the business was temporarily closed was more than a slight annoyance for Ms Ridout.

“It’s just bloody ridiculous. I feel helpless like I’ve been taken hostage,” she said. 

“I’m angry at the fact that some massive corporation has the right to essentially wipe me off the map like I don’t matter.

“Small business matters, especially in rural Australia, and to have some bloody US Corporation come in here and just take me off the map like I don’t exist, and then just run me around in circles.”

And it turns out she’s not alone. 

Businesses across Australia have reported their hours being changed without consultation by Apple.

A quick google search returns hundreds of posts on Apple Forums, as well as sites like Reddit and Quora, from business owners experiencing similar issues.

Ms Ridout said she had spent multiple days trying to rectify the issue with different Apple technicians and had uploaded multiple documents — only to have her requests rejected.

She said there had been days where the stress and frustration had driven her to tears.

“My husband’s been left alone to manage the farm on his own, and that’s a lot, and a lot of stress,” she said.

Harder to fix

Ms Ridout said this public holiday long weekend meant it was imperative the issue was fixed as soon as possible.

“I’ve got no idea how many customers haven’t bothered turning up because they checked their phone and it says we’re closed,” she said. 

The ABC approached Apple for comment but they were not available to speak directly to the issue. 

It is understood that after being contacted the business listing for Thistleberry Farm was changed. 

Instead of being temporarily closed, it now has no hours listed.

The laneway to the farm, which is shared with another property, was not visible on Wednesday morning.

By Wednesday afternoon, it was visible in the application. 

“People don’t want to drive out [to Scotsburn] to be disappointed,” she said.