I agree, you can easily fake the accounts and it’s a really pain trying to get in contact with anyone to sort errors out.

Google Maps UK is like the Wild West.

That in-the-know businesses can fill the entire visible map results with fake or other people’s listings linking to their one central sales operation is staggeringly bad. They use a P.O. Box address, fake business names, variation on phone number, whatever. Despite the fact that they clearly flaunt Google Local guidelines, in the UK nothing is done by Google.

Equally as bad, anyone can write a damning fake review on your business record, whether you yourself have put your business into Google Maps or whether it was there already, and there is little you can realistically do to get that review removed. You can’t talk to anyone at Google. Emails and messages are ignored. You have no “right of reply” next to the review (as you do, for example, in TripAdvisor). One day, Google will catch up, but in the meantime your rule-breaking competitors laugh all the way to the bank.

Does Google not realise how bad all this makes THEIR business look?

Some other company is doing it as well..searchingall.co.uk‎…when you type”tickets” into Google Maps
with M1 as the default location, they come up under “Coldplay Tickets” using a M1 PO BOX number.
As you can see from their site, they are nothing but a bunch of links to eBay, all with affiliate URLs embedded in them.

High time Google local was cleaned up. Check this out for spam….

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=tickets&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=tickets&hnear=Manchester,+Lancashire+M1&view=text&ei=0EX3Sv7mB6LNjAeAvLDVCQ&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=more-results&resnum=7&ved=0CDEQtQMwBg