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I get all the good things Google Apps do. It's wonderful. Yet, until Google has a "contract with our users" that includes a level of customer service and huma
by rebootthesystem 10y ago
I get all the good things Google Apps do. It's wonderful. Yet, until Google has a "contract with our users" that includes a level of customer service and human conflict resolution I would not touch them with a ten foot pole.
Why? Because they could take it all away --and I do mean ALL-- overnight. Email, apps, etc.
I've seen many people run into the Google ban for reasons not more complicated than not being experts and using one of Google's tools in a way that triggers an algorithmic ban. And this doesn't have to have anything to do with fraud or scams.
Had one client, probably ten years ago, who moved all of his 200+ domains to a service Google introduced at the time called "Google for Domains". A domain parking service with ads inserted into the parked domains auto-magically by Google. Prior to that all of his domains were parked at GoDaddy, who used Google to stuff ads into the domains. As soon as the service was offered he figured it was a good idea to remove GoDaddy as the middle-man in that equation.
He transferred all of his domains. There was an approval process. All domains were approved overnight. Done deal. Right?
Wrong! Two days later Google sent him an email informing him that all of his Google accounts were now permanently suspended (aka: closed) with no recourse. Reason given: Unusual click activity on some of the domains parked with Google for Domains.
This guy ran (runs) a multi-million dollar manufacturing business. The very idea that he would sit there clicking on ads to earn a quarter of a cent per click is, well, stupid.
Anyhow, this one event cost him all of his Google tools. His email, calendar, contacts, apps and whatever else he was using at the time. No recourse. Not conversation with a human being. Nothing. Done. Puff. Evaporated.
Since that one event I have been of the opinion that using any of these Google tools for a business is, to put it plainly, stupid and dangerous. You could be betting the farm on a petulant algorithm and no customer service of any kind to protect you from it.
I still have Excel files from decades ago that I can open and manipulate today. Microsoft could go out of business and I could still open these files. And the software has never lacked functionality, either directly, through add-ins or programmability.
The bottom line for me is that if something is business-critical it isn't a good idea to rely on a service that could be yanked overnight (I do mean that literally). If Google had customer service and a human (and humane) process to deal with issues it would be a very different story. I don't want free stuff. We have tens of thousands of dollars invested in all kinds of software. I want stuff I can rely on because my businesses depend on it.
The only way you are going to have to security is if you pay for well supported software that has a team behind it who understand how important it is for a business to have the ability to wake up every morning knowing that the tools they come to rely on for their daily work won't evaporate overnight.
I truly don't care how many shinny new things, candy and chocolate Google throws on the table. Until they prove they understand this one point they represent a business-killing risk nobody should be willing to accept.
BTW, this is a problem with nearly all Internet giants. Facebook, Amazon and others are horrible companies from the standpoint of how they deal with their business customers.
- atmosx 10y agoI'm sure there are ways to automated the backup procedure. Most of these files are exported to known formats (doc/docx, xls, etc.). A quick Google search gave me[1], but I'm sure that this can be made via API calls and a lambda function running freely on AWS. [1] http://www.driveexport.com/ http://www.driveexport.com/
- markdown 10y agoThe experience described is no longer relevant. I've gotten (phone!) calls from Google within minutes of posting for help, and I live in a tiny nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In my experience Google provides amazing service for tools that you are paying for. If you're using Google Suite/Apps to access your sheets, you should be just fine. > I want stuff I can rely on because my businesses depend on it. Well we're talking about using Google spreadsheets as a backend for an app. It should go without saying that this wouldn't be a mission-critical use.
- victorhooi 10y agoIn terms of your anecdote about your client's experience - I can't speak to this, as I'm not directly familiar with this "Google for Domains" service and I don't have enough details from your post to comment. However, I can assure you that Google definitely has a customer support department - I work with them every day =). Also - it's important to distinguish between the free products we offer - and the paid products - where you actually give us money. In the latter case, there is nearly always a customer support hotline, and in many cases, a binding SLA agreement. I work in Google Cloud, on the support organisation side of things - and I can confirm there is definitely phone support (along with chat and email), we do have SLAs on all of our products and you are definitely speaking to a human. It's not particularly hard to reach a person - either go through your admin panel (https://admin.google.com https://admin.google.com - click the big question mark), or all of our 24/7 support numbers for each country are right there on the website: https://support.google.com/a/table/3247295?hl=en https://support.google.com/a/table/3247295?hl=en That's on the business side. On the consumer side, the phone numbers shouldn't be too hard to find either on a search e.g.: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7100415?hl=en&ref_topic=3364260 https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7100415?hl=en&r... My own anecdote - several years ago before I started with Google, I subscribed to Google Play Music - I accidentally un-favourited a track once, and I couldn't find a way to find it again. So on a whim I rang Google Play Music support, and went straight to a person within seconds. She was very friendly, and tried to help me find the history - unfortunately it wasn't there, but the customer service was pretty damn good - a heck of a lot better than all of my experiences with several un-named mobile phone and broadband companies. (Hint: I'm in Australia) Disclaimer: I work for Google.