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I created a small ad campaign to advertise a side project. The projects makes no money, has no plan for monetization, does not use passwords. The only personal

I created a small ad campaign to advertise a side project. The projects makes no money, has no plan for monetization, does not use passwords. The only personal data it collects is an email address. I bought $50 worth of ads using my credit card. My account was immediately suspended for suspicious payment. I appealed, noting the card was mine, and I bought the ads. The appeal was rejected. I have occasionally tried to resubmit the appeal, but it says "please wait 3-5 business days before submitting a new appeal." I wait more than that and get the same message. I've called Google to try to talk to them. However, once it asks for my contact information, it tells me that they cannot talk to me because my account is suspended. It's a circular nightmare. I currently do not needs ads so it's not a hardship. But it is extremely frustrating. EDIT: One irony is that it is the same card I use to pay for my other Google services, linked through the same payment backend. They have no issue charging that card for my other services. But for Ads, it's suspicious. Who knows.

sqlpipe 4y ago
"I've called Google to try to talk to them"... Currently contemplating this, but am certain it will leave me with a feeling of "well, I'll never get that 30 minutes back"
- pocketsand 4y ago
  To their credit, the automated system told me I was banned and couldn't talk to anyone until I got unbanned, so I never got anyone on the phone.
  - zelphirkalt 4y ago
    Sounds like a good ol' curfew pass A38.
    - lamontcg 4y ago
      Sounds like someone forgot to fill out the form twenty seven B stroke 6.
- shaky-carrousel 4y ago
  Google has reinvented Soviet bureaucracy.
  - ugjka 4y ago
    And they are in a position to suppress complaints via their search
- lwkl 4y ago
  The support reps are nice and will talk to you but can't do much. My experience has been the following: I have Google One and it annoys me that the new Drive client automatically adds a shortcut to my favorites in Finder and Explorer everytime I restart my computer. Google has been made aware of this a year ago according to threads in their product forums from about a year ago (they have thousands of upvotes). They haven't done anything about it and I haven't heard any feedback from the request that the support rep forwarded to the product team. So from my POV it looks like they have support staff that answers to your request, but they have basically no power in the company and can't make any decisions. They probably send their request into a void where they get ignored. My guess is that the only way to work with Google as a business is to buy their services over a major partner that generates tens of millions in revenue per year and has a personal relationship with account managers at Google.
Beltalowda 4y ago
Did they take the $50 or was the payment rejected? And did you get the money back if they took it?
- pocketsand 4y ago
  I do not believe the payment was ever attempted. If I remember right, I approved a max spend budget, put in payment details, and then the account was immediately suspended before anything could be charged as the ad campaign never ran.
grwthckrmstr 4y ago
Can confirm had the same issue. Begged someone in their team for 2 weeks to help until they did.
avipars 4y ago
For whatever reason, if you post and it goes viral on twitter or reddit they tend to notice and comply....
- BizarroLand 4y ago
  Be required to burn your 15 minutes of fame to get a reply from a company whose services you're paying for isn't worthwhile.
  - teachrdan 4y ago
    OP has just invented "Proof of Grief", a new way to mint crypto. Burn one to get an actual human being at Google to help you with a problem that they themselves caused for you. The demand for this coin is basically unlimited.
    - winkeltripel 4y ago
      This makes me want to make a startup which is a customer service arm for google. It runs a 2-sided marketplace to pay real google employees who can help with users who need their accounts unlocked/etc. It would have different categories for finding a relevant googler, and could even schedule them in shifts, with a chat room and shared note-taking space for the employees to collaborate. It would be a win win. The next phase is when someone who believes in the startup gets to a exec position within google, and can hire and shield actual CSRs who only work through the startup. That business unit will find more success because of the better customer support, which will put pressure on other business units to do the same. It would of course be much better if google just had the decency to provide human support.
      - nurettin 4y ago
        That is a great idea provided that you can find actual human beings to make a deal with. I'm sure someone from google is reading this with a smug expression in their faces.
- 4y ago
servytor 4y ago
If Google trusts their AI that much, I hope they make the precognitive step of replacing their CEO with an AI. Other companies will and survive, whereas the Google AI will never recorrect itself and subsidize their stock at an exponential level.
toddh 4y ago
This is exactly my situation. There is no recourse.

sqlpipe 4y ago

"I've called Google to try to talk to them"... Currently contemplating this, but am certain it will leave me with a feeling of "well, I'll never get that 30 minutes back"

pocketsand 4y ago
To their credit, the automated system told me I was banned and couldn't talk to anyone until I got unbanned, so I never got anyone on the phone.
- zelphirkalt 4y ago
  Sounds like a good ol' curfew pass A38.
  - lamontcg 4y ago
    Sounds like someone forgot to fill out the form twenty seven B stroke 6.
shaky-carrousel 4y ago
Google has reinvented Soviet bureaucracy.
- ugjka 4y ago
  And they are in a position to suppress complaints via their search
lwkl 4y ago
The support reps are nice and will talk to you but can't do much. My experience has been the following: I have Google One and it annoys me that the new Drive client automatically adds a shortcut to my favorites in Finder and Explorer everytime I restart my computer. Google has been made aware of this a year ago according to threads in their product forums from about a year ago (they have thousands of upvotes). They haven't done anything about it and I haven't heard any feedback from the request that the support rep forwarded to the product team. So from my POV it looks like they have support staff that answers to your request, but they have basically no power in the company and can't make any decisions. They probably send their request into a void where they get ignored. My guess is that the only way to work with Google as a business is to buy their services over a major partner that generates tens of millions in revenue per year and has a personal relationship with account managers at Google.

Beltalowda 4y ago

Did they take the $50 or was the payment rejected? And did you get the money back if they took it?

pocketsand 4y ago
I do not believe the payment was ever attempted. If I remember right, I approved a max spend budget, put in payment details, and then the account was immediately suspended before anything could be charged as the ad campaign never ran.

grwthckrmstr 4y ago

Can confirm had the same issue. Begged someone in their team for 2 weeks to help until they did.

avipars 4y ago

For whatever reason, if you post and it goes viral on twitter or reddit they tend to notice and comply....

BizarroLand 4y ago
Be required to burn your 15 minutes of fame to get a reply from a company whose services you're paying for isn't worthwhile.
- teachrdan 4y ago
  OP has just invented "Proof of Grief", a new way to mint crypto. Burn one to get an actual human being at Google to help you with a problem that they themselves caused for you. The demand for this coin is basically unlimited.
  - winkeltripel 4y ago
    This makes me want to make a startup which is a customer service arm for google. It runs a 2-sided marketplace to pay real google employees who can help with users who need their accounts unlocked/etc. It would have different categories for finding a relevant googler, and could even schedule them in shifts, with a chat room and shared note-taking space for the employees to collaborate. It would be a win win. The next phase is when someone who believes in the startup gets to a exec position within google, and can hire and shield actual CSRs who only work through the startup. That business unit will find more success because of the better customer support, which will put pressure on other business units to do the same. It would of course be much better if google just had the decency to provide human support.
    - nurettin 4y ago
      That is a great idea provided that you can find actual human beings to make a deal with. I'm sure someone from google is reading this with a smug expression in their faces.
4y ago

servytor 4y ago

If Google trusts their AI that much, I hope they make the precognitive step of replacing their CEO with an AI. Other companies will and survive, whereas the Google AI will never recorrect itself and subsidize their stock at an exponential level.

toddh 4y ago

This is exactly my situation. There is no recourse.