5 ms·
This isn't practical for everyone, but I've had good luck showing up to the Googleplex in person when their errors were too egregious.
by hansvm 2y ago
This isn't practical for everyone, but I've had good luck showing up to the Googleplex in person when their errors were too egregious.
- koolba 2y agoI can see this approach being very entertaining at scale.
- jeromegv 2y agoHow? Is the receptionist able to help you?
- pan69 2y agoBy finding the person who can help you?
- hansvm 2y agoThey give you a direct line or email to whoever can help you. Everyone I met was really nice. It's like a proper customer support channel.
- yellowapple 2y agoBy being an actual sapient being instead of a poorly-designed customer "support" algorithm.
- pests 2y agoGoogle is not some black box. It’s made up of people. Are we so used to lack of service online that in-person service is now unheard of?
- sureIy 2y agoYes but they can also very well say "sorry, we're not tech support, bye" and stand there looking at you. This is exceptionally easy to do if there are 5 people a day coming in for that reason.
- justin_oaks 2y agoAnd they can have you trespassed. Hang around after that and the cops can arrest you.
- DangitBobby 2y agoBut why would they when it's probably really easy for them to just help you?
- iczero 2y agoHave you considered that getting someone arrested after you ruin a major source of their income is potentially not the most polite thing to do?
- sureIy 2y agoLaw doesn't reward politeness. If you have a problem sue them, don't trespass. Governments should figure out a way to allow regular people to sue giants without going bankrupt.
- justin_oaks 2y agoYou act like an organization is a single person. The person saying "Sorry, I can't help you" when you visit Google headquarters is not the one ruining your income.
- kotaKat 2y agoThat’s nice, but if Big Tech doesn’t let me say “no” to their software prompts and questions, I’m saying “no” to leaving until my issue is fixed.
- pests 2y agoThis is very pessimistic, not everyone is out to get everyone else.
- chmod775 2y agoRouting people to the right place is quite literally their job.
- idiotsecant 2y agoI really want to hear this story. How did it not end with you having a conversation with a rentacop?
- ikiris 2y agoIt probably went pretty decently until the security changed after the youtube incident.
- klik99 2y agoNot at google, but someone took a plane ride to ask about a $20 billing error in person at a company I worked at. We definitely don't do in person customer support, and the flight must have been more than the billing error, so front desk gently encouraged him to fly back home and make sure someone responded to his ticket.
- ycombinatrix 2y agoWhy did they do that? Were you ignoring their tickets? Is your service really crucial to them? Was it a Saudi prince?
- DangitBobby 2y agoNow _that_ is how to make a customer know they have no value! Bravo.
- alwa 2y agoI sincerely hope (and assume) “make” was a type for “made” there. That the front desk staffer, not the aggrieved customer, “made” somebody respond to the customer’s original ticket.
- aitchnyu 2y agoThis looks like something out of the 1937 book How to Win Friends and Influence People and ends with "they prospered together forever and customer would later find the mistake from his side".
- ggm 2y agoThis is why a company I know had an armed guard at the door after an angry dispossessed former customer turned up and gave the reception desk PTSD. Don't do this.
- TheFreim 2y agoI find it highly unlikely that someone politely asked for help having an issue resolved and it gave the receptionist PTSD and required armed security. I expect you're instead speaking about a situation where someone showed up and acted in a violent/threatening manner, which the post you are replying to did not endorse, which should not be used to justify keeping upstanding people from trying to get support.
- ggm 2y agoNo part of Mountain View is set up to handle the queue of customers of Google seeking restitution. Other major corporates have this problem too. You don't fix the problem with your gas account overcharging by going to the Exxon head office. Google is a bit of a shit company when it comes to customer service, but suggesting you can front into their space to get it addressed is really not ok. The problem is the lack of a real service you really can approach. Not, that they wind up needing rent-a-cop in the lobby. If people casually recommend simply visiting the campus of Apple, Meta, Google to get customer disputes settled, then its a low bar prediction it's going to get bad.
- imp0cat 2y agoActually, you can usually get a lot of help if you show up in person at a major company site and politely ask. Nobody really wants to call the security/police on a random guy, especially if he is not a complete weirdo.
- sp0ck 2y agoSaying "bit of a shit" about company who practically destroyed 20 years of someone data,by blocking account against all facts customer and police provided it not "a bit". This is pure evil. https://www.businessinsider.com/google-reported-dad-police-photos-sick-sons-penis-child-abuse-2022-8?IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/google-reported-dad-police-p...
- Scoundreller 2y agoMy latest protip when the normal procedure isn’t going anywhere is to send your complaint to a big org’s legal department, whether it’s of legal nature or not. You can at least be assured the letter reader will be literate. And might even get good support for wherever it ends up because it will be forwarded from the legal department. This was a bank. Basically an extension of patio11’s advice to contact shareholder relations.
- nikanj 2y agoWith the software giants, you get the best results by sending your complaint to Hacker News. Your issue will actually be noticed by someone who can help