3 ms·

I don't understand how bug reports can sit around for months with dozens (if not hundreds) of comments on them without a single response from somebody with an @

I don't understand how bug reports can sit around for months with dozens (if not hundreds) of comments on them without a single response from somebody with an @google.com username. I feel like I've seen this happen for all kinds of Google products, not just Android. Or am I missing something here?

barry-cotter 14y ago
No. Google's customer service is legendarily bad.
snaky 14y ago
Do you think something changed when somebody with an @google.com username involved? Or when the issue is serious enough? https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=18565 https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=18565
joshmlewis 14y ago
So how does Google get away with "legendarily bad" customer service while EA cannot? I guess in a way EA charges a good bit for the games and good support is expected, but still. I paid $300 for a Nexus 4, I should get something more than a message board.
- Lewisham 14y ago
  This is as opposed to the bug reports you can file with other smartphone makers? I'm not trying to be snarky (well, a little bit), but you simply can't file a bug about an iPhone. You can go to the Apple Discussion Forums and see threads that go on for pages and pages with no involvement from anyone from Apple at all. The only difference is that Apple releases one model at a time, so if there's a problem, everyone has it at once and it garners enough media attention to warrant a response. I have no idea how one would file bugs about Windows Phone 8 either. That Google makes their bug tracker visible doesn't mean they're doing any more or less than the other guys.
  - redcircle 14y ago
    Apple's bug tracker is accessible to developers: https://bugreport.apple.com https://bugreport.apple.com
  - snaky 14y ago
    About Windows Phone 8 there are "suggestions" at http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-sugg...
- cheald 14y ago
  Google's customer service is absent. EA's is actively hostile.
  - snaky 14y ago
    Absent would be better than lying. http://things-linux.blogspot.ru/2013/04/the-fine-art-of-corporate-fibbing.html http://things-linux.blogspot.ru/2013/04/the-fine-art-of-corp...
    - icebraining 14y ago
      Did the author of that post actually called? "Word has" doesn't inspire much confidence. Not that I believe Google doesn't lie, sure they do.
- robotmay 14y ago
  My experience with EA's customer support has actually been rather good. I pretty stupidly bought Battlefield 3 Premium, thinking it included a copy of the actual game (I already owned it on the 360 and was switching to the PC). When I realised it didn't and that I'd need to shell out another £30, I sent EA a grovelling email asking for a refund. They refunded me, no questions asked, within the day. I've had a similar issue with Steam in the past, and they flat out refused to refund me for a mistaken purchase. I suspect that EA customer support, for many people, is perfectly decent. You only ever hear about the complaints because people who are satisfied don't make a big fuss of it.
cpeterso 14y ago
You would think that Google could afford to hire some people to do bug triage. Users reporting bugs are trying to help Google (and themselves, admittedly). Presenting users with a "write-only" bug database is worse than no bug database.
- avel 14y ago
  Indeed! Allow me to hijack this thread with one more example of a serious bug report that got the silent treatment from Google: Galaxy Nexus with EMMC chip V3U00M of 08/2012 or 09/2012 (+others) needs fstrim'ing (or mounting with discard option). Android does not do fstrim in Galaxy Nexus, therefore phone becomes unusable after simply using most of the storage, and the user has to root their phone to fix it. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39154 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39154 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=43081 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=43081
Zigurd 14y ago
The status is listed as "new." I suspect that were this bug to be reviewed, it would end up "not a bug" because it depends on software that's not part of Android. That is, like a phone that's missing a GPS driver, that function will fail for lack of what should be OEM provided drivers/firmware. Yes, it is bad that this bug has lingered without attention. But I also see how it could fall to the bottom of the priority list for review. Tl;dr: It doesn't work because it's not implemented.

barry-cotter 14y ago

No. Google's customer service is legendarily bad.

snaky 14y ago

Do you think something changed when somebody with an @google.com username involved? Or when the issue is serious enough? https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=18565 https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=18565

joshmlewis 14y ago

So how does Google get away with "legendarily bad" customer service while EA cannot? I guess in a way EA charges a good bit for the games and good support is expected, but still. I paid $300 for a Nexus 4, I should get something more than a message board.

Lewisham 14y ago
This is as opposed to the bug reports you can file with other smartphone makers? I'm not trying to be snarky (well, a little bit), but you simply can't file a bug about an iPhone. You can go to the Apple Discussion Forums and see threads that go on for pages and pages with no involvement from anyone from Apple at all. The only difference is that Apple releases one model at a time, so if there's a problem, everyone has it at once and it garners enough media attention to warrant a response. I have no idea how one would file bugs about Windows Phone 8 either. That Google makes their bug tracker visible doesn't mean they're doing any more or less than the other guys.
- redcircle 14y ago
  Apple's bug tracker is accessible to developers: https://bugreport.apple.com https://bugreport.apple.com
- snaky 14y ago
  About Windows Phone 8 there are "suggestions" at http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-sugg...
cheald 14y ago
Google's customer service is absent. EA's is actively hostile.
- snaky 14y ago
  Absent would be better than lying. http://things-linux.blogspot.ru/2013/04/the-fine-art-of-corporate-fibbing.html http://things-linux.blogspot.ru/2013/04/the-fine-art-of-corp...
  - icebraining 14y ago
    Did the author of that post actually called? "Word has" doesn't inspire much confidence. Not that I believe Google doesn't lie, sure they do.
robotmay 14y ago
My experience with EA's customer support has actually been rather good. I pretty stupidly bought Battlefield 3 Premium, thinking it included a copy of the actual game (I already owned it on the 360 and was switching to the PC). When I realised it didn't and that I'd need to shell out another £30, I sent EA a grovelling email asking for a refund. They refunded me, no questions asked, within the day. I've had a similar issue with Steam in the past, and they flat out refused to refund me for a mistaken purchase. I suspect that EA customer support, for many people, is perfectly decent. You only ever hear about the complaints because people who are satisfied don't make a big fuss of it.

cpeterso 14y ago

You would think that Google could afford to hire some people to do bug triage. Users reporting bugs are trying to help Google (and themselves, admittedly). Presenting users with a "write-only" bug database is worse than no bug database.

avel 14y ago
Indeed! Allow me to hijack this thread with one more example of a serious bug report that got the silent treatment from Google: Galaxy Nexus with EMMC chip V3U00M of 08/2012 or 09/2012 (+others) needs fstrim'ing (or mounting with discard option). Android does not do fstrim in Galaxy Nexus, therefore phone becomes unusable after simply using most of the storage, and the user has to root their phone to fix it. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39154 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39154 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=43081 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=43081

Zigurd 14y ago

The status is listed as "new." I suspect that were this bug to be reviewed, it would end up "not a bug" because it depends on software that's not part of Android. That is, like a phone that's missing a GPS driver, that function will fail for lack of what should be OEM provided drivers/firmware. Yes, it is bad that this bug has lingered without attention. But I also see how it could fall to the bottom of the priority list for review. Tl;dr: It doesn't work because it's not implemented.