8 ms·

How true is this still? Google Checkout was rolled out ages ago (in tech years). The Google today is quite different. I have been reading about "poor Google cus

by JoeKM 13y ago

How true is this still? Google Checkout was rolled out ages ago (in tech years). The Google today is quite different. I have been reading about "poor Google customer service" for years, almost like it's a running joke of anecdotes. Years ago it may have made sense, but today Google has Android/Fiber/plethora of web services. I can't imagine they haven't clued in on customer service yet with all their paid services.

joosters 13y ago
I can't confirm since I closed my checkout account. Try navigating throuh their help pages to see if you can find an email address to contact a human. Used to be impossible. All they had was a selection of multiple choice boxes with predetermined solutions.
DanBC 13y ago
Adsense users often complain about this. They don't seem to realise that they're not the customer. They're not even the product being sold. They are trying to sell product to Google - "Buy this space on my web page / youtube video". Google has strict rules, and sometimes makes mistakes, and doesn't have any way to sort out those mistakes. It sucks for those people. And since those people are (by definition) the kind of people with websites you do hear about it quite often. Having said that, you do sometimes hear about people with large numbers of adsense viewers being called (real telephone call!) by Googlers offering advice about better results. And you hear from people with adword accounts that they get to speak to real people. I don't know any numbers, but I bet Google has a lot of people wanting to contact them.
- monkeyspaw 13y ago
  Adsense "users" are actually business partners with google. You share revenue, pool resources, etc. In my mind, that arrangement should encourage a higher level of service than most customers. I'm saying that the poor service offered Adsense partners isn't excused because they're not customers. If anything, it indicates that customer service will be worse based on this totally made up hierarchy that I've just made up (partners more important than customers, should have higher priority service).
- adsenseclient 13y ago
  I wonder what you would say when you personally experience a $15,000/mo sudden AdSense account shutdown in a bootstrapped startup, with confiscation of $30,0000 earnings already on the account. The email will be just a template to accuse you of "fraudulent activity", and there will be no human at all that you can call. Speaking with the first hand knowledge of the matter.
  - throwaway420 13y ago
    I think that a lot of folks are in denial about some of Google's downright evil business practices because they admire Google's technology and like Google's attitudes towards open source software. I greatly admire this stuff too, but Google has some shocking business practices that quite frankly are unbelievable until you experience it firsthand for yourself. When you're a small business and Google bans you for some unknown reason and seizes your money - here is what will happen. * You might receive some type of form letter in response, but you will not be able to get an intelligent reply from a trained customer service agent. * You will not be able to reach anybody on the phone for any price that will help you out. * You will not find out what the issue was that caused a ban. * Your small business will die a slow death. * Depending on the amount of money the owners have (most small businesses don't have a lot) they will struggle to even pay their employees their final checks with this cash seized. * You are forever banned from using AdSense again, so forget starting up another online business ever again. Google is an amazing company that has some frankly despicable business practices that more people need to pay attention to and call them out for.
    - OGinparadise 13y ago
      Google looks after Google and that's it. Exhibit A is search and how much more money Google makes after major updates. People are in denial but some truth is coming out little by little.
    - Angostura 13y ago
      I wonder if anyone has (for example in the UK) simply taken Google to the small claims court to resolve an issue like this.
- jasonkester 13y ago
  you do sometimes hear about people with large numbers of adsense viewers being called (real telephone call!) by Googlers offering advice about better results. I had a fun experience with that call a few years back, when Twiddla was in the spotlight and everybody was calling trying to give us money and free stuff now that we'd proved we didn't need it anymore. I got to explain to the cheerful AdSense Optimization Team guy how I couldn't use his help because we'd had our AdSense account permanently clobbered on a whim a year or so previous and hadn't ever been able to get it reinstated. As you can imagine, our AdSense account was back up and in good standing the next day. We've never used it since. Fool me once, and all that.
hobs 13y ago
I get that you think or see these responses as anecdotal, and frankly, there is no other kind when it comes to a customer talking about a company they are getting a product from. However, I would say that this thread is one of the first places EVER that I have seen someone say google support is good or sufficient or not terrible even. I have seen people have to post on HN to get things resolved by google employees reading HN threads! While it seems like a personal touch, people are resorting to it (and I assume googlers are helping) because there is not another avenue that works for MOST products that google has. I must acknowledge have not used the google support for fiber (I dont have it) and that might indeed be great, as a man who does customer service stuff plenty of times, I know that there is a simple siloing process going on with their support departments. Nonetheless google has a loooooong way to go to change the "anecdotal" consensus of the internet when it comes to their support, their comments about not doing things that dont scale entirely aside.
- hayksaakian 13y ago
  Any time I was giving Google money for something they had good customer service (AdWords) In other cases (if I'm the product) nonexistent.
Stwerp 13y ago
I used checkout a year ago and had the same issues. No human, only pre-fab answers based on checkboxes. I haven't used it since. Recently, I had trouble with gmail on my iPhone (due to the whole EAS shutdown) and was looking for help or info on account upgrades. Only userland help forums for me. I would say: Google's tech support is terrific until you actually have a problem and need to talk to someone.

by JoeKM 13y ago

joosters 13y ago

I can't confirm since I closed my checkout account. Try navigating throuh their help pages to see if you can find an email address to contact a human. Used to be impossible. All they had was a selection of multiple choice boxes with predetermined solutions.

DanBC 13y ago

Adsense users often complain about this. They don't seem to realise that they're not the customer. They're not even the product being sold. They are trying to sell product to Google - "Buy this space on my web page / youtube video". Google has strict rules, and sometimes makes mistakes, and doesn't have any way to sort out those mistakes. It sucks for those people. And since those people are (by definition) the kind of people with websites you do hear about it quite often. Having said that, you do sometimes hear about people with large numbers of adsense viewers being called (real telephone call!) by Googlers offering advice about better results. And you hear from people with adword accounts that they get to speak to real people. I don't know any numbers, but I bet Google has a lot of people wanting to contact them.

monkeyspaw 13y ago
Adsense "users" are actually business partners with google. You share revenue, pool resources, etc. In my mind, that arrangement should encourage a higher level of service than most customers. I'm saying that the poor service offered Adsense partners isn't excused because they're not customers. If anything, it indicates that customer service will be worse based on this totally made up hierarchy that I've just made up (partners more important than customers, should have higher priority service).
adsenseclient 13y ago
I wonder what you would say when you personally experience a $15,000/mo sudden AdSense account shutdown in a bootstrapped startup, with confiscation of $30,0000 earnings already on the account. The email will be just a template to accuse you of "fraudulent activity", and there will be no human at all that you can call. Speaking with the first hand knowledge of the matter.
- throwaway420 13y ago
  I think that a lot of folks are in denial about some of Google's downright evil business practices because they admire Google's technology and like Google's attitudes towards open source software. I greatly admire this stuff too, but Google has some shocking business practices that quite frankly are unbelievable until you experience it firsthand for yourself. When you're a small business and Google bans you for some unknown reason and seizes your money - here is what will happen. * You might receive some type of form letter in response, but you will not be able to get an intelligent reply from a trained customer service agent. * You will not be able to reach anybody on the phone for any price that will help you out. * You will not find out what the issue was that caused a ban. * Your small business will die a slow death. * Depending on the amount of money the owners have (most small businesses don't have a lot) they will struggle to even pay their employees their final checks with this cash seized. * You are forever banned from using AdSense again, so forget starting up another online business ever again. Google is an amazing company that has some frankly despicable business practices that more people need to pay attention to and call them out for.
  - OGinparadise 13y ago
    Google looks after Google and that's it. Exhibit A is search and how much more money Google makes after major updates. People are in denial but some truth is coming out little by little.
  - Angostura 13y ago
    I wonder if anyone has (for example in the UK) simply taken Google to the small claims court to resolve an issue like this.
jasonkester 13y ago
you do sometimes hear about people with large numbers of adsense viewers being called (real telephone call!) by Googlers offering advice about better results. I had a fun experience with that call a few years back, when Twiddla was in the spotlight and everybody was calling trying to give us money and free stuff now that we'd proved we didn't need it anymore. I got to explain to the cheerful AdSense Optimization Team guy how I couldn't use his help because we'd had our AdSense account permanently clobbered on a whim a year or so previous and hadn't ever been able to get it reinstated. As you can imagine, our AdSense account was back up and in good standing the next day. We've never used it since. Fool me once, and all that.

hobs 13y ago

I get that you think or see these responses as anecdotal, and frankly, there is no other kind when it comes to a customer talking about a company they are getting a product from. However, I would say that this thread is one of the first places EVER that I have seen someone say google support is good or sufficient or not terrible even. I have seen people have to post on HN to get things resolved by google employees reading HN threads! While it seems like a personal touch, people are resorting to it (and I assume googlers are helping) because there is not another avenue that works for MOST products that google has. I must acknowledge have not used the google support for fiber (I dont have it) and that might indeed be great, as a man who does customer service stuff plenty of times, I know that there is a simple siloing process going on with their support departments. Nonetheless google has a loooooong way to go to change the "anecdotal" consensus of the internet when it comes to their support, their comments about not doing things that dont scale entirely aside.

hayksaakian 13y ago
Any time I was giving Google money for something they had good customer service (AdWords) In other cases (if I'm the product) nonexistent.

Stwerp 13y ago

I used checkout a year ago and had the same issues. No human, only pre-fab answers based on checkboxes. I haven't used it since. Recently, I had trouble with gmail on my iPhone (due to the whole EAS shutdown) and was looking for help or info on account upgrades. Only userland help forums for me. I would say: Google's tech support is terrific until you actually have a problem and need to talk to someone.