Google killed the Pixel Pass leaving some fans outraged & feeling cheated

Google has recently discontinued the ‘Pixel Pass’. It bundled Pixel phones with services like Google One, Preferred Care, YouTube Premium, and much more.

Astonishingly, the company made this move just before the launch of the Pixel 8, leaving some fans outraged yet unsurprised given the ever-growing list of products killed by Google.

The Google Pixel Pass was a loan service that allowed users to finance their new Pixel phone from Google.

In addition to this, one could also get access to some of the company’s services, such as YouTube Music Premium, 200GB of cloud storage, Play Pass, and more, at very nominal rates.

Generally, one needed to pay a set monthly amount for the smartphone, and that too for a span of two years. This subscription also allowed users to upgrade to the latest Pixel phone by renewing their pass for two years.

Sadly, one can no longer purchase a new phone via the subscription. Although access to the bundled services will be provided until the end of their contract.

And by looking at the reports (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9), it appears that the company’s decision has not been well received by fans.

Without a doubt, this is also quite concerning for those who purchased the pass, thinking that they’d be able to enjoy an upgrade without having to finance a new phone again.

Literally one year and ten months later – this afternoon – @googlefi emailed me to say the Pixel Pass program was being cancelled as of today. No warning, no heads up, just “we’re no longer offering this to new subscribers.” Okay whatever when mine runs out, I can’t renew.
Source

People argue that the company should have allowed them to at least opt for a single upgrade before the subscription cancellation. A few are speculating that the company might discontinue Google Fi and Pixel phones as well.

Killing the Pixel Pass right before you have to cough up new phones for subscribers? That’s evil. You are scum, @GooglepixelG , complete scum.
Source

Due to this, they are thinking of switching to the iPhone. An individual felt that Google introduced the Pixel Pass to entice users to pay for a more expensive subscription that was of little to no use to them.

Some are so disappointed that they are thinking of filing a class action lawsuit against the company.

A subset of users claim that this decision hardly impacts them. And this is because they didn’t find the Pixel Pass to be a game-changer and never opted for it.

People also believed that they would have been locked in financially if they had subscribed to the pass.

They have advised others to simply buy unlocked smartphones outright and look for discounts or trade-in options.

Most people saw pixel pass was dumb and not a deal.
Source

They add that if the upfront cost of purchasing the phone is too expensive, then it is preferable to avoid making the purchase.

Rest assured, we will keep tabs on this topic and update this article whenever we come across anything noteworthy.

Note: There are more such stories in our dedicated Google section, so be sure to follow them as well.

Featured Image: Google

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.