New updates are being added to the bottom of this story…

Original story (from October 3, 2022) follows:

When Google announced plans to improve customer support through setting up new operations centers with nearly 5,000 agents, many across the wider Google family had high hopes.

It was a much-needed move by the search giant owing to the then-growing reports of terrible support many Google customers received from time to time.

While Google Fi cases were the major highlight back then, it wasn’t long before similar ordeals started trickling down to other Google products.

Last year, it emerged that many people had been left at the mercy of their fellow customers after Google locked them out of their accounts without any form of explanation.

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Any attempts to reach out to Google customer support went in vain, which meant most ended up seeking help on platforms like Twitter and Reddit.

Given the tight integration between our lives and Google accounts, getting locked out means you lose access to your email, photos, contacts, Google Pay, among other crucial details.

Granted, having quality customer support to help those affected out of such situations is of great importance. But clearly, this is something Google lacked at the time.

And while Google continues its heroics with cloud services, AI, and machine learning, quality customer service is still a challenge the company is yet to address nearly 3 years since unveiling its operations centers program.

Reports of how bad Google’s customer service has become keep flooding Reddit. What’s even worse is they are coming from users of various Google products, implying the problem could be across the board.

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Why does Google despise their loyal customers? Why does Google even bother to make Pixel phones anymore if they hate the customers who buy them? I have been a loyal Pixel user since before there were Pixels (Nexus 6P). I’ve since encouraged countless friends and family to switch to Pixels as well. Luckily, I’ve never needed support before, I guess. The (lack of) support I just received on a DEFECTIVE phone was downright pitiful…
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Why is Google’s customer support so horrible? Like everyone already knows but Google’s support is horrible why is that? Be it a consumer or business account; people have always complained about them since they got big in the late 90’s or early 2000’s as being so hard to get incontact with compared to Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, etc. Why is this do they just not care about helping people, believed all their products or services were flawless or a cost issue?
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Even more concerning is that just like a few years back, customers are still being forced to seek help from social media platforms thanks to Google’s inexistent customer support.

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I have a pair of Pixel Buds, I believe the first generation, which is still in its guarantee period, but one of the buds has stopped working and cutting on/off every few seconds. I’ve been contracting Google support for almost 3 weeks, and they keep saying “you will get an email for how to return it in 24hrs”, which has never arrived! How can I escalate and resolve this issue with Google?
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Google is a global titan. And one thing that comes with such a status is criticism, and it is significantly huge given the role Google plays in our day to day lives. Granted, their customer support can’t afford any laxity.

But recent events suggest that customer support isn’t Google’s top priority quite yet, at least on account of the experiences some customers have had to endure.

This should be more worrying for Google given the company is about to expand its Pixel lineup. The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will be unveiled alongside the Pixel Watch this month, adding to the growing portfolio of Pixel hardware.

Besides the usual year-on-year improvements with every product refresh, many Pixel fans also expect Google to step up their customer support if they are to not only retain current customers, but also bag new ones.

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Since not much is expected to change under the hood apart from the new Tensor SoC, Google may have to up other aspects of its products. And promising improved customer support could be a gamechanger, especially for the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

Some owners of the outgoing Pixel 6 series haven’t had the best experience using the phones. While most of the issues are software related, Google support hasn’t been at its best when it comes to addressing them.

The team has often been reluctant to acknowledge some of the issues. If and when acknowledged, at times it took longer than usual to address them. Unfortunately, others have persisted to date.

And as a result, some long-term Google Pixel owners are considering ditching the brand for something else, preferably the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy handsets, primarily because of Google’s poor customer support.

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One Year Old Pixel 6 Pro and Already Destined for the Garbage. Well, it’s been a journey. The pixel 3xl was my first big boy phone I bought for myself and was very excited to grab a pixel 6 pro on release…Thank you google, you’ve made it quite clear that quality control and product design are no longer your domain. I don’t want to go back to iPhone, but at this point I’m so soured on the experience I just want to get away from the Google ecosystem entirely.
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The lack of proper support for existing products could come back to bite Google. Potential Pixel 7 and 7 Pro buyers are already skeptical about Google customer support, something that will likely affect their purchasing choice.

When asked whether they’ll buy the Pixel 7, a Redditor had this to say:

I’m going to wait for the reviews/posts, and if people say the 7 has solved the poor mobile signal reception problems of the 6, then I’ll go from the 6 to the 7. If it hasn’t, I’ll start looking for an alternative to the 6 from some other manufacturer.
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With such statements doing rounds, Google should be scared. And unless the company does something about it, we may begin seeing an exodus to other brands that offer better support – or less faulty devices.

No product is perfect. But it is how good any present imperfections (bugs and issues) are handled that leads to loyalty among fans, something Google clearly hasn’t mastered.

We’d like to hear from you in the comments section. As for the Twitter poll below, the results will be shared after a week.

Update (Oct. 10, 2022)

09:30 am (IST): The poll results are out and it indicates that the poor customer support may not be a reason for people to discard the new Pixel devices.

50% of voters claim they will buy the Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro. 25% claim that they won’t. While the remaining 25% claim that they’re done with Google Pixel devices.

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.

Hillary Keverenge
1994 Posts

Tech has been my playground for over a decade. While the Android journey began early, it truly took flight with the revolutionary Lollipop update. Since then, it's been a parade of Android devices (with a sprinkle of iOS), culminating in a mostly happy marriage with Google's smart home ecosystem. Expect insightful articles and explorations of the ever-evolving world of Android and Google products coupled with occasional rants on the Nest smart home ecosystem.

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