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Google: Whacking businesses behind their knees

September 10, 2008

According to Google's Account definition, "A Google Account functions as a master Google login, made up of a single email address and password. Your Google Account lets you easily jump to any of your Google services that also share this login (such as Google Groups, Gmail, and Google Product Search). This way, once you're signed in, you stay in - no more logging in and out between multiple services."   

It's a great concept.  For three years, I've trusted my electronic life to Google.  They've hosted my email, personal documents, precious photos, group discussion documents, AdWords and AdSense accounts, calendar, analytics and shopping carts for various Web sites I've built for clients.  I believed Google's hype that the data I placed so easily in their hands was safe.  I thought that having this information tied into one login address--the way Google has everything set up--was always going to be accessible.

On Monday, I learned my belief system was flawed.  On that day, I learned a lesson that brought me to my knees.  At 1:00 PM, Google lost my account.  Literally, one minute it was there, the next minute I wasn't able to login.  I discovered I wasn't receiving any of the warning messages Google lists in their Help Center form.  I thought it would be an easy fix.  After all, Google is a huge corporation who must have great customer service.  

This belief system, too, was flawed.  

As the hours crawled by and my panic mounted, I realized this was not going to be an easy repair.  Their Help Center sent me in a spiral resembling themes in Hollywood horror movies, or in the movie Groundhog Day. I had to create another account just to get access to their discussion board to find out why they deleted my original account.  Over the last three days I've waited patiently for a willing person of the non-Google employment team to help me figure out why this happened.  It's Thursday and I'm no closer to receiving help than I was at 1:05 PM on Monday--72 hours later.  I was told to not go anywhere near my account for 5 days or I could jeopardize the process.  Five whole days.  I could take a vacation.

I have discovered there is no way to receive help:
1.   I cannot email Google my problem without getting an auto-response form letter that doesn't answer my question.

2.  There is no email address to contact support directly.

3.  There is no phone number to call when panic strikes.

4.  Unlike many other successful companies, they do not offer Live Chat.

5.  Questions posted on the Group Help Discussion boards aren't necessarily answered.  If they are, they're vague at best.  But a couple people are trying, and for them I'm thankful.

I probably shouldn't be so distressed. I had most of the data backed up on a hard drive.  I can track down and call the people I work with to get their email addresses, and I can start over.  It only adds an additional stress level to my overwraught life, but I learned I'm not alone.  On Google's Help Center discussion forum for email login questions, there are over 9000 people who share my pain.  One guy even offered $100 to get someone to help him. Desperate times call for desperate measures.  Another guy was terrified of being fired since he could not login and manage the AdWords / AdSense for his company.  I don't feel so bad anymore.

I learned that placing trust in this company was not a wise decision. But in hindsight, I did many things wrong.  

Here's what I should have done:
1.  I should have written down the exact month, year and day that I set up my account.
2.  I should have documented the invitation URL I was sent to set up the account.
3.  I should have written down who sent me the invitation and the email that it came from.
4.  I should have updated my secondary email address in gmail.
5.  I should have written down the exact Month/Day/Year I began using each of these:
     a) My alerts
     b) Analytics
     c) The calendar
     d) The first day I started using their bookmarks
     e) The docs I saved and when
     f)  When I discovered their local business center
     g) My Picasa account
     h) The day I first learned that my Google account could access YouTube
     I)  etc.

If I had, maybe I'd be able to access my account.  But I didn't do that, and now Google cannot help me. I provided inconclusive information; namely, just my username and password. I was told to continue to fill out the form, and that some people had luck with three or more tries over the course of a month. I now feel more hopeful.  Who needs email to communicate when I can drive to visit everyone?  Gas has gotten cheaper.  And those requirements I received to create a new web site? Well, those can be mailed to me...with a stamp.  And there is the phone...That's how an Internet expert should run her business, right?

Yesterday Google sent me a How did we do form to see if I like their customer support.  It made me shiver because this, too, was auto-generated...just like their entire support structure. I felt a little violated, like I would if a used car salesman caressed my shoulders in passing. They don't even know my name.  

But all is not lost.  Something good has come out of losing my account:  I just cleaned out my inbox. 

As a small business owner, are you prepared if this happens to you?


Posted by Suze Bragg on September 10, 2008 | Comments (7)


Industries: Retail
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September 11, 2008
In response to: Google: Whacking businesses behind their knees
Kevin commented:

Terrifying...thanks very much for the heads up and the cold splash of reality. I'm heading to my account now to make some notes. When you come to rely on a system with no guarantees (as I have too) you put yourself at enormous risk.




September 15, 2008
In response to: Google: Whacking businesses behind their knees
Patrice Jones commented:

Oh my gosh that's scary. My world is tied up into my Google login and to think of losing it and not being able to get it back...how would I even begin to start over? Great article.




September 15, 2008
In response to: Google: Whacking businesses behind their knees
Google's response commented:

Thank you for your report. We've completed our investigation. Because our investigation was inconclusive, we are unable to return your account at this time. At Google we take the privacy and security of our users very seriously. For this reason, we're unable to reveal any further information about this account.

If you have additional information about your account, please visit www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?ara=1 and submit another report. Be sure to provide as much information as possible about the account. If you're not sure about something, provide your best guess.

To create a new account, please visit www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount

We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation and understanding.

Regards,
The Google Team




September 24, 2008
In response to: Google: Whacking businesses behind their knees
Lain commented:

[quote]As a small business owner, are you prepared if this happens to you?[/quote]

Well, yes. Because I would NEVER rely on a free service provided by an advertising company (what Google really is) to preserve any of my data that I need to manage my company. In fact I have multiple copies of all my data spread across not only multiple hard drives, but on multiple networks...should anything happen like a fire or flood. I like web based systems, and I manage a fairly complex one, but to think that Google is customer service orientated to address the support for free services is sort of naive.




September 29, 2008
In response to: Google: Whacking businesses behind their knees
John Mayers commented:

Many small businesses rely on Google's apps because they are supposed to be reliable, not just becuase they're free. Backing up your system doesn't work in this instance. If they lock you out, they lock you out and nothing you can do on your end ensures you have access to your Analytics, your AdWords, etc. With companies spending a large portion of their marketing budgets in Adwords, losing access is a catastrophe. I know because I lost my access too.

I switched to Yahoo. Hopefully they won't lock me out either.




October 24, 2008
In response to: Google: Whacking businesses behind their knees
Wholesale Mirrors commented:

A timely warning to back everything up, I'll be back in a week when I've finished lol!




March 13, 2009
In response to: Google: Whacking businesses behind their knees
Bobbie S. commented:

This is alarming and good to know. After you wrote this, I read about it again a few weeks later in the NY Times. I switched over to the paying account to be safe. Thanks for the warning. I wouldn't have known otherwise.





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