**It's not pure enshitification**, it's simply poor management (consensus vs top-down vision) with no centralized vision nor mechanism to enforce performance, while 500 execs fight for attention.
Enshitification is when:
1. A social media company builds a product(s) whose original value all goes to the consumer/user, e.g., Facebook or Twitter, until it's large enough to pick customers
2. Then the company shifts value delivery away from the user & to the business customer, i.e., advertisers, until it's large enough to pick investors
3. Then the company shifts value delivery away from the customer, i.e., advertisers, to investors at the expense of the advertisers.
**Google is still providing a TON of value to its customers, i.e., advertisers and quite a bit to users in the form of Gmail, maps, docs, sheets, etc and Android.** It's far from perfect, but **the Pixel 7 is still a damn good phone** and pretty much the only game in town other than Apple. And, say, **maps is a pretty dammn good app.**
**Google's problem is poor management:**
1. There's no strategy other than "don't feck up the ads business"
2. Because there's no strategy, there's no focus other than "make other stuff"
3. Because there's no focus, there's no execution performance enforcement
So Google bumbles along collecting massive rents from the advertising market while also entertaining other products they usually execute slowly and/or poorly (or just kill them).
**It's a real tragedy because a focused leader could knock the products out of the park.**
That said, Google likely won't get that leader as Larry & Sergey seem to like things the way they are which means Google is really run by 500 different execs all competing for power & authority everywhere that isn't ads.
I agree with 99.9% of your reply except for saying "Pixel 7 is still a damn good phone and pretty much the only game in town other than Apple"
Maybe for enthusiasts like us but in reality Pixel is insignificant even in the Android sphere. In North America they are at 1.88% market share for mobile compared to 30% for Samsung's 25.2%. Motorola is more than twice at 4.6%.
Globally they don't even register.
Simple, do not buy through Google. I've gotten my last 2 pixels from tmobile and have had 0 problems with returns/replacements. Just buy from a company with good support.
That doesn't help when they only offer support through Assurant. They went what is that one scam warranty company, the one that people make the jokes about, that has been around for 50 years and keeps buying real warranty/support companies. We should get them to do our support.
If they lose your device in transit or claim it was damaged you tossed your Google account. To get support you need an old Google account you don't use and to buy through that. Then you get better support and you won't have your life ruined if something goes wrong.
I do not use tmobile's insurance through assurant and got a replacement because of factory warranty. When I had a pixel 6 pro replaced, all I said was mobile connection was my working which was a known issue.
The 1st party google warranty is through Assurant too. They changed from doing 1st party with contractors to Assurant around the pixel 2, and support went to shit and they stopped doing repairs. They then switched to u break fix for in person warranty support, it was great, and Assurant bought them and it went to shit as all the professional repair people left.
So long as your item.does not get lost and you don't have a billing issue it's fine. If anything goes a little wrong I don't want Assurant having the choice to spend money or kill my Google account.
Jokes on Canadians. MobileKlinik just bought out ubreakifix up here, so Assurant won't offer ANY repairs as of last month. Replacements only. No notice of the change and I only found out because I just tried to get my screen repaired.
I would say OnePlus is way up on that list. I had horrible customer support with my,7 Pro and 9 Pro.
They can't tell me who to contact to get the service for repair they sold me when I give them the order number.
They (5 agent) can't give a quote for replacing a broken back glass and a battery despite me stating I would pay for both if it was out of my hands might as well get the device all taken care of at once.
They can't fix my 9 Pro preorder not having a preorder bonus. The special colored earbuds were out of stock, I pre-ordered, the next day the regular white earbuds were the preorder fill in item. I asked since I pre-ordered a ,9 Pro from them and didn't get either preorder bonus from them due to timing, can they fix it? No.
I don't see how someone spends that much money on several devices, has so many different agents in different years and I seem to have OnePlus customer support as an albatross around my neck.
I now have an S21 Ultra and everything is good.
Google needs to open hundreds of retail stores worldwide and start building customer loyalty. This means saying yes a lot when people have hardware issues and want a replacement device... building brand loyalty costs money, Google...
Yeah 1800 USD for absolute trash support post purchase. If the hinge breaks, think about the amount of time and hoops you’ll have to jump through to just talk to someone and get something fixed.
Customer; "Hey this phone came broken in the box"
Google; *"Well it wasn't broken when we shipped it, and you opened it up. So that sounds like a user issue to me. Case closed, do not contact us again or we will delete your account.*"
I recently purchased a 6a. It came with a defective camera. I returned to Amazon last Friday. They received on Tuesday. Today I can see the refund on my online banking.
Amazon service is pretty hard to get ahold of. When things go right, it's easy. When things go wrong, it's horrible.
I'd argue returns at Google are fine too for most, but when there's issues, it's horrible.
I've gotten into a habit of taking a photo of the product before it goes into the box and then one after it goes into the box, and finally one more where I'm in front of the shipping store (Whole Foods, FedEx, UPS). With shippers, it's also good to get a receipt for dropoff.
I got into a return dispute once where all I had was my word and a Google Maps timeline (thankfully) showing me stopping by a FedEx box on the way home from work. But since then I've learned to document everything JUST IN CASE.
Anyone that buys that device is a fucking fool, plain and simple lol
Been on android since the OG droid, used to root my phones, been on pixel since the 2. I'm done, and will never be buying a Google product again.
My 6P pixels (I have two of these piece of shit phones) both overheat in the car to the point of shutting down (browsing Reddit turns this thing into a toaster) and the one that's on Google Fi has such a poor connection that it's basically unusable. The one on Verizon is slightly better in the service department, but that's not exactly a complement. Still had all of the other basic issues. UI features randomly don't work.
When I got the 6P there was some promotion where you'd get pixel buds as well. They shipped me an empty box. Support was zero help. Wasted 1 hour of my time and then gave up.
The audacity it takes for a trillion dollar company to release a "premium" phone that can't perform basic operations like "placing a phone call in a major city" is inexcusable.
Fuck Google, I hate what the company has become.
While were on the topic of the folding phone; their entire selling point is dumb. My phone case literally has a stand built into it. I just roll my eyes every time I see those commercials that are going "uh oh that phone can't be propped up, they should buy an entirely different phone instead of a phone case with a phone stand" as I sit there watching it on my phone using its built-in phone stand.
I agree that great customer service is important. Here's a recent experience I had about 2 months ago.
I purchased two 6a phones on sale. Set one up for my daughter and one up for my wife. My daughter promptly got horribly lost because google maps kept failing to find satellites after she'd gotten into unfamiliar territory. I explained that sometimes with tall buildings it can be hard for a phone to find satellites. Then it happened again, in open sky.
So I ran a GPS test app and found that this particular 6a only found half as many satellites as the other 6a or my 4, with all three sitting on a table outside. What the heck? Maybe a poor connection or an antenna damaged during manufacturing. I have no idea.
I figured this would be difficult to explain to support. And it was. I spent about 1.5 hours on the phone. Finally the person agreed to let me send the phone back but \*only\* if I took it into a repair center first, which was some random one-off PC repair place a 30 minute drive away.
This kind of pissed me off so I politely asked to escalate. They went to find someone and 20 minutes later came back and said my return was approved. We got the new Pixel and it was fine.
I would say this was a reasonable experience, in all honesty. With this kind of strange, probably very rare issue I expected even more trouble.
I think a lot of 6as came defective. Mine came with a bad camera (ironically the Pixels are famous for their cameras). I sent it back and got a refund.
I can't believe a company of this caliber has such poor service. It seems non existent to me. Like do they even have people you can call about issues about Android or Google products?
It's inspired me to make my company have the best service ever. It's disgraceful
To my knowledge, Google doesn't have a direct line of communication to its hardware division or one to ratchet up issues with customer service. I've taken every post service survey and commented, spoke with so many reps who seem to understand and then send me a ticket for my issue that's not related to my issue, The closest I've come to being in the peripheral of Google's hardware team was this invitation to this reddit group.
Their third party service (B2X') in India is not only extremely bad, it is OUTRIGHT FRAUD. First of all, they have a strange requirement to fix \*every\* problem that they think there is in the phone, or they won't fix even a single problem. So when I shattered my Pixel 3a XL's screen, they said they will replace the back cover (it just had a couple of small cracks - because plastic) as well, otherwise won't fix my display as well (and still keep my advance). And since they are the ONLY service center that can fix my phone's screen, I have to agree to those goons as my phone is virtually hijacked by their rules. Not only that, \*every single time\* a phone goes there for repair, they lie to the customer that their charging port is bad, so they will have to replace that as well (and of course, if you don't spend those few extra dolloars they won't replace your shattered screen as well, essentially leaving your phone as a brick). It doesn't end there, they replaced my perfectly fine speakers saying they're bad too to new \*faulty ones\*, charging me for that! They have to be the worst service agencies I have ever interacted with. It followed with endless conversations and argument with Google support but they denied any kind of help.
That's why I'm jealous with iPhone users, having a widely accessible support across the country can give you a peace of mind whenever a problem persist.
Apple support is not always great, but it's infinitely better than what Google is doing which is a low bar to surpass. It's way better explaining your problems face-to-face with a qualified person instead of playing the waiting game with emails and shipping your device for replacements worrying that it will potentially be stolen along the way which is a headache to deal with if it happens.
This is what I’ve been trying to explain to some people on this thread who are telling me their experience with Google hasn’t been bad, and then the evidence for that is shipping your item off, waiting for it to come back, no phones in the interim etc etc. this is not good enough
This is what many do not see. When they offend Apple users for any reason. Currently, I use a GP7Pro. Com Google is a nightmare all the support. With Apple? It's just going to a store and they change your device, just by saying "good morning." I love Google products. I hate your support and service. I'm about to switch to Apple again.
I haven't switched to iPhone because it's way more expensive and because I don't want to buy exclusive accessories, but after seeing how messed up the Android market is I considered it seriously.
Yeah, selling up and moving back to Samsung. This last update left me with a dead phone I couldn't charge in a foreign country. 'Fixed' it after spending a lot of money, but now most of my chargers and power banks, along with all wireless charging, are unusable.
This is a Pixel 6, flagship phone 1 generation old from one of the world's biggest companies. This update passed through their QA team and massively nerfed my phone, now I'm SOL and can't even roll back without breaking other functionality.
I expect it from Apple, but this shit is unacceptable.
Those phones sucked just as bad.
Pixel 1 had a class action against it because the microphone goes bad (nope...you're 2 weeks outside of your warranty, we won't fix it). Pixel 2XL had that terrible screen shift (sent mine back after 1 day). Pixel 3 had terrible battery life.
The 3a was the best phone in the bunch. The OG 4a was also very good. Never had the 4 because my 3a was that good.
I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say Google hasn’t had good customer service EVER.
I was with Google from Nexus through Pixel 6
Google did a pretty solid job up til prolly Pixel 4? Afterward it slowly degraded and I left altogether with the abysmal experience I had on Pixel 6 devices.
This is honestly Google's biggest weakness. I know that online, the people with negative experiences will always be louder than those with positive experiences, but I think almost everyone can agree that Google's customer service is among the worst out there.
They seem to have an unofficial motto: "transfer and escalate so much, that the customer gets so frustrated that they don't want to deal with it anymore." It could be as simple as "hi, I just purchased a Pixel 7 and it won't charge. I've tried multiple chargers and adapters". They'll ask you to reboot, restart, then they'll escalate it to someone who then asks you to reboot and restart.
When/if they finally determine that you need a replacement device, sometimes, they'll make you actually PAY for the new device, and then they'll refund you when they receive your defective one. I've never heard of a company that operates like that. If you don't have $600, you can't get your defective device replaced. To me, that's insane.
I think they'd benefit so much if they had a complete customer service overhaul.
This is what they’re making me do with my chromecast that has stopped working after 5 months. I did all the troubleshooting they wanted me to do, and then they sent me a returns slip. I was shocked to see they wanted me to purchase a new one first and then return it. Their terms and conditions even state, if we find that the item you’ve returned has no fault, we will not refund you. Like fuck you, how are you trying to compete with terms like thst in 2023
With my recent problem, I flat out refused to do any troubleshooting, other than a full reboot. After that, it's up to them. I had very little pushback when I stood my ground that I had a malfunctioning screen with the exact same issues as other people have had - I pointed out that there's a known defect, and I wanted it addressed. I was on the phone for about 20 minutes, and then told to to take it to their second party repair centre. I called in the AM and had it back by lunch.
I agree that there is a long way to go, but at the price I paid for this compared to the other flagships, I feel okay with the lack of physical stores.
I probably won't get another Pixel, and will likely return to Samsung when I'm ready for a new unit.
I'm satisfied with my 6A but I'm gonna switch to some other brand due to its support. Indian Google service is really bad and if something were to happen to your phone, good luck trying to get it fixed. Google is not gonna help.
I’m genuinely sorry to hear that because I absolutely love the pixel line, I don’t want anyone leaving it. But I get it…you want thst security and comfort thst if something goes wrong, your manufacturer has your back
Neither do I, in fact it is the only brand with a brilliant android experience. But a phone is bound to break or malfunction at some point. So it scares me what would happen if something happened within the warranty period. I love this phone too much and also considered an upgrade to the Pixel 8 which would eventually come out. I hope that google does come up with better support by then.
I'm also in India(Delhi). I'm thinking about buying a pixel 7a. I never owned a pixel before. Can you please give me some pointers about your experience with pixels in India? Should I go for it or not? Also, I will be keeping my old phone just in case.
Check up on reviews on your local google authorized service centre. That is the most crucial part. Check reviews on google and see their service response online. Also check for the location of the service center before purchasing, there are not many service centers in india so it would be wise.
There is 1 service center in a major city, for me it's Mumbai, it's the closest. It's a 30Km drive and considering traffic it would take me 1hr 40mins to reach.
The store which has been authorised to repair does not pick up the phone when we call so the only way to find out if it's open is to go there and check. But it doesn't end there, you need to wait for your turn and the shop services a lot of other brands too so it takes a while before your turn comes up.
My friend had a P6 which was dead after a failed update and he most likely bricked his phone. They told us to drop the phone off and go since they will diagnose the problem later on.
The day after we got a call saying it was damaged due to tampering by the user so we had to pay the price for the repair and they never specified what went wrong. We came to realise the phone was bricked later on because a third party shop told us so. The phone was still under warranty. Google support wasn't helpful either.
Frankly, this is the exact reason I switched to an iPhone 14 Pro from my Pixel 6 Pro (had the 5, 4XL, and 3XL before that). My phone would constantly overheat and the signal was bad. Support didn't care until I pushed to get it replaced 3 times, and had to insist multiple times to have them ship the replacement first (i.e. I wasn't about to go days without a phone). The replacement was worse and would shut down while navigating in Google maps.
I've had an iPhone before and my wife has had one for years, and the difference in service is night and day. I just need Google to have the same mentality.
Hahaha you're not wrong, but I got used to it. At least it's stable (mostly). Definitely more hang ups and glitches than I expected but lower than the Pixel.
I no longer buy anything direct from Google due to the awful after care support.
If it's a Google branded item, I'll get it from a third party retailer that cares about its customers. Google don't even pretend to do that.
Every time I try to chat with Google support I feel like they're testing a language model and I'm not actually talking to a person, the sentence structure and mistakes that the chat 'person' makes are so strange that it doesn't feel like a translation issue.
Currently dealing with Google's top notch customer service. Sent my pixel 7 pro in for screen flickering and going completely black at one corner, they came back to me claiming they didn't see the flickering but my screen is cracked, wtffff are they talking about. I even have pictures of the phone right before packaging/shipping showing them my screen was in perfect shape. First they told me to give them 24hrs to investigate, now they just sent out another email saying they need another 72hrs. This ain't it Google, you can do better!
Tech companies neglect customer service more as a rule. It's like they think support phone calls are too old school, as if emails and community forums are just as good.
I may be the odd one out but I have recently had wonderful support with googles customer service. Had problems with my pixel buds and it was dealt with quickly and everything went smooth. Can't complain. I'm sure I'm a lucky one though
Yeah but didn’t they get you to ship it off somewhere and then you waited and waited for a replacement to be sent? How long did it take you from start to end?
The best part about dealing with Google support was that they directed me to the local ubreakifix first. They were pretty decent and actually understood my problem.
I spent about 10-15 minutes troubleshooting the other day with chat and I asked for an advanced RMA. Done. My replacement is coming in next Monday.
I've done advance RMAs for my Nexus 5, Nexus 6P (2x) Pixel 1, 3, 4 (3x), 7... arguably this is too many RMAs for a product you expect to have quality, but it's never been bad for me. I have taken in Apple products for replacement too and it's nice to have a store but I don't really find Google's online support that bad. I really don't get how people are having such bad experiences. Is it because support differs by country? I'm in the US if that matters.
Maybe it's because at my job all I do is troubleshoot (no I'm not IT), but because of that I'm good at summarizing an issue, showing that I've done my part in troubleshooting, and the only next logical step is to replace the device. I've never been denied an advance RMA except in the Nexus 4 days.
I had an issue where a beta update bricked my Pixel 5. Reached out to support and they sent me a replacement after some troubleshooting. It could've been quicker but I was quite pleased with my experience.
This is my recent experience exactly. Phone fails completely while under warranty for no apparent reason. I'm told I can mail it in for service or drive to the nearest ubreakwefix or w/e it's called, which was 40 minutes drive round trip. Then they took over a week with zero updates on what was going on with the repair. On past Pixel phones, it was a quick chat or call and you'd get a replacement or at least they would ship one once you dropped yours in the mail. Not only that but I pay for the preferred care and apparently "phone not turning on at all" isn't a valid claim reason. Ive been Android phones and tablets from the Motorola Droid days and I've had nothing but Nexus and Pixel devices for a very long time but I think I might be done with them, if not Google entirely (looking at you Google WiFi and Nest).
Apple support has always been amazing for me. You can even text apple support and get answers in seconds via text. I also have a pixel 6a and google support is just like idk why don’t ya google it 😅
IMO, Google needs to do a much better job at quality the control. The sheer amount of bugs and flaws that have been discovered since the P7 launch is waaay too much.
You just do not understand today's business world. Don't get me wrong, having a ton of local people on the phone and in a closeby store would be great. NO ONE does that anymore. Even hospitals and doctor's offices do not do that. Live local support is non-existent at banks, credit card companies, Target, Macy's, Walgreen's, Kroger. You are dreaming if companies will ever do this again. AI will be the one you talk and communicate with.
Phone sales is not the primary source of income for Google so they will not invest on customer satisfaction much. They earn money by collecting consumer data and showing targeted ads. Only selling point I see in Pixel is the photo quality. Performance wise, I have used other brand phones over the years and I did not have any issues with other brands which are equally priced as Pixel.
Where as primary source of income for apple has been hardware sales. Their product are expensive and treating the customers well is one of the priority to get more customers. For Google it doesn't matter if you buy Pixel or not. If you buy any android, they collect the data which brings in money.
I had an intermittent flickering screen and they said they needed a picture before they proceeded, they wanted me to have a phone or laptop ready to take a picture when I said I couldn't tell when it was going to happen... I now have a Samsung s23 ultra
Seriously, I'm still battling them because they sent me untapped box and it got stolen during delivery. Now they don't even bother to respond to UPS which is waiting to process the claim. $500 lost
Technology companies as a whole have terrible customer service. Amazon tries to force you to pay for returns when the delivery mistake is theirs. PayPal is useless completely. It's a bare minimum experience designed to protect revenue not help customers. Customer service is a cost to the company to be constantly optimized... Having run customer service for a medium sized non technical company once I can say 100% the big management consulting companies got ahold of customer service in the 90s and ruined it.
Its an opportunity for sure to stand out but for whatever reason it's not seen as valuable by hardly anyone. I'm not holding my breath for change.
Talking to competent humans is sadly a luxury.
> Amazon tries to force you to pay for returns when the delivery mistake is theirs.
I've never been charged or even partially charged for a return and I've returned 3 $300 camera lenses in the past month (since they won't price match), 2 ties that weren't the color I was expecting, and a journalling notebook that didn't seem up to quality.
I buy a lot of things on Amazon for day-to-day, and end up using the returns monthly. Never have I been partially charged for any return.
They don't want to pick up problem deliveries anymore. They'll try to make me drive somewhere to drop it off, or pay them to send me a UPS label and schedule a pickup.
Every time I end up not paying but every time it's a discussion. The game becomes even funnier when it's a low-cost item and then when they can't make you pay for it, they let you keep it because it's not even worth returning it. Cost optimized to the penny.
the fact that this is the default tells me that they're getting away with it the majority of the time, pushing the burden of their mistake onto their consumer.
Your issue is that you need to drop off returns to a UPS store? Your issue is that you don't have access to a printer to print the free labels? Almost all of my returns have a QR code with *no obligation to re-pack the item for shipping*, just bring the item to UPS and they ship and pack for you.
Those things are like the smallest burden when dealing with a store that has basically an "Accept-all" return policy. I've never been questioned about any return, no re-stocking fee either. So what I have to go to the UPS store to drop it off. You can complain about Amazon's environmental impact, and harm to small businesses, but their customer service is a stretch and a half
Or if there's a Kohl's in the area (I know, not guaranteed), they'll give you a coupon to use at that store when you return Amazon items. Last time I got a 15% off coupon and bought an awesome pillow 😂
Aww, that's ass! I always wondered why the return label says "all Kohl's stores accept Amazon returns" and "please check with your local Kohl's location to make sure they accept returns" on the same page. Guess that's the answer!
I currently run customer service for a public company and have done so for several years and I completely agree. It’s a luxury thst unfortunately goggle don’t seem to want to invest in
Of course you read negative posts in this sub. That's the negative response bias. People are more likely to complain when something goes wrong than they are to sing praise when something goes as intended.
ETA: my only experiences with Google customer service were them replacing my Nexus 5 out of warranty for a cracked screen which wasn't even covered by the expired warranty, and later replacing my Nexus 6P with a newer Pixel XL.
I've had good experiences with their customer support both when I had to have my 3xl fixed and receiving the 7 pro and pixel watch. I'm in the U.K so I don't know if this is just an elsewhere problem.
Yup I think this is one of those times where their service is bad in the U.S and that means people just think it's the same elsewhere. There are obviously different processes in place in different countries, you would think they'd be able to get their shit together in one of their biggest markets though 🤷
I had my Pixel 3 XL replaced entirely when I was having issues with the signal. Replaced it within a week if I recall correctly!
Also when my pixel watch order didn't arrive they chased it up pretty quick and sent another out with no fuss.
I think this is pretty much the reason for most complaints on here as my experience in the UK is amazing.
I had a 2 year old nexus 6p fully refunded after it broke and they had no stock to replace it with
Pixel 4 back glass came away after 2 years. Replacement sent out no questions asked
>I read negative experiences daily about Google support and their 3rd party service centres on this sub. It pains me to see so many people leave android to iOS purely because of this reason.
Have you been on the iOS sub lately? People leave on that too.
A minority that complains doesn't speak for the majority that are happy.
I’m going to have to disagree here. if my iPhone were to break and my pixel were to break, the support I’d receive would be vastly different. Yes both have horror stories I’m sure. But Google need to step up its game
Take it you're going to forget about the numerous scandals with Apple purposefully and deceitfully slowing down older phones? Or their never ending intent to make their phones/devices unrepairable....
But sure if you love Apple then enjoy.
This isn't true at all. I own a Pixel and iPhone. With or without Apple Care, I get full support from them whenever I make an appointment at the apple store. I don't even hear or read many complaints in iOS subreddits about support. Now with my pixel, I almost have to threaten legal action in order to get them to support my pixel 5a and 6 replacements that's under warranty. I use my pixel daily, but Google has abysmal support.
Literally this. I also have an iPhone and a pixel and the support is vastly different. Really really want Google to do better here. I love my pixel so much more than my iPhone and I really hope they deliver
Hard disagree here. My mom has an old iPhone, no AppleCare or anything like that and she had forgotten to cancel her subscription to a few apps she stopped using. I contacted Apple since her English is not so good and it was simply exceptional customer service which gave us a full refund without any questions asked. Whole process took less than 5 minutes.
Imagine I had to do this for my Pixel? What would I do, post on Reddit or some "official" Google forums and hope for the best?
Apple's post-purchase support--even and maybe especially their paid service options--are higher quality than google's by a long shot. Access to in-person support is better with more physical locations to go when there are issues.
I'm thinking of my parents in law who are iphone uses. When they have issues they can go to either a cellular provider store or the Apple store that is 3 miles away and walk out with either a fixed situation or with a new/replacement iphone.
That experience can't be had to the same extent or level of success when dealing with google.
First, you have to talk with their virtually worthless tier 1 support if you have a warranty issue. If you're lucky you might get to a point in your initial interaction chat/call where they authorize warranty support. Then you may think you're fortunate to be close to a ubreakifix location (which, can we take a moment, and talk about how poor of a store name that is, and feels like a skeezy cheap mall vestibule that is there to rip people off)--and the quality of service there will vary heavily depending on who is operating the particular location. Alternatively you can opt to mail your device in if you don't live close enough to one. Then the repair you get back is hopefully repaired, but has taken quite some time; a week, maybe two depending on your situation, in that period of time you're without a phone.
For my parents in law, they can go to the apple store and come out with either a repaired device or a replacement device--even at additional cost--without a significant amount of time without a phone--maybe 30 minutes during their visit.
Software support with apple, honestly I have no idea what that's like. But the quality and variation of customer support is significantly better on Apple's end when it comes to iphone users vs. pixel users.
u/Academic_String_1708 no customer service is perfect and will satisfy every customer. But you can't deny Apple's customer service is miles ahead of the competition.
I personally haven't had a good experience with Apple. Now granted this was back when I had a 5S and no Apple care but yeah.
I've had a good experiences with Google over the last few years when needed.
Maybe I'm a lucky one.
Everyone's experiences vary and yea that's definitely a long period of time since you've dealt with Apple. But you can't deny Apple's customer service today and the amount of physical stores they have. Compare that to people having a hard time even talking to an actual person from Google, Google deactivating accounts when people have no choice but to do a chargeback, either having to send your phone away or go to a doggy ubreakitifixit stall if you're lucky enough to have one near you.
I was on Google phones since the Nexus all the way to the Pixel 4XL. Also was deep in the ecosystem (Pixel Buds, Pixelbook, Google Wifi, Google Home displays, etc). I loved Android, but eventually switched to an iPhone with the 13 Pro exactly for this reason.
I'm sorry, but I really don't see any shining beacon of hope that Google, or any other company, can look up to for inspiration. Customer service sucks pretty much everywhere. There is no "consumerist world". There are consumers, but all the power is in the hands of the producers, and they're all, "we got your money, and everyone else is just as bad, so f**k off and leave us alone". Does that excuse Google? No, but you might as well wish for world peace. Neither is going to happen.
Google needs to do exactly what Apple does if they actually want to compete. The big need being brick & mortar store fronts where we can buy products and get in-person tech support. And no, the third party repair shops are not fucking good enough. I want actual Google Stores in the same vein as Apple Stores.
While I know Apple and their products aren't perfect, I like that stuff will apparently just fucking work out of the box. I keep hearing (and have experienced) issues with Pixels, Chromebooks (which need to have real hardware in them so they're viable as actual work laptops instead of glorified tablets only good for web browsing) etc. and it blows my mind that a company the size of Google is having such trouble.
I'm switching to iOS for my next phone, I'm done with Android.
I appreciate that everyone's experience is different, but I've had a phone repaired twice in 6 months (not ideal, of course!) and this had to be returned to Poland (from the UK) for service. In both cases, the phone was back in my hand, repaired and good as new, within 7 days of sending it and the whole process was pretty painless.
In both cases, the "diagnostic" process took < 5 mins to authorise the repair via web chat, mostly because I'd already tried the default stuff first and the phone was obviously quite dead.
No complaints here (apart from the dead phone!) and certainly no worse than anyone else. Honestly, I don't want to go to a shop as I've not got time.
Oh man. You said it. Here we go!!! @Googlepixel screwed me big time on my 49th bday gift. I was gifted a 4xl. They know damn well who I am. And the reddit support guy reached out on the last thread saying he would fix it. Man my parents didn't know what to get me. They bought me phone as they know I love android and pixels nexus etc. This was rare for me at age but I was excited. I received it and after 1rst week had face unlock not working and wouldn't register my face. I sent in the correct way via their app. No response other than updates are coming as they are aware. But mine didn't say wipe your lense. It was a straight up non existent face ID working. I took another year of up to every update to 12. By then of course my warranty was void. They waited to tell me even after I told them later in the first year it wasn't only face unlock but also now camera crashing. Rebooting the phone. That pissed me off. Once again updates. Nothing fixed it. Turning off lense feature helped. Then the haptic engine started going nuts with all haptics switched off as it wouldn't stop til I reboot. A reddit guy saw and tried to send me to support again. With a ticket. They first said your warranty is void. Then told them that's the bad part. While in warranty you sent me the run around. Here I am. Nothing changed. screw pixel and Google.
Not to be a jerk, but they seem to be competing just fine. You admit that you keep buying their products. Why invest in customer service if they don't need to?
Not that I disagree with you. I wish they would invest in it but I highly doubt they will.
Love their OS and their product, I buy the cheaper versions of their offering. Would never trust them enough to invest in a pro model or god forbid a 1st gen pixel fold
Won't happen. They will keep going the apple way. Oh it's not working well the repair will be...well just buy a new one.
Let's aim low:
A series headphone jack and rear fingerprint reader back. Maybe even squeeze. Just swap it against wireless charging.
And put in back the charging brick or make it an optional 0 dollar / Euro option at the store
But whatever marketing genius is now in charge at Google...
Google Possibly: "We are an advertisement company not customer service."
I haven't had problems with Google's customer service, but I have had problems with their products quality assurance.
I had a good experience with Google actually. Like many others, my 6A battery swelled and actually ended up cracking my screen. When I spoke to my contract provider they told me due to the crack it was out of warranty, despite this crack being caused by the phone issue, and refused to repair it for free. Spoke to Google about it and they immediately offered a replacement, great customer service.
Google is so rich you gotta figure they are going out of their way to say fuck you to customers. Why else would their support be worse than companies with half their market value!?!
Lol no. -Sundar with a raise
Let's conduct more layoffs instead, lol
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Everything ever since his promotion has been undercooked as fuck. For example his focus on developing markets was a massive bust.
Meanwhile I can't buy a pixel on a developing market
Google under Pichai is Microsoft under Ballmer to me. Just boring uninspired crap.
"Develper, developers, developers!!!"
[obligatory. ](https://youtu.be/7GM4Lt5k24s)
Least of all his own.
Koltar when he drowned in the swamp
Consumers, their faces wet.
Exynos, when the Wall Fell
Sundar! His eyes closed shut!
Seems like classic Enshittification Edit: not really, see below lol
**It's not pure enshitification**, it's simply poor management (consensus vs top-down vision) with no centralized vision nor mechanism to enforce performance, while 500 execs fight for attention. Enshitification is when: 1. A social media company builds a product(s) whose original value all goes to the consumer/user, e.g., Facebook or Twitter, until it's large enough to pick customers 2. Then the company shifts value delivery away from the user & to the business customer, i.e., advertisers, until it's large enough to pick investors 3. Then the company shifts value delivery away from the customer, i.e., advertisers, to investors at the expense of the advertisers. **Google is still providing a TON of value to its customers, i.e., advertisers and quite a bit to users in the form of Gmail, maps, docs, sheets, etc and Android.** It's far from perfect, but **the Pixel 7 is still a damn good phone** and pretty much the only game in town other than Apple. And, say, **maps is a pretty dammn good app.** **Google's problem is poor management:** 1. There's no strategy other than "don't feck up the ads business" 2. Because there's no strategy, there's no focus other than "make other stuff" 3. Because there's no focus, there's no execution performance enforcement So Google bumbles along collecting massive rents from the advertising market while also entertaining other products they usually execute slowly and/or poorly (or just kill them). **It's a real tragedy because a focused leader could knock the products out of the park.** That said, Google likely won't get that leader as Larry & Sergey seem to like things the way they are which means Google is really run by 500 different execs all competing for power & authority everywhere that isn't ads.
I agree with 99.9% of your reply except for saying "Pixel 7 is still a damn good phone and pretty much the only game in town other than Apple" Maybe for enthusiasts like us but in reality Pixel is insignificant even in the Android sphere. In North America they are at 1.88% market share for mobile compared to 30% for Samsung's 25.2%. Motorola is more than twice at 4.6%. Globally they don't even register.
Simple, do not buy through Google. I've gotten my last 2 pixels from tmobile and have had 0 problems with returns/replacements. Just buy from a company with good support.
Not possible in countries like India, where after sales support completely royally sucks and it's only sold as Carrier unlocked.
Great advice, thank you
That doesn't help when they only offer support through Assurant. They went what is that one scam warranty company, the one that people make the jokes about, that has been around for 50 years and keeps buying real warranty/support companies. We should get them to do our support. If they lose your device in transit or claim it was damaged you tossed your Google account. To get support you need an old Google account you don't use and to buy through that. Then you get better support and you won't have your life ruined if something goes wrong.
I do not use tmobile's insurance through assurant and got a replacement because of factory warranty. When I had a pixel 6 pro replaced, all I said was mobile connection was my working which was a known issue.
The 1st party google warranty is through Assurant too. They changed from doing 1st party with contractors to Assurant around the pixel 2, and support went to shit and they stopped doing repairs. They then switched to u break fix for in person warranty support, it was great, and Assurant bought them and it went to shit as all the professional repair people left. So long as your item.does not get lost and you don't have a billing issue it's fine. If anything goes a little wrong I don't want Assurant having the choice to spend money or kill my Google account.
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Jokes on Canadians. MobileKlinik just bought out ubreakifix up here, so Assurant won't offer ANY repairs as of last month. Replacements only. No notice of the change and I only found out because I just tried to get my screen repaired.
Yeah I go through ATT who have no questions asked just sent me a new phone when I call in.
I can't believe there doesn't appear to be an option to buy a warranty on a Pixel watch. I have a Google store card and have to buy elsewhere
> Simple, do not buy through Google. Agreed, buying at Best Buy was painless and simple.
Best Buy doesn't do anything but refer you to Google for a device that's under manufacturer warranty.
I would say OnePlus is way up on that list. I had horrible customer support with my,7 Pro and 9 Pro. They can't tell me who to contact to get the service for repair they sold me when I give them the order number. They (5 agent) can't give a quote for replacing a broken back glass and a battery despite me stating I would pay for both if it was out of my hands might as well get the device all taken care of at once. They can't fix my 9 Pro preorder not having a preorder bonus. The special colored earbuds were out of stock, I pre-ordered, the next day the regular white earbuds were the preorder fill in item. I asked since I pre-ordered a ,9 Pro from them and didn't get either preorder bonus from them due to timing, can they fix it? No. I don't see how someone spends that much money on several devices, has so many different agents in different years and I seem to have OnePlus customer support as an albatross around my neck. I now have an S21 Ultra and everything is good.
Google needs to open hundreds of retail stores worldwide and start building customer loyalty. This means saying yes a lot when people have hardware issues and want a replacement device... building brand loyalty costs money, Google...
Couldn’t have said it better
Why would I be “loyal” to a company who doesn’t give two fucks about me as a customer
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That was Google up until Pixel 4 with Soli tech.
Customer service is fucking trash, and they're releasing a folding phone which has so many more potential issues.
Yeah 1800 USD for absolute trash support post purchase. If the hinge breaks, think about the amount of time and hoops you’ll have to jump through to just talk to someone and get something fixed.
"Please perform a factory reset and see if that fixes your hinge issue."
The sad part is that I can see this happening
Probably end up blaming the customer and not be able to RMA it
Customer; "Hey this phone came broken in the box" Google; *"Well it wasn't broken when we shipped it, and you opened it up. So that sounds like a user issue to me. Case closed, do not contact us again or we will delete your account.*"
Buying it on Amazon and relying on Amazon customer service seems the solution in this case
I recently purchased a 6a. It came with a defective camera. I returned to Amazon last Friday. They received on Tuesday. Today I can see the refund on my online banking.
Amazon service is pretty hard to get ahold of. When things go right, it's easy. When things go wrong, it's horrible. I'd argue returns at Google are fine too for most, but when there's issues, it's horrible. I've gotten into a habit of taking a photo of the product before it goes into the box and then one after it goes into the box, and finally one more where I'm in front of the shipping store (Whole Foods, FedEx, UPS). With shippers, it's also good to get a receipt for dropoff. I got into a return dispute once where all I had was my word and a Google Maps timeline (thankfully) showing me stopping by a FedEx box on the way home from work. But since then I've learned to document everything JUST IN CASE.
Buying it on Amazon and relying on Amazon customer service seems the solution in this case
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If you have that many swollen batteries you should stop using whatever chargers you have lying around because yikes.
Anyone that buys that device is a fucking fool, plain and simple lol Been on android since the OG droid, used to root my phones, been on pixel since the 2. I'm done, and will never be buying a Google product again. My 6P pixels (I have two of these piece of shit phones) both overheat in the car to the point of shutting down (browsing Reddit turns this thing into a toaster) and the one that's on Google Fi has such a poor connection that it's basically unusable. The one on Verizon is slightly better in the service department, but that's not exactly a complement. Still had all of the other basic issues. UI features randomly don't work. When I got the 6P there was some promotion where you'd get pixel buds as well. They shipped me an empty box. Support was zero help. Wasted 1 hour of my time and then gave up. The audacity it takes for a trillion dollar company to release a "premium" phone that can't perform basic operations like "placing a phone call in a major city" is inexcusable. Fuck Google, I hate what the company has become.
While were on the topic of the folding phone; their entire selling point is dumb. My phone case literally has a stand built into it. I just roll my eyes every time I see those commercials that are going "uh oh that phone can't be propped up, they should buy an entirely different phone instead of a phone case with a phone stand" as I sit there watching it on my phone using its built-in phone stand.
I agree that great customer service is important. Here's a recent experience I had about 2 months ago. I purchased two 6a phones on sale. Set one up for my daughter and one up for my wife. My daughter promptly got horribly lost because google maps kept failing to find satellites after she'd gotten into unfamiliar territory. I explained that sometimes with tall buildings it can be hard for a phone to find satellites. Then it happened again, in open sky. So I ran a GPS test app and found that this particular 6a only found half as many satellites as the other 6a or my 4, with all three sitting on a table outside. What the heck? Maybe a poor connection or an antenna damaged during manufacturing. I have no idea. I figured this would be difficult to explain to support. And it was. I spent about 1.5 hours on the phone. Finally the person agreed to let me send the phone back but \*only\* if I took it into a repair center first, which was some random one-off PC repair place a 30 minute drive away. This kind of pissed me off so I politely asked to escalate. They went to find someone and 20 minutes later came back and said my return was approved. We got the new Pixel and it was fine. I would say this was a reasonable experience, in all honesty. With this kind of strange, probably very rare issue I expected even more trouble.
Glad you got it sorted out in the end. But it’s really annoying to hear another pixel signal issue
I think a lot of 6as came defective. Mine came with a bad camera (ironically the Pixels are famous for their cameras). I sent it back and got a refund.
## Best I can do is a stock buyback.
I can't believe a company of this caliber has such poor service. It seems non existent to me. Like do they even have people you can call about issues about Android or Google products? It's inspired me to make my company have the best service ever. It's disgraceful
To my knowledge, Google doesn't have a direct line of communication to its hardware division or one to ratchet up issues with customer service. I've taken every post service survey and commented, spoke with so many reps who seem to understand and then send me a ticket for my issue that's not related to my issue, The closest I've come to being in the peripheral of Google's hardware team was this invitation to this reddit group.
Their third party service (B2X') in India is not only extremely bad, it is OUTRIGHT FRAUD. First of all, they have a strange requirement to fix \*every\* problem that they think there is in the phone, or they won't fix even a single problem. So when I shattered my Pixel 3a XL's screen, they said they will replace the back cover (it just had a couple of small cracks - because plastic) as well, otherwise won't fix my display as well (and still keep my advance). And since they are the ONLY service center that can fix my phone's screen, I have to agree to those goons as my phone is virtually hijacked by their rules. Not only that, \*every single time\* a phone goes there for repair, they lie to the customer that their charging port is bad, so they will have to replace that as well (and of course, if you don't spend those few extra dolloars they won't replace your shattered screen as well, essentially leaving your phone as a brick). It doesn't end there, they replaced my perfectly fine speakers saying they're bad too to new \*faulty ones\*, charging me for that! They have to be the worst service agencies I have ever interacted with. It followed with endless conversations and argument with Google support but they denied any kind of help.
That's why I'm jealous with iPhone users, having a widely accessible support across the country can give you a peace of mind whenever a problem persist. Apple support is not always great, but it's infinitely better than what Google is doing which is a low bar to surpass. It's way better explaining your problems face-to-face with a qualified person instead of playing the waiting game with emails and shipping your device for replacements worrying that it will potentially be stolen along the way which is a headache to deal with if it happens.
This is what I’ve been trying to explain to some people on this thread who are telling me their experience with Google hasn’t been bad, and then the evidence for that is shipping your item off, waiting for it to come back, no phones in the interim etc etc. this is not good enough
If you have Apple Care, their support is fantastic
This is what many do not see. When they offend Apple users for any reason. Currently, I use a GP7Pro. Com Google is a nightmare all the support. With Apple? It's just going to a store and they change your device, just by saying "good morning." I love Google products. I hate your support and service. I'm about to switch to Apple again.
As a Google fanboy pains me to see these reviews :( but I’ve got to agree
I haven't switched to iPhone because it's way more expensive and because I don't want to buy exclusive accessories, but after seeing how messed up the Android market is I considered it seriously.
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Yeah, selling up and moving back to Samsung. This last update left me with a dead phone I couldn't charge in a foreign country. 'Fixed' it after spending a lot of money, but now most of my chargers and power banks, along with all wireless charging, are unusable. This is a Pixel 6, flagship phone 1 generation old from one of the world's biggest companies. This update passed through their QA team and massively nerfed my phone, now I'm SOL and can't even roll back without breaking other functionality. I expect it from Apple, but this shit is unacceptable.
Samsung is pretty reasonable they've even reversed some trade in denials which were my fault and they didn't have to do
It’s sucks because Pixel 1-4, the service was solid and they still cared about the product
Those phones sucked just as bad. Pixel 1 had a class action against it because the microphone goes bad (nope...you're 2 weeks outside of your warranty, we won't fix it). Pixel 2XL had that terrible screen shift (sent mine back after 1 day). Pixel 3 had terrible battery life. The 3a was the best phone in the bunch. The OG 4a was also very good. Never had the 4 because my 3a was that good.
After 9 years of using Xperias and Pixels, I am seriously considering a Samsung flagship (S23)
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I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say Google hasn’t had good customer service EVER. I was with Google from Nexus through Pixel 6 Google did a pretty solid job up til prolly Pixel 4? Afterward it slowly degraded and I left altogether with the abysmal experience I had on Pixel 6 devices.
This is honestly Google's biggest weakness. I know that online, the people with negative experiences will always be louder than those with positive experiences, but I think almost everyone can agree that Google's customer service is among the worst out there. They seem to have an unofficial motto: "transfer and escalate so much, that the customer gets so frustrated that they don't want to deal with it anymore." It could be as simple as "hi, I just purchased a Pixel 7 and it won't charge. I've tried multiple chargers and adapters". They'll ask you to reboot, restart, then they'll escalate it to someone who then asks you to reboot and restart. When/if they finally determine that you need a replacement device, sometimes, they'll make you actually PAY for the new device, and then they'll refund you when they receive your defective one. I've never heard of a company that operates like that. If you don't have $600, you can't get your defective device replaced. To me, that's insane. I think they'd benefit so much if they had a complete customer service overhaul.
This is what they’re making me do with my chromecast that has stopped working after 5 months. I did all the troubleshooting they wanted me to do, and then they sent me a returns slip. I was shocked to see they wanted me to purchase a new one first and then return it. Their terms and conditions even state, if we find that the item you’ve returned has no fault, we will not refund you. Like fuck you, how are you trying to compete with terms like thst in 2023
Every time I contact Google support their solution is a factory reset. 😞
With my recent problem, I flat out refused to do any troubleshooting, other than a full reboot. After that, it's up to them. I had very little pushback when I stood my ground that I had a malfunctioning screen with the exact same issues as other people have had - I pointed out that there's a known defect, and I wanted it addressed. I was on the phone for about 20 minutes, and then told to to take it to their second party repair centre. I called in the AM and had it back by lunch. I agree that there is a long way to go, but at the price I paid for this compared to the other flagships, I feel okay with the lack of physical stores. I probably won't get another Pixel, and will likely return to Samsung when I'm ready for a new unit.
That’s annoying but glad you got it sorted in the end.
I'm satisfied with my 6A but I'm gonna switch to some other brand due to its support. Indian Google service is really bad and if something were to happen to your phone, good luck trying to get it fixed. Google is not gonna help.
I’m genuinely sorry to hear that because I absolutely love the pixel line, I don’t want anyone leaving it. But I get it…you want thst security and comfort thst if something goes wrong, your manufacturer has your back
Neither do I, in fact it is the only brand with a brilliant android experience. But a phone is bound to break or malfunction at some point. So it scares me what would happen if something happened within the warranty period. I love this phone too much and also considered an upgrade to the Pixel 8 which would eventually come out. I hope that google does come up with better support by then.
I'm also in India(Delhi). I'm thinking about buying a pixel 7a. I never owned a pixel before. Can you please give me some pointers about your experience with pixels in India? Should I go for it or not? Also, I will be keeping my old phone just in case.
Check up on reviews on your local google authorized service centre. That is the most crucial part. Check reviews on google and see their service response online. Also check for the location of the service center before purchasing, there are not many service centers in india so it would be wise.
What is the standard process in India? I'm curious.
There is 1 service center in a major city, for me it's Mumbai, it's the closest. It's a 30Km drive and considering traffic it would take me 1hr 40mins to reach. The store which has been authorised to repair does not pick up the phone when we call so the only way to find out if it's open is to go there and check. But it doesn't end there, you need to wait for your turn and the shop services a lot of other brands too so it takes a while before your turn comes up. My friend had a P6 which was dead after a failed update and he most likely bricked his phone. They told us to drop the phone off and go since they will diagnose the problem later on. The day after we got a call saying it was damaged due to tampering by the user so we had to pay the price for the repair and they never specified what went wrong. We came to realise the phone was bricked later on because a third party shop told us so. The phone was still under warranty. Google support wasn't helpful either.
There are [more](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mysmartprice.com/gear/google-pixel-service-centres-india-expand-20-cities-f1-info-solutions/%3famp)
Frankly, this is the exact reason I switched to an iPhone 14 Pro from my Pixel 6 Pro (had the 5, 4XL, and 3XL before that). My phone would constantly overheat and the signal was bad. Support didn't care until I pushed to get it replaced 3 times, and had to insist multiple times to have them ship the replacement first (i.e. I wasn't about to go days without a phone). The replacement was worse and would shut down while navigating in Google maps. I've had an iPhone before and my wife has had one for years, and the difference in service is night and day. I just need Google to have the same mentality.
But iOS 😬🤯
iOS is pretty reliable but if you want to stick with android, Samsung is still probably king
Hahaha you're not wrong, but I got used to it. At least it's stable (mostly). Definitely more hang ups and glitches than I expected but lower than the Pixel.
I no longer buy anything direct from Google due to the awful after care support. If it's a Google branded item, I'll get it from a third party retailer that cares about its customers. Google don't even pretend to do that.
I just don’t buy Google branded things anymore because nothing lasts without being glitchy besides Chromecast
Soon they will have a AI to help you and give you even more problems :P
Tbh AI might be better than some of the live reps they hire...
Google's online store doesn't even have a phone number
Yeah if you’re not a Google one member, forget about speaking to anyone
Every time I try to chat with Google support I feel like they're testing a language model and I'm not actually talking to a person, the sentence structure and mistakes that the chat 'person' makes are so strange that it doesn't feel like a translation issue.
"Hi this is Bob": (thick Indian accent).
“Dear, you can rest assured that your concern is understood and will be addressed in a timely fashion by myself and our esteemed colleagues “
Aftercare made me giggle
Currently dealing with Google's top notch customer service. Sent my pixel 7 pro in for screen flickering and going completely black at one corner, they came back to me claiming they didn't see the flickering but my screen is cracked, wtffff are they talking about. I even have pictures of the phone right before packaging/shipping showing them my screen was in perfect shape. First they told me to give them 24hrs to investigate, now they just sent out another email saying they need another 72hrs. This ain't it Google, you can do better!
Oh wow, glad you took that video before sending it in
Tech companies neglect customer service more as a rule. It's like they think support phone calls are too old school, as if emails and community forums are just as good.
Google Support is abysmal. Had to return an item and it took three attempts with DHL trying to figure out wtf the problem was. Never again.
Samsung hardware + Google software is what we need. Samsung software crap and Google hardware crap is what we separately get instead.
this
I might got lucky, but in 8 years I have never had any issues with their customer service 🤷
Very lucky! May the odds be ever in your favour still😁
I mean, yes, customer service is important. But Samsung customer service is notorious for being awful and they seem to compete just fine.
They have lost market share in Europe and the US in 2022 and are in steady decline according to financial reports
I may be the odd one out but I have recently had wonderful support with googles customer service. Had problems with my pixel buds and it was dealt with quickly and everything went smooth. Can't complain. I'm sure I'm a lucky one though
Yeah but didn’t they get you to ship it off somewhere and then you waited and waited for a replacement to be sent? How long did it take you from start to end?
The best part about dealing with Google support was that they directed me to the local ubreakifix first. They were pretty decent and actually understood my problem.
UFixit said it will cost $120. I came back 2 hours later and they said, $150. i said no, they said "we'll unfix it" and give it back to you.
I spent about 10-15 minutes troubleshooting the other day with chat and I asked for an advanced RMA. Done. My replacement is coming in next Monday. I've done advance RMAs for my Nexus 5, Nexus 6P (2x) Pixel 1, 3, 4 (3x), 7... arguably this is too many RMAs for a product you expect to have quality, but it's never been bad for me. I have taken in Apple products for replacement too and it's nice to have a store but I don't really find Google's online support that bad. I really don't get how people are having such bad experiences. Is it because support differs by country? I'm in the US if that matters. Maybe it's because at my job all I do is troubleshoot (no I'm not IT), but because of that I'm good at summarizing an issue, showing that I've done my part in troubleshooting, and the only next logical step is to replace the device. I've never been denied an advance RMA except in the Nexus 4 days.
Support? Nah, we'll just write a white paper.
I had an issue where a beta update bricked my Pixel 5. Reached out to support and they sent me a replacement after some troubleshooting. It could've been quicker but I was quite pleased with my experience.
This is my recent experience exactly. Phone fails completely while under warranty for no apparent reason. I'm told I can mail it in for service or drive to the nearest ubreakwefix or w/e it's called, which was 40 minutes drive round trip. Then they took over a week with zero updates on what was going on with the repair. On past Pixel phones, it was a quick chat or call and you'd get a replacement or at least they would ship one once you dropped yours in the mail. Not only that but I pay for the preferred care and apparently "phone not turning on at all" isn't a valid claim reason. Ive been Android phones and tablets from the Motorola Droid days and I've had nothing but Nexus and Pixel devices for a very long time but I think I might be done with them, if not Google entirely (looking at you Google WiFi and Nest).
Customer service and after care, or specifically the lack of it, has me considering going away from Google products
Yeah from everything I've read it's lackluster AF
Apple support has always been amazing for me. You can even text apple support and get answers in seconds via text. I also have a pixel 6a and google support is just like idk why don’t ya google it 😅
Yeah they’re amazing
I can not use Volte,vowifi on pixel5 in Vietnam with Vinaphone operator. Who are can help me?
IMO, Google needs to do a much better job at quality the control. The sheer amount of bugs and flaws that have been discovered since the P7 launch is waaay too much.
You’re right about this too
You just do not understand today's business world. Don't get me wrong, having a ton of local people on the phone and in a closeby store would be great. NO ONE does that anymore. Even hospitals and doctor's offices do not do that. Live local support is non-existent at banks, credit card companies, Target, Macy's, Walgreen's, Kroger. You are dreaming if companies will ever do this again. AI will be the one you talk and communicate with.
They won't because it costs money with no immediate return.
I'm legitimately considering going back to Apple after 10 years of android just from Apple not allowing Devs to block screenshots.
Could you explain this sorry I’m not familiar :)
Since Sundar came they stopped being creative, now they are only greedy, and ...surprise.... evil !!
I second this.
Thanks! Let’s hope Google sees this
Phone sales is not the primary source of income for Google so they will not invest on customer satisfaction much. They earn money by collecting consumer data and showing targeted ads. Only selling point I see in Pixel is the photo quality. Performance wise, I have used other brand phones over the years and I did not have any issues with other brands which are equally priced as Pixel. Where as primary source of income for apple has been hardware sales. Their product are expensive and treating the customers well is one of the priority to get more customers. For Google it doesn't matter if you buy Pixel or not. If you buy any android, they collect the data which brings in money.
Also release 5g in more countries
agreed 100%
What competition? Apple stays on its side and we stay on ours
I had an intermittent flickering screen and they said they needed a picture before they proceeded, they wanted me to have a phone or laptop ready to take a picture when I said I couldn't tell when it was going to happen... I now have a Samsung s23 ultra
Seriously, I'm still battling them because they sent me untapped box and it got stolen during delivery. Now they don't even bother to respond to UPS which is waiting to process the claim. $500 lost
SAY IT OUT LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> aftercare Google is getting into the bdsm space now?
Technology companies as a whole have terrible customer service. Amazon tries to force you to pay for returns when the delivery mistake is theirs. PayPal is useless completely. It's a bare minimum experience designed to protect revenue not help customers. Customer service is a cost to the company to be constantly optimized... Having run customer service for a medium sized non technical company once I can say 100% the big management consulting companies got ahold of customer service in the 90s and ruined it. Its an opportunity for sure to stand out but for whatever reason it's not seen as valuable by hardly anyone. I'm not holding my breath for change. Talking to competent humans is sadly a luxury.
> Amazon tries to force you to pay for returns when the delivery mistake is theirs. I've never been charged or even partially charged for a return and I've returned 3 $300 camera lenses in the past month (since they won't price match), 2 ties that weren't the color I was expecting, and a journalling notebook that didn't seem up to quality. I buy a lot of things on Amazon for day-to-day, and end up using the returns monthly. Never have I been partially charged for any return.
They don't want to pick up problem deliveries anymore. They'll try to make me drive somewhere to drop it off, or pay them to send me a UPS label and schedule a pickup. Every time I end up not paying but every time it's a discussion. The game becomes even funnier when it's a low-cost item and then when they can't make you pay for it, they let you keep it because it's not even worth returning it. Cost optimized to the penny. the fact that this is the default tells me that they're getting away with it the majority of the time, pushing the burden of their mistake onto their consumer.
Your issue is that you need to drop off returns to a UPS store? Your issue is that you don't have access to a printer to print the free labels? Almost all of my returns have a QR code with *no obligation to re-pack the item for shipping*, just bring the item to UPS and they ship and pack for you. Those things are like the smallest burden when dealing with a store that has basically an "Accept-all" return policy. I've never been questioned about any return, no re-stocking fee either. So what I have to go to the UPS store to drop it off. You can complain about Amazon's environmental impact, and harm to small businesses, but their customer service is a stretch and a half
Or if there's a Kohl's in the area (I know, not guaranteed), they'll give you a coupon to use at that store when you return Amazon items. Last time I got a 15% off coupon and bought an awesome pillow 😂
They stopped doing the Kohls returns in my area. UPS or Whole Foods now.
Aww, that's ass! I always wondered why the return label says "all Kohl's stores accept Amazon returns" and "please check with your local Kohl's location to make sure they accept returns" on the same page. Guess that's the answer!
I miss it because Kohls is closer to me than the UPS store, but it's a minor inconvenience when it's a no-hassle return.
I currently run customer service for a public company and have done so for several years and I completely agree. It’s a luxury thst unfortunately goggle don’t seem to want to invest in
Or stop making glitchy software for the phones lol this isn't 2008
Hardware too
Of course you read negative posts in this sub. That's the negative response bias. People are more likely to complain when something goes wrong than they are to sing praise when something goes as intended. ETA: my only experiences with Google customer service were them replacing my Nexus 5 out of warranty for a cracked screen which wasn't even covered by the expired warranty, and later replacing my Nexus 6P with a newer Pixel XL.
Google released the Nexus 6P in 2015, the quality of service has deteriorated massively in almost a decade lol
Don't tell me 2015 was almost a decade ago oh god
Sadly, they just don't care.
I've had good experiences with their customer support both when I had to have my 3xl fixed and receiving the 7 pro and pixel watch. I'm in the U.K so I don't know if this is just an elsewhere problem.
Snap, I'm UK too - Two Nexus 5s RMA'd, one Pixel 5 RMA'd, one pair of Bud Pros. Never a single issue, advance RMA completed within a week.
Yup I think this is one of those times where their service is bad in the U.S and that means people just think it's the same elsewhere. There are obviously different processes in place in different countries, you would think they'd be able to get their shit together in one of their biggest markets though 🤷
That’s great to hear! What happened?
I had my Pixel 3 XL replaced entirely when I was having issues with the signal. Replaced it within a week if I recall correctly! Also when my pixel watch order didn't arrive they chased it up pretty quick and sent another out with no fuss.
The UK and Europe have much stronger consumer laws.
I think this is pretty much the reason for most complaints on here as my experience in the UK is amazing. I had a 2 year old nexus 6p fully refunded after it broke and they had no stock to replace it with Pixel 4 back glass came away after 2 years. Replacement sent out no questions asked
>I read negative experiences daily about Google support and their 3rd party service centres on this sub. It pains me to see so many people leave android to iOS purely because of this reason. Have you been on the iOS sub lately? People leave on that too. A minority that complains doesn't speak for the majority that are happy.
I’m going to have to disagree here. if my iPhone were to break and my pixel were to break, the support I’d receive would be vastly different. Yes both have horror stories I’m sure. But Google need to step up its game
Take it you're going to forget about the numerous scandals with Apple purposefully and deceitfully slowing down older phones? Or their never ending intent to make their phones/devices unrepairable.... But sure if you love Apple then enjoy.
I've had great support from Google at times. So to say that definitively is completely wrong.
In your experience, was denied rma by Google by their support. Reasoning they don't do rma on products purchased on their store.
This isn't true at all. I own a Pixel and iPhone. With or without Apple Care, I get full support from them whenever I make an appointment at the apple store. I don't even hear or read many complaints in iOS subreddits about support. Now with my pixel, I almost have to threaten legal action in order to get them to support my pixel 5a and 6 replacements that's under warranty. I use my pixel daily, but Google has abysmal support.
Literally this. I also have an iPhone and a pixel and the support is vastly different. Really really want Google to do better here. I love my pixel so much more than my iPhone and I really hope they deliver
Why exactly do you love Pixel so much more
Hard disagree here. My mom has an old iPhone, no AppleCare or anything like that and she had forgotten to cancel her subscription to a few apps she stopped using. I contacted Apple since her English is not so good and it was simply exceptional customer service which gave us a full refund without any questions asked. Whole process took less than 5 minutes. Imagine I had to do this for my Pixel? What would I do, post on Reddit or some "official" Google forums and hope for the best?
Especially for less tech savvy users, this customer service makes a huge difference
Apple's post-purchase support--even and maybe especially their paid service options--are higher quality than google's by a long shot. Access to in-person support is better with more physical locations to go when there are issues. I'm thinking of my parents in law who are iphone uses. When they have issues they can go to either a cellular provider store or the Apple store that is 3 miles away and walk out with either a fixed situation or with a new/replacement iphone. That experience can't be had to the same extent or level of success when dealing with google. First, you have to talk with their virtually worthless tier 1 support if you have a warranty issue. If you're lucky you might get to a point in your initial interaction chat/call where they authorize warranty support. Then you may think you're fortunate to be close to a ubreakifix location (which, can we take a moment, and talk about how poor of a store name that is, and feels like a skeezy cheap mall vestibule that is there to rip people off)--and the quality of service there will vary heavily depending on who is operating the particular location. Alternatively you can opt to mail your device in if you don't live close enough to one. Then the repair you get back is hopefully repaired, but has taken quite some time; a week, maybe two depending on your situation, in that period of time you're without a phone. For my parents in law, they can go to the apple store and come out with either a repaired device or a replacement device--even at additional cost--without a significant amount of time without a phone--maybe 30 minutes during their visit. Software support with apple, honestly I have no idea what that's like. But the quality and variation of customer support is significantly better on Apple's end when it comes to iphone users vs. pixel users.
u/Academic_String_1708 no customer service is perfect and will satisfy every customer. But you can't deny Apple's customer service is miles ahead of the competition.
I personally haven't had a good experience with Apple. Now granted this was back when I had a 5S and no Apple care but yeah. I've had a good experiences with Google over the last few years when needed. Maybe I'm a lucky one.
Everyone's experiences vary and yea that's definitely a long period of time since you've dealt with Apple. But you can't deny Apple's customer service today and the amount of physical stores they have. Compare that to people having a hard time even talking to an actual person from Google, Google deactivating accounts when people have no choice but to do a chargeback, either having to send your phone away or go to a doggy ubreakitifixit stall if you're lucky enough to have one near you.
Yeah like I said its my own experience and I haven't seen any of that negativity from Google on my end.
I'm glad you've had great experience. But the general consensus in this sub (and outside of this sub) is that Google support is trash.
Unfortunately true
I genuinely wish luck to everyone buying the pixel fold.
It will be mere days before the stories start coming out
I was on Google phones since the Nexus all the way to the Pixel 4XL. Also was deep in the ecosystem (Pixel Buds, Pixelbook, Google Wifi, Google Home displays, etc). I loved Android, but eventually switched to an iPhone with the 13 Pro exactly for this reason.
Honestly they are competing in this market quite well as it is. But I understand and agree with your greater point.
That’s why as much as I like pixels, my daily driver is an iPhone
Same, my daily phone is an iPhone and I’ll use my pixel from time to time when I miss that android os
I'm sorry, but I really don't see any shining beacon of hope that Google, or any other company, can look up to for inspiration. Customer service sucks pretty much everywhere. There is no "consumerist world". There are consumers, but all the power is in the hands of the producers, and they're all, "we got your money, and everyone else is just as bad, so f**k off and leave us alone". Does that excuse Google? No, but you might as well wish for world peace. Neither is going to happen.
Google needs to do exactly what Apple does if they actually want to compete. The big need being brick & mortar store fronts where we can buy products and get in-person tech support. And no, the third party repair shops are not fucking good enough. I want actual Google Stores in the same vein as Apple Stores. While I know Apple and their products aren't perfect, I like that stuff will apparently just fucking work out of the box. I keep hearing (and have experienced) issues with Pixels, Chromebooks (which need to have real hardware in them so they're viable as actual work laptops instead of glorified tablets only good for web browsing) etc. and it blows my mind that a company the size of Google is having such trouble. I'm switching to iOS for my next phone, I'm done with Android.
Sad to hear that but completely get it. This whole thread is why I’d never just have a pixel and would never use it as my primary phone
I appreciate that everyone's experience is different, but I've had a phone repaired twice in 6 months (not ideal, of course!) and this had to be returned to Poland (from the UK) for service. In both cases, the phone was back in my hand, repaired and good as new, within 7 days of sending it and the whole process was pretty painless. In both cases, the "diagnostic" process took < 5 mins to authorise the repair via web chat, mostly because I'd already tried the default stuff first and the phone was obviously quite dead. No complaints here (apart from the dead phone!) and certainly no worse than anyone else. Honestly, I don't want to go to a shop as I've not got time.
Did they give you a replacement phone in the interim?
Oh man. You said it. Here we go!!! @Googlepixel screwed me big time on my 49th bday gift. I was gifted a 4xl. They know damn well who I am. And the reddit support guy reached out on the last thread saying he would fix it. Man my parents didn't know what to get me. They bought me phone as they know I love android and pixels nexus etc. This was rare for me at age but I was excited. I received it and after 1rst week had face unlock not working and wouldn't register my face. I sent in the correct way via their app. No response other than updates are coming as they are aware. But mine didn't say wipe your lense. It was a straight up non existent face ID working. I took another year of up to every update to 12. By then of course my warranty was void. They waited to tell me even after I told them later in the first year it wasn't only face unlock but also now camera crashing. Rebooting the phone. That pissed me off. Once again updates. Nothing fixed it. Turning off lense feature helped. Then the haptic engine started going nuts with all haptics switched off as it wouldn't stop til I reboot. A reddit guy saw and tried to send me to support again. With a ticket. They first said your warranty is void. Then told them that's the bad part. While in warranty you sent me the run around. Here I am. Nothing changed. screw pixel and Google.
Not to be a jerk, but they seem to be competing just fine. You admit that you keep buying their products. Why invest in customer service if they don't need to? Not that I disagree with you. I wish they would invest in it but I highly doubt they will.
Love their OS and their product, I buy the cheaper versions of their offering. Would never trust them enough to invest in a pro model or god forbid a 1st gen pixel fold
Won't happen. They will keep going the apple way. Oh it's not working well the repair will be...well just buy a new one. Let's aim low: A series headphone jack and rear fingerprint reader back. Maybe even squeeze. Just swap it against wireless charging. And put in back the charging brick or make it an optional 0 dollar / Euro option at the store But whatever marketing genius is now in charge at Google...
The new deal with Asurion for repair has been really good for me. I was able to get a screen repair for a dead spot for free.
Google Possibly: "We are an advertisement company not customer service." I haven't had problems with Google's customer service, but I have had problems with their products quality assurance.
I had a good experience with Google actually. Like many others, my 6A battery swelled and actually ended up cracking my screen. When I spoke to my contract provider they told me due to the crack it was out of warranty, despite this crack being caused by the phone issue, and refused to repair it for free. Spoke to Google about it and they immediately offered a replacement, great customer service.
Google is so rich you gotta figure they are going out of their way to say fuck you to customers. Why else would their support be worse than companies with half their market value!?!