Google Fi support goes silent after admitting coverage is “nonexistent” in area | Hacker News Reader

Google Fi support goes silent after admitting coverage is “nonexistent” in area

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41 pointsnewbie78916 comments

(OP here) My experience here has been absolutely ridiculous.

Every support person told me that I have a compatible device and full LTE coverage.

I’ve spent days dealing with them including ordering a new SIM card, rebooting my phone multiple times after they’ve made mysterious “adjustments to my account”, being asked if my phone was unlocked (which is in itself kind of confusing. If it weren’t, wouldn’t I be v unable to send or receive a text at all? Which by the way does work with a multiple minute lag.), etc. and then I was told that what the previous support people saw as “full 4G LTE coverage” was actually “virtually nonexistent coverage”

When I asked about why those two phrases are interchangeable, they ceased all contact.

I have been a google fan boy for good length of its life, but I am so sick and tired of their support. Their casual "fuck off, we don't care" attitude to customer service has finally turned me into, a "Fine, I'll give Apple a try"

I stopped being a google fanboy right about the time they shut down Google Reader. Since then its just been, "You're a critical part of the internet and cellphone infrastructure so I'll use it, I guess."

I complained about Google Fi support for ages, and was always ignored. I had that service for almost three years I think.

Support was terrible. I called a few times letting them know there were dead spots all over SF and Berlin. In my hometown, I struggled to get coverage every once in a while, too. Nobody else, even on the cheap platforms, had any issues.

I called twice. One time I was disconnect and could never reach back through again. The other time I was told that they were "sorry I was disappointed" and that they'd help me cancel my account if I wanted. I wasn't rude or anything - quite the contrary. I had never had such a weird or degrading phone call like that before.

Oh and the spam calls. I had tons of them, some days I'd have five or six throughout the day. It was insane. I posted on the subreddit for support and they told me "well they use the back-door numbers (or whatever, I don't know how phone technologies work) so there's nothing Google Fi can do."

It was insane. Avoid.

I use it Germany and get insanely limited speeds, less than five megabits. Does this also happen to you?

When I had it, yes. There were dead spots all over Berlin.

Yup, that's the classic Google support experience.

Apparently! I honestly didn’t think I could hate a mobile carrier more than Verizon, but Google Fi wins the trophy. This is utterly ridiculous. The hiding and silent treatment reminds me of a child after being called out after stealing a cookie. So incredibly infantile.

If you are looking for actual, proactive, customer service take a look at Ting. I've been with them for years and they simply won't let you get off the phone until your problem is solved. I asked them last time how can they stay with me so long, even to the point of having me hang up so they could call me to test the fix, with "calls per hour" goals and other metrics. He laughed and told me there are no metrics except that the customer is happy at the end of the encounter. I really can't recommend them enough.

Google is very egalitarian in this regard too. This is exactly the same support experience you get even if your company is giving them millions of dollars a year for cloud infra.

It's the SOP of most customer support to force you around the theatrical hamster wheel

This is why I don't depend on Google for anything critical other than email.

It's really quite astounding how fast this company has gone from darling for the tech world to corporate super villain.

In my experience Google fi doesn’t even work in San Francisco, don’t buy it!!

The nicest thing about Google Fi is how it just works overseas. I have a phone for work that uses Fi, and while it barely gets coverage in SF it just magically worked the moment I touched down in Japan. I would consider Fi if I traveled a lot but not for domestic use.

That’s hilarious! I live a bike ride away from one of their data centers (somewhat rural but not middle-of-nowhere by a long shot). What a trip that they promise so much and deliver so little

It works fine for me (in SF), strange. It also worked fine over in Canada in both dense urban centers, and rural areas which is one of the main reasons I had switched to it to begin with.

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