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I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

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Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#111

Post by magduf »

jlarocco wrote: post #61
zenexer wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently had nearly the same exact problem with Microsoft. Security department is a black box—zero communication. A friend working for Microsoft even escalated my case internally at the time, but nobody could do or see anything. My account was eventually unfrozen without so much as an email to notify me, never mind an explanation. The point is, this issue isn’t limited to Google.

Wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft saw how much money Google saves by not having support, and decided to follow their lead. They used to have decent support.

With Microsoft, it makes good sense for them to not have any support. They can save a lot of money that way, and there's simply no downside. Does it anger customers? Sure, but who cares? It's not like the customers are going to abandon Microsoft.

With Google, there is at least a chance they could move to the Apple ecosystem.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#112

Post by tinyhouse »

I can relate. We have two Fi phones and there are bunch of problems: 1. If you use the max 10G every month it's pretty expensive. 2. Support is indeed bad. I once contacted them via the app and was told someone will reach out to me within 24 hours. No one did. 3. There are technical problems such as people calling me when I'm on wifi and they cannot hear me when I answer and instead go directly to voice mail. I was told to clear the cache but it's not always helpful.

Things I like about Fi: 1. It's really nice that it works pretty much in every country. I travel often and it's supper convenient. (it's more expensive than getting a local sim in many countries but more convenient). 2. I don't need to listen to messages since they get transcribed automatically. (I'm assuming this is not a Fi only thing)

So overall the main differentiation for me is the travel part. For people who don't travel out of the country the Fi doesn't provide anything special.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#113

Post by kung_fu_jive »

soperj wrote: post #77
kung_fu_jive wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can relate to this. I was in Japan for two weeks and the international data worked flawlessly for me. I was diligent about tracking my usage and didn't see any charges out of line with my expectations. It made navigating the public transit a cakewalk. I'm in the same boat.

Why not download the maps before hand? Whenever I go abroad, I just download the maps in advance, and have no issue at all with just being on airplane mode.

That is a great suggestion. I did rely on more than just transit information however. Using translate, looking up services and reviews for services, reserving a rental vehicle for two days, etc. Some of my needs couldn't be anticipated such as meeting a bartender in Osaka and being recommended a Japanese band to check out. Researching how to purchase tickets was something I didn't anticipate needing to do while planning the trip.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#114

Post by xster »

soperj wrote: post #77
kung_fu_jive wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can relate to this. I was in Japan for two weeks and the international data worked flawlessly for me. I was diligent about tracking my usage and didn't see any charges out of line with my expectations. It made navigating the public transit a cakewalk. I'm in the same boat.

Why not download the maps before hand? Whenever I go abroad, I just download the maps in advance, and have no issue at all with just being on airplane mode.

Depends on the individual's travel style I guess. I'm a very spontaneous unplanned type traveler so I use a lot more than just navigation data during the day. Things like venues' reviews, event tickets, hotel bookings, train tickets, travel blogs, local payment apps, rideshare apps, answering VoIP calls/messages/voicemails from home number etc.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#115

Post by exabrial »

Yet another reason why "your phone number is your identity" (aka sms "2fA") is a horrible horrible horrible idea, especially for payment companies.

If you're paying your cell bill with your credit card, and your credit card requires sms authentication, you've entered an infinite loop.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#116

Post by pdx_flyer »

anamexis wrote: post #3
ndiscussion wrote: post #2

Google Fi sucks, it's way too expensive. The last several years have seen an explosion of MVNOs, mobile virtual network operators. I use Mint Sim and get 3gb LTE/month with unlimited talk and text, and unlimited throttled internet after the 3gb, for $15/month.

Part of the appeal of Google Fi for me is the unlimited free international roaming. Do you know if there's any competition in that area?

Same here. I am actually an AT&T customer and the $10/day for international roaming is nice as a backup but for the most part I just use my wife's Fi data SIM and pay a lot less.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#117

Post by mvid »

Someone1234 wrote: post #95
mcrae wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TMO only gives 2G internationally which, while it doesn’t sound terrible, it ends up being unusable in practice. Your experience may vary though I guess.

That's accurate. You can however pay for international 3G via their "One Plus" upgrade package if you wish, which makes it at least usable.

It’s not true 3G. It shows up in your tab bar as 3G, but it is throttled to 2x what the 2G is, something like .25 Mbps. It makes it marginally useful, but nowhere close to Fi. I’m saying this as someone who runs Fi on an iPhone, using it in a half broken hacky way is still superior to TMo

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#118

Post by mdp »

013a wrote: post #57
iandanforth wrote: post #29

The lede here is somewhat burried: "From what I’ve since learned, if a card in your Google Pay is stolen, or someone uses your Payments account fraudulently, or anything happens that leads to a security flag being raised, it can lead to your Google Payments account being frozen. ... If you can’t use Google Payments, you can’t pay for Google Fi This, fundamentally, is why I can’t suggest anyone use Project Fi anymore.…

One thing I can suggest; if you're deep into google products, you should be paying the $5/month for a G-Suite account with your own domain. You get access to better business-class support. Fi is now also supported on G-Suite accounts. It's a no-brainer. It sucks that their personal account support is so bad, but there is a solution.

This isn't much of a solution. I had a G-Suite account with them when I had an issue with Payments. I ended up with a suspended payments account all the same and no support via the G Suite support package (let's be honest, at $5 you get what you pay for). G Suite support will help you with things like problems with your email, but the Payments team is totally separate. Take a look at the support page - https://gsuite.google.com/support/ - it's pretty clear that they aren't going to help you clear things up outside of their specific area.

Same for Google Play store as a developer; didn't matter that I had a $5 account, different department so back to robo-emails you go.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#120

Post by tracker1 »

ronsor wrote: post #83
ThrustVectoring wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>No recourse available. You can sue Google in small claims court for the value of the undelivered Chromecast and for the court fees you spent on suing them.

but it's generally not worth your time or money to do so

But it'd be interesting to see a LOT more small-claims court suits... a million paper cuts to bring some humility and service to the beast.
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