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I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

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Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#311

Post by bane »

I can. I don't want to take away from Google's user hostile practices etc., but Fi is kind of a must have for people who travel overseas frequently but don't stay in a particular country long enough to subscribe to the local mobile system.

You can almost always find a better local deal that works great if you don't move around too much, but Fi is a fantastic "common denominator". Since I've had it I've traveled to...maybe 15 countries in Europe, Central America and Asia and it's worked amazingly well and turned otherwise expensive roaming charges or juggling of sims into normal operations.

It has a weird kind of "global citizen" feel to it that I've never felt any other way. Step off the plane, turn your phone off airplane mode and you're good to go.

Driving across Europe and I received "welcome to " while using Google maps just like driving across the U.S. where it says "welcome to ".

It's also pretty cheap, even if you blow your usage caps and try to go unlimited (Google will cap the charges at some point).

If you stay in one place or travel abroad rarely, I'd say skip it, you can get a local provider with more service cheaper. But if you might end up in an unknown country and just don't want the hassle, it's pretty awesome.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#312

Post by desireco42 »

zenexer wrote: post #47
ronsor wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a general issue with google. If their system decides it doesn't like you, then you're out of luck. You'll never get them to fix it.

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.

My experience with Microsoft is very positive one. I had issue once with Windows on my old gaming machine. I called them, regular support couldn't help me, but they scheduled call with their dev center or something. I got to talk with very knowledgable lady, who not only directed me what to do to resolve problem, but also explained well what was the issue and all made perfect sense.

I was genuinely impressed. I think this was because my issue was not trivial and I got to talk with developers.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#313

Post by samatman »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #247
r00fus wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple blacklisted my debit card which basically bricked my ability to use my phone You are hyperbolizing. You can just use a different card. It's not like they killed your AppleID which wouldn't kill your phone regardless.

Ever occur to you that someone using a debit card may not be able to "just use a different card"?

You don’t need a card of any sort to pay for stuff in Apple’s ecosystem.

iTunes gift cards are readily available at common retail outlets, which take cash, and can be used for apps, iCloud, and the rest of it.

Sucks that GP got his debit card blacklisted, that would annoy me as well, but “bricked”? c’mon.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#314

Post by Merad »

andr wrote: post #26

I had a few unsuccessful back and forths with different Fi agents about an issue, and after a couple of weird remarks, I developed the theory that first level agents get their performance scores penalized every time they escalate an issue. I would have them go through the same script over and over for over an hour, and even sometimes admit that I had an issue, but refuse to press that button. I have no hard evidence,…

Close, but not quite. Call centers are designed to make the general support (tier 1) agents effectively flesh and blood robots. These are jobs that might start at $10 an hour if you’re lucky, have little training, and typically very high turnover rates. Even if you get a competent/experienced agent who has literally seen your problem a thousand times and knows that step 3 of the script will always fix it, they will be penalized if they skip the first two steps. Likewise, they will be penalized if they transfer you to tier 2 until they get to the step in the script that says, “transfer to tier 2.” It doesn’t matter if you’ve had this exact problem 5 times before and every instance required tier 2. Doesn’t matter if you were just talking to another agent who ran the whole script and screwed up your transfer. The only way you might get lucky is if you’re lucky enough to have some kind of open case or note on the account that instructs them to transfer you directly.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#315

Post by s17n »

s17n wrote: post #263
marcus_holmes wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have a physical address (I move approximately every 3 weeks). I don't have a phone number (I move country every 3 weeks and need a new SIM each time). I have so many problems with online authentication it's not funny. So yeah, I'd love a global system of identification, but please let's not tie it to an address or phone number

Tying to a physical location actual serves an important function in that it introduces an asymmetry between you and a potential attacker / identity thief - it's much cheaper for you to physically show up at your local courthouse to contest something than it is for an attacker to fly in. Any suggestions for how to solve this?

By "solve" I mean come up with another similar asymmetry which doesn't depend on your physical location being constant.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#316

Post by ta1234567890 »

About a year ago I tried getting Google Fi. Ordered a phone online, paid about $300. Then it never arrived.

When I talked to support, first they made me wait for about a week to confirm on their end that the phone was lost. Then their only solution was to process a refund (which took them another week to do), after which I would've had to purchase the same phone again.

Talked to a bunch of their support staff to no avail. They just would not send another phone. Seems like completely the opposite of what Amazon would have done (and probably the main reason why I'm a happy Amazon customer after over a decade, whereas I never looked back after the bad experience with Google Fi).

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#317

Post by hi41 »

I had a lot of issues with getting Google Fi. On Wi-Fi the calls wouldn’t go through. If it did the quality of voice was not good. When receiving calls there was a delay after I accept the call when the caller couldn’t hear me. When my wife was in Manhattan her phone stopped working completely. she had to use the phone of her friend to call me. And we moved from iPhone to android and we hated the experience.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#318

Post by dpark »

jjeaff wrote: post #237
wyldfire wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is also a problem with Square, and Stripe, and Paypal ... it's an unsolvable fraud/scammer problem. It's compounded by the fact that Google has the primary element of your 21st century identity: your email address.

I recommend anyone who likes Gmail to use your own domain name@example.com and just forward all messages to your Gmail address. Only give out your own example.com email and set it as the reply to. Even the cheap budget registrars offer email forwarding for free and I have never had any trouble. This gives you the benefits of free Gmail without handing your entire life over to them. At least with a tld there is some d…

You’ll find that if you do this, you start getting emails directly to your gmail anyway. I never give out my gmail address, but I use gmail and they happily report my gmail address when they send email as my “real” account. (Both email addresses are included in emails I send.) And upstream they are happy to respond to that gmail account when people hit the reply button.

So I have tons of people who would essentially seem my contact as a black hole if I abandoned my gmail address at this point, because Google seems to have deliberately crafted their clients to prefer the gmail address rather than the “real” address. Essentially treating the gmail address as if it’s a reply-to.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#319

Post by 4d66ba06 »

deepsun wrote: post #106
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.

Isn't it 2GB? And on their website I'm charged $45 for some reason. Also the plan says 3-month plan (regular price $23), so your price seems to be promotional.

Mint requires you to buy at least 3 months at a time.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#320

Post by 4d66ba06 »

el_benhameen wrote: post #14
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.

Are there any downsides to Mint? I thought I was getting a pretty good deal with t-mobile, but damn, $15 a month is pretty tempting.

Be aware that $15/mo is promotional pricing. It's more like $23 or so a month after the first 3 months. I use Mint and like it.
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