Leaving Google Fi

Did you check your own source?

Because I was using quarterly for both numbers, and their net sales of merchandise was over $200B (global) in 2018, meaning their net sales were almost 10X higher on products than AWS. Since it's a 10:1 margin, I continue to claim that it's ridiculous to think that AWS > selling physical products in terms of revenue.

In terms of income, however, it's not, they make a lot more on services than physical goods (as everyone not named Apple does)

Just as another datapoint; I have a radically different perspective on Amazon and customer service, that they have no incentive to care.

Once not too long ago I came across this article: https://consumerist.com/2013/06/18/amazon-cancels-my-6000-or...

I thought it was interesting and amusing, but filed it away in my head and forgot about it.

Then, one day, I got an email something to the effect of "fax photocopies of your drivers license and credit card or we, Amazon, will shut down your Amazon account permanently. Do not send emails, only fax, to X number."

At first I naturally thought it was spam. However, I kept getting systematic emails of this sort, with a date attached to them. It seemed weird for spam to be so deliberate, and as phishing attempts go, also sort of weird. There also seemed something strange about the content of the emails that made me think it might be serious.

So I called Amazon customer support (totally independently of anything in the email), and they said "Yes, that's a real email. You need to respond to it or they will shut down your account." I was puzzled by this, because nothing unusual had happened from my end. So, after talking to someone who made it clear they knew nothing about it other than that it was real, I asked to speak to a supervisor.

This supervisor sort of chuckled and said that the email was from the security division, that customer support knows nothing about them, that they cannot access anything about why I was getting the email, and that this division only communicates via fax, including with customer support. So basically I was being threatened to have my Amazon account shut down for a reason Amazon couldn't explain, because they themselves can only communicate with the people who know via fax, and I can only communicate with them via fax.

So I figure, ok, fine. I search out an office supply store (because I can't use work fax for personal business, and don't have a fax machine). I send them photocopies of my drivers license and credit card. I make sure it's completely visible, and include information on the cards in the fax, in text.

A few days later I get an email saying "we received your fax, but the photocopy wasn't legible enough." I was like WTF??? because it could not have been more legible. Also, any info not legible (even though it strains credulity to be considered illegible) was in the fax. So I tried again.

Again I receive a similar email saying "we received another fax but again it's illegible." I called customer support again, and again they threw up their hands and said they can't communicate with that division either.

At this point I gave up because what was I going to do? Amazon's own customer service can't even communicate with this shadowy fax-only communicating security division, I know nothing about why my account is being shut down, there's no recourse or appeal, and when I try to comply, I capriciously am told it's not sufficient.

About a week later my account gets shut down.

About that time I remembered the article, which was eerily similar to my experience. So nothing had changed in those years.

I kept my materials (email printouts, including the faxes); I think I still have them, but am not sure as we moved in the interim.

The whole experience convinced me Amazon simply has zero incentive to care about customer service after an experience like that (which apparently is not the first time this has happened).

As with things like "what else could Facebook do?" the answer is "make less money but not screw people". Or in the case of Facebook "stop operating", I guess. The problem is that they have been doing the 3rd party seller thing for-friggin'-ever at this point, and plainly do not give a damn about the many problems with it or they'd have either fixed it or stopped. They screw people daily and absolutely don't care. It is the only possible explanation. They've had a ton of time to realize they're doing it and stop. That regulators haven't slapped them down hard is a sign they have no power to enforce basic norms and standards in our markets anymore—this is as obvious an abuse as it gets.

Hope they'll fix it before they lose customer trust? Hasn't it been a decade or more now? They do. Not. Care. As long as the money keeps coming in. They are scum.

I'm sorry to hear that. Alcoholism or just an expensive habit?

If alcoholism, luckily it is taken "more seriously" than video game addiction. Although now as I get older I just realize addiction is a trait we all have the propensity for, and some people just manifest it in healthy ways where as some of us in not so healthy ways. I have people in my family that were compulsive gamblers, alcoholics, workaholics, and drug addicts, sometimes a combination of all four -- all different forms of addictions. Sometimes I view my video game addiction in that light: "well at least it wasn't drugs or alcohol" but, who knows, maybe in 50 years we will find out that it harmed me just as much.

Perhaps true in general, but I had no trouble talking to a real person when I recently had a problem with Google Fi. They didn't even make me hold; they took my number and called me in a few minutes. I missed the call, and they automatically swapped to chat. The problem took a while to resolve, and while it wasn't exactly fun, I feel like they did as good a job as was possible. (Remote debugging is always a pain.)