What Business Are You In Google?

My adventure with my now defunct Nexus 7 continued today. As expected when I called Google Customer Service their approach was the "I feel your pain" approach, namely  avoid solving the customer's problem by talking in a soothing manner. It is the "California way". Well it does not work in New Jersey on a New Yorker after a week without power in a 100 year hurricane. I never understood psychiatry anyhow, just load them with haldol.

All I wanted was to find out how to get a replacement. All "Jon" wanted was to make certain I never got one. He "sensed" my stress. Why for the good Lord's sake there was no stress, stress was when the 80 mph gust knocked the 200 foot ash tree on my roof when I was sitting inside, mild stress at that.

So did I get anywhere, did any of the disappointed customers seem ever to get anywhere? Not really. Google seems to have trained its CSRs, in my opinion based on doing this stuff for 50 years, so as to "calm" the irate customer but to accomplish nothing. Not a good way to solve a customer problem.

Thus, I again ask; what business is Google in? Their flag ship search business is splendidly executed and has tremendous bran loyalty. I love it. However when you go into a different field, specifically hardware and products, customer service is essential. Quality of the product is sine qua non, and resolving your own problems must be seamless. It is not.

I thus did what I said I would do, sent it to the Chairman, he an I sat on some Government panels in the past, and frankly I await no response. Just a few hundred dollars down the proverbial drain.

The most important thing for a company to do is to protect its reputation. The actions taken by Google are, in my opinion, counter to that approach.