Complaint Review: Google

I purchased a Pixel 5a and Preferred Care on December 31, 2021.

I believe the Preferred Care I purchased includes accidental damage for things like cracked screens. If it is not included in my preferred care, the sales pitch and information is misleading. The following is a link to the sales pitch for the Preferred Care product:(https://store.google.com/us/magazine/preferred_care?hl=en-US).

Approximately July 1st, I dropped and cracked my Pixel screen. On July 6, I filed a claim and paid a $69 deductible to fix the screen, which was approved. (I have a receipt and approval letter which includes the IMEI phone identification number).

On July 12, 2022, I went to the local partner repair store where I was informed the IMEI number on the approval document did not match my phone. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of IMEI numbers, and sure enough, the IMEIs on my approval receipt and my phone do not match.

Between July 12 and July 13, I initiated three support tickets. The first support ticket was initiated under my normal gmail account which I was informed did not match the account the claim was filed under. The second was initiated under my work gmail in the unlikely chance I used my work address for personal business. I was again informed the gmail did not match that which the claim was filed under. 

These are my only two email addresses so I initiated my third ticket back under my normal gmail account. During the support chat I was informed that the IMEI was correct (it’s not), that they would not refund my $69 (I received no services for that money), that I do not have the coverage I purchased, and that they could not process the claim and would escalate my case to the support team. That support chat lasted from 1:36 pm to 5:00 pm, 3 ½ hours. (I have the complete transcript).

Since then, I have received five emails, informing me that my claim has been ‘escalated’ and would take 24 - 72 hours. It’s been over a week, the crack in my screen has now bled across the display rendering the phone inoperable. At this point I would just pay for the repair myself as I need my phone to do my job.

I have no idea how it is taking a team of specialists working an entire business week to simply change the erroneous IMEI number of the paperwork. At this point, the cost in labor Google has spent ‘investigating’ this claim exceeds the cost of a repair which runs on average $150-200.

Given the $69 deductible I already submitted, Google, one of the richest companies on the planet, has delayed my service for eight days and counting, to make sure that I, a public high school teacher, is not conning them out of about $80 worth of repairs.