Google Pay

Case ID [1-2821000031660] & [2-714400031325] & [4–0668000030621] & [8–4030000031153]&[2-5284000031056] & [4-6113000031292]

Google is a 1.5 Trillion company whose share price is at an all-time high and whose CEO gets paid $4 million per year with 135,000 full-time employees worldwide.

Alphabet (Google) Share price over past 5 years

I have been so disappointed with the amount of spam I receive via Google’s servers without them intercepting them.

In December 2016, I opened a G-Suite Google account, which has recently been renamed as Google Workspace [2020]. I wanted to do this in order to have it speak to a CRM account I had at the time and also for it to speak to an online calendar booking app. A lot of apps these days give preference to Google when adopting integrations. I only wanted one email address, my business one and one calendar a simple solution, but still it would cost me a handsome price of £3.30 per month (£39.60 per year). 3 years later in May 2019 it increased to £4.14 per month (£49.60 per year) and then in October 2020 to £4.60 ( £55.20 per year).

This is a 40% increase in 4 years of using the service. Not only is this abusive, it’s also scandalous and unacceptable considering we’re going through a pandemic and quite frankly business is tough.

My domain, which is with Hover.com has provided me with a small mailbox for just $20 or £11.00 per year, a saving of £44.20 or 80%!

The move away from Google Workspace has made no difference to my workflows, other apps I was using I no longer use and the apps I am now using work in different ways, allowing me to be far less reliant on Google.

I’m a Mac and iOS user as well and this means it doesn’t always connect to external services, but I’m pleased to say that Acuity, my online calendar connects to iCloud, so happy days.

But, once you are locked into Google it is very very difficult to disconnect. I still have one personal gmail with them, which means it allows me to use their services in a few small instances, like drive, docs, photos, YouTube etc.

There was one service I wasn’t so conscious of and couldn’t remember ever using and that was Google Pay.

So I decided to remove my business email from this Google pay account, seeing as I closed my Google Workspace. When I navigated to this Google pay account I noticed that actually I had two profiles, one as my company Staying Alive UK Ltd and one as me personally with my personal gmail account. But I noticed something else too, there were two other accounts / people linked to my Google pay account, my ex brother-in-law and someone I shared a project with back in 2009 and all I can think of is that I must have managed to link their Google pay accounts to mine somehow. I am completely clueless why I did this and why it was even possible. I’m pretty sure that’s not something you can do these days and I had no idea how to remove them either.

I did try to remove these two accounts and all I was receiving was error messages, see example error message below.

When I contacted Google Pay support and reported this mess, they just gave me links to instructions on how to remove my payment profiles completely to fix the issue. I queried this, as I wanted to remove these other profiles but they kept repeating the same messages. I have included screenshots of all their emails at the end of this article.

Okay so I followed their instructions as I’m not using Google pay anyway and removed my company and personal profiles. This, however, didn’t remove the other guest profiles and the same error message kept appearing when I attempted to discover how to remove them both. See below.

So I contacted Google again and they still insisted with instruction on how to remove these two profiles, which were invalid, so I responded accordingly. This is when they told me that the case was being escalated to their specialist team and for several days they kept telling me it was taking longer to resolve and to bear with them.

After a few days they got back to me and basically told me to go back to settings in order to remove the two profiles, which of course I had already tried and knew it wouldn’t work, never mind I tried again and sent further screenshots of that. After further complaints from me, they then came back to me and told me that I had to open the case with their merchant account team. As far as I know I don’t have a merchant account with Google, I don’t sell using Google pay, a bit bemused and disappointed of course, so I pinged an email back to them and waited for them to respond, I’m definitely not starting with another team inside Google from scratch, that’s their issue to be frank. I’m not in any hurry in any case.

So then this was the response they’ve sent me in answer to me refusing to contact the merchant team:

While reviewing the details, we found that both the payments profiles are associated with a Merchant account. Therefore, the way forward would be to contact the Google Merchant account team directly. They will be able to help you with all the necessary information to delete these profiles.

Here’s where to get help:

Help Center of Google Merchant team. Here’s how you can contact Google Merchant Center team directly.

I obviously responded again and refused to entertain these instructions asking for the case to be escalated, to which Adam responded saying that he was going to ask further advice from his specialist team and needed 24–48 hours for a response from them.

So much for refusing to have to open another case, they’ve turned me down and said there’s no other option. So I have indeed had to open another case with the Merchant team in Google, I haven’t heard back as yet apart form their auto responder.

Update Thursday April 15, 2021

As I kind of expected and anticipated the Google merchant team says I have to deal with the Google pay team. This story is going to be epic!

I then emailed Google pay with their response and they responded very fast suggesting that I go to the Google help centre and go to the forums as people are very knowledgeable there. Can you believe it?

Update Friday April 16, 2021

After back and forth emails with Google Pay last night, who categorically refuse the ability to resolve the issue, I had the Merchant team call me back. I had a long conversation with Aariz, who researched the two rogue profile ID’s on my Google pay account and told me that neither of them were Merchant ID’s and therefore not something they could investigate, fix or resolve. They confirmed it on email to me and I have forwarded this to Google pay and waiting for them to let me know that in fact nobody can fix it!

And then later in the evening I received a surprise email from the ads-support (Merchant) team that in fact the issue should now be raised with the Merchant ‘Google Wallet’ team. You’ve got to be kidding me, they are telling me that yet again I have to raise another ticket with another team!

NO! I’ve sent a response to both the Merchant and Pay teams to say, this is the end for me, I’m not going to do that and in fact I did check briefly and I can’t complete the form anyway, as it doesn’t allow you to raise a ticket as a consumer, you have to actually be a Merchant with them and I am not! Why aren’t they getting it and more to the point why are they not transferring the case themselves internally!

Unless they deal with it, I’m not going to be raising another case with anyone else. I did tag Pip White on Twitter and sent her an invitation to connect on LinkedIn, the Managing Director of Google UK & Ireland since September 2020, previously with Salesforce and HP, so I’m hoping she will have a bit of a customer service mindset, but I’m not counting on it.

Update Sunday April 18, 2021

Can you believe it? Yes I can!

They sent me a feedback survey email on my opinion on the service I received. I did complete it, obviously not a good response and they came back telling me that they didn’t understand my response, so I spelled it out for Miguel!

2 profiles attached to my own Google pay profile I couldn’t remove so I reached out to Google Pay
They advised me to close my own profiles so I did but it didn’t remove the other profiles. They told me to do the same thing many times.
They then raised it with specialists who said I had to contact the Merchant team!
After me refusing saying it’s not up to me to do this I eventually did contact them.
They checked the 2 profiles and said they didn’t show up with them.
Then they came back to say they discovered that the 2 profiles were part of Google Wallet Merchant and I have to contact them!!

I have reached the end of the road with Google support you are pretty useless and I am appalled at the service I have received.

Update Monday April 19, 2021

I heard back from the press contact at Google and they advise me to contact Google Pay support, can you believe it?

Then Miguel from Google pay tells me to get in touch with Google Merchant Center, basically expecting me to do their work yet again. It’s the same template response. They are joking with me, surely they are?

Okay so I had a quick look at the contact form and there are a few issues with it. Have a look at the question, what type of support do you need? How should I know?

One of the questions on the Google Wallet Merchant support link

Okay so I picked one, to get me moving forward and then I’m asked for my Issuer ID and Merchant name, neither of which I have, because I’m not a Merchant!

2nd part of the support request form, asking for Issuer ID and Merchant name!

Update Thursday April 22, 2021

I’ve patiently been waiting for Google Wallet Merchant to respond to my 3rd department support ticket and they did come back to me to let me know that, NO, they are not the correct department, but that they’ve taken it upon themselves to transfer it to the correct department, in their view. It might still not be correct, but hey let’s wait and find out. In their view it looks like it should be resolved by the ‘Payments Profile’ team. How many frigging departments are needed to change one Google pay profile? The answer is four!

I’m not hopeful, they told me to look out for an email from them, not holding my breath, but then again you never know!

Well, their logo has four colours, so maybe the fourth department will be the one to solve it?

Update Friday April 23, 2021

Well the issue has gone full circle, I received an email from Google-Pay Support saying they are looking into the matter. Quite bizarre indeed!

Update Friday July 16, 2021

After several months of no communication from Google, despite following up the case with them via email several times, I decided to contact them via their support pages and open another ticker. This time I was offered a live chat, so I decided to take up this option. As I suspected after a short while of the agent realising that it is outside of their expertise, they had to consult with their specialist team, who immediately suggested I close my payments profile. Little did they know that this is what I had done back in March and it didn't resolve the issues.

Also since then, I had bought a Google domain via, what was then, my Google Workspace account, but seeing as I had closed that I needed them to move the domain to my personal Gmail account, which the domain people actually dealt with quite well. However, in the process they must have set-up a new Google pay profile, because of course there will be a recurring annual payment for the domain.

On this basis I refused to remove the payment profile, as last time that didn't resolve anything at all.

Anyway you can read the whole chat transcript if you wish via HERE. Enjoy!

Update Wednesday July 21, 2021

I am not surprised but Google yet again are ignoring any previous case history and giving me the same advice on how to remove user profiles. They completely ignore my recent comments during my recent chat with one of the support agents. This is just getting beyond the ridiculous, we’re caught in a catch 22. They say, they’re not allowed to remove user profiles, suggesting that I can do this myself and yet I have to keep telling them that I am unable to remove these profiles and need their assistance, which they seem to translate as, ‘click settings, click manage users and then remove users’, which I have told them a gazillion times I am not able to do!

Update Thursday July 22, 2021

Overnight I received an email from Google on the new case I raised to take a survey. I am glad I didn’t bother because it would have just been filled with expletives. So I just emailed it to the case ID email and luckily Hanz came back to say it was an automation error. I guess their AI must be failing, which is not the only thing that is failing.

I also managed to send a LinkedIn InMail to Ben Langley, who is listed on LinkedIn as Managing Director Google - location London, England. Below is the full text.

An issue with Google Pay, that nobody at Google knows how to resolve...

Dear Ben, I am at my wits ends. Since April I have tried to liaise with Google Support to solve a Google Pay issue with my account without success.

The issue occurred when I closed my Workspace account and tidied up my a number of Google assets, essentially trying to close all the crumb trails with my workspace account. One of these was Google pay. I never use Google pay so haven't had reason to look at it for probably a decade or longer.

During my admin process I spotted a couple of people who I do know, but no longer have contact with. I did a bit of work with them, again about a decade ago. How are they linked to my Google Pay account I have absolutely no idea, it must have been an option a long time ago.

So when I tried to investigate how to remove them, that's when it all started going terribly wrong. It has been a very frustrating journey with Google support who insist that they are not able to remove the accounts and that I am the only one who can. I have been told to contact different departments, where one department has said they weren't the correct one and pointing basically at each other, also nobody would bother to transfer the case either, I had to open new tickets for each of them. I have liaised with Pay, Wallet, Merchant and none of them could do anything.

I am astounded that Google with all its technological power, can't solve a simple issue like this, it's quite unbelievable. I am seriously considering taking this to the technology media, so they can do an article about it. Here is my latest video explanation to show what is happening. [It’s an unlisted video with sensitive information, so can’t share that here].

And here's my blog, which I have continued to update with each communication, you can see all the emails that I received from support. https://www.stayingaliveuk.com/blog/2021/04/12/how-i-managed-to-uncover-googles-ineptitude

Where I'm at today. I decided after nobody was coming back to me to create a new ticket this week and after a number of emails, which basically was giving the same advice I have had all the way through, today I received an email for the case asking me to take a survey. I assume someone must have closed the ticket?

I am sorry to land this on your desk, but I really do not know where to go with this? Thank you for your attention in the case.

Kind regards, Michael

Update Friday July 23, 2021

I shouldn’t be surprised but I am, so an email arrived today from Hanz and it says this:

“As per our specialists, we found out that the two profiles you are requesting to remove are under an organization. Only the owners can close their payments profile.

In line with this, we highly recommend for you to reach out to them and kindly request to close their payments profile.”

I am speechless. They have completely and totally lost the plot. First they are not under one organization, these are different profiles from different people. One might be an organisation but the other most definitely is not. The question is how are they linkedin to my profile and why are there error messages showing up?

I have now also found and reached out to Zeina Hatem Popovic, Managing Director, Google Pay EMEA at Google and Non - Executive Director. I sent the following brief message.

Hello Zeina, I have tried everything and now I found you, so I will try you.

I have had a major issue with my Google Pay account and it will take me too long to explain, instead I have written a blog about it, which you can read here: https://www.stayingaliveuk.com/blog/2021/04/12/how-i-managed-to-uncover-googles-ineptitude/

You can also view the issue with my voice narration via: [video link removed as it has sensitive data], I really do hope you can investigate why nobody at Google is either willing or able to resolve this for me.

Thank you SO much. Best, Michael ツ

Let’s see if she bothers to respond to me, I am not hopeful, but I could be proven wrong.

- - -

Well I was proven wrong, not only did Zeina respond to my InMail, she also accepted my LinkedIn request and then we spoke on the phone too! This all happened with lightening speed. I feel SO much more confident about the resolution now and hopeful that it will be resolved to my satisfaction.

Update Saturday July 24, 2021

Then on Saturday I received this email from Eric, it reads as follows:

Hi Michael,

My name is Eric and I’m a Google Pay Support Specialist.

Your issue has been forwarded to us, and we are the highest level of support. We are working across the Payments and Domains team to help expedite resolving your issue.

We understand you have multiple support cases open for your inquiry. Moving forward, we are going to consolidate all communication through this one particular case ID (1-2821000031660).

We will provide you with an update as soon as we have more information to share.

We really appreciate your patience and we look forward to providing a resolution.

Thanks!
Eric
The Google Support Team

For the first time in 4 months, I am hopeful that Eric and his team will solve this ridiculous issue. His tone is confident and determined, happy days, I hope!

Update 18.08.21

Seeing as it was nearly a month, since the last positive communication, I thought I would follow up, so I sent a follow up email to Zeina and she told me to expect an update from Eric, which indeed I received.

Email 38-18.08.2021 after my follow up on 13 August, 2021

Update 14.09.2021 & 15.09.2021 (My Birthday was on 15.09.2021)

I felt I had been very patient and didn’t chase up anything for a month, when to my total surprise and amazement I received an email from Google stating I had been removed from a payment profile. Yippee, one gone and one to go!

Then on my Birthday I received the 2nd email stating that I had been removed from the 2nd profile.

So I wrote an email to Eric and Zeina, which was appreciative but also honest in terms where I stand with Google.

“It has taken 6 months, countless emails and phone calls and every single agent telling me to contact someone else or raise an impossible ticket with a different department or being told to contact the individuals on the account. It has been quite depressing at times and completely hopeless. Something is seriously wrong with the whole Google customer service experience, I really hope I never ever need to contact Google about anything again. As a result I have an increased negative view of Google and probably will avoid any paid services again. I just have a domain with them but that will be it, probably forever.

I do appreciate you Eric, Zeina and anyone else who has been involved to technically resolve this. I knew it had to be possible somehow and I’m glad you found a way.”

I am over the moon that I persisted like a dog with a bone until Google, one of the biggest tech companies on the planet, found a way to fix their own bug.

Phew, better late than never?

Email 39-14.09.2021 - Confirmation of the removal of profile 1 ツ

Email 40-15.09.2021- In response to my question, remember there is one more to be removed.

Email 41-15.09.2021 - Confirmation of removal of profile 2 ツ

Below are the screenshots of all the emails I received from Google, I will keep adding to these as this case progresses, as I suspect it will take a while yet to resolve.

Email number 1 asking for my Google pay profile ID:

Email number 2 with instructions how to fix the issue.

Email number 3 confirming closing my company payments profile ID-1

Email number 4 confirming closing my company payments profile ID-2

Email number 5 in response to screenshots I sent where I was not able to remove the foreign payment profiles and the instructions are still the same.

Email number 6 — a holding email.

Email number 7 — another holding email.

Email number 8 — basically same instructions as before!

Email number 9 — holding email number 3.

Email number 10 — advising me to look elsewhere for assistance!

Email number 11 — in response to my protest!

Email number 12 — in response to my 2nd protest and the fact that I do NOT have a merchant ID!

Email number 13 — in response to my 2nd protest and after a ‘specialist’ team had been consulted!

Email number 14 — in response to my query stating that I do not have a merchant ID number

Email number 15 — auto responder after submitting a ticket of sorts, with a made up incorrect Merchant ID in order for the form to submit, attaching all the screenshots of all the emails I received from Google Pay support.

Email number 16 — response from the merchant team, which is actually the ads-support team, well that’s the contact link Google pay provided to me.

Email number 17 — response from Google pay after I sent them the above email from the merchant team!

Email number 18 — response after me challenging this new person on the scene who’s being a bit gobby to say the least!

Email number 19 — challenging why I received a response from ads-support@google.com which only occurred as a result of me sending a support request via the link she provided me!

Email number 20 — the first time someone’s being a little bit human in their response, although still not taking responsibility for it.

Email number 21 — after my call with the Merchant team, note it’s now coming from shopping-ads-support@google.com and she 100% confirmed she was also the Merchant team.

Email number 22 — Google Merchant team after initially telling me that it was nothing to do with them, discovering it upon research that actually it’s the Wallet Merchant team that ‘I’ need to be getting in touch with!

Email number 23 — Yeah, Julieta has definitely given up on it, well, so have I as it happens! 🤬

Email number 24 —18.04.21 — They’ve given up SO much they decided to send me an end of support feedback survey — this isn’t for real is it!

Email number 25–18.04.21 — Oh they didn't understand my response to the feedback survey, what a shame, let me spell it out!

Email number 26–19.04.21 — In response to an email I sent to the press contact at Google, basically telling me to go back to the beginning!

Email number 27–19.04.21 — And here we go again folks, down the yellow brick road…

Email number 28–21.04.21 — Finally someone who is willing to transfer the case to another department to deal with, something that hasn’t happened with two other departments

Email number 29–22.04.2021 — Well, let’s see what happens!

Email number 30-18.07.2021—Oh dear this doesn’t look promising at all!

Email number 31-21.07.2021 - Going back to the beginning, receiving the same circular advice

Email number 32-21.07.2021 - They obviously believe the case is closed!

Email number 33-22.07.2021 - Hanz is obviously been handed the shitty case to solve!

Email number 34-23.07.2021 - So after nearly 4 months, it is my responsibility after all to solve the issue, how can this possibly be?

Email number 35-23.07.2021 - This is the last email I will hopefully receive with a silly request by a so-called supervisor, who is asking me to go back to the beginning. It’s incredible to think he or she hasn’t even bothered to read the recent case notes and correspondence.

Email number 36-24.07.2021 - Finally thanks to Zeina’s intervention, at last an email that fills me with some hope and confidence the issue will finally be resolved. Fingers crossed the end is very near.