Google and the Customer Service Myth

[bayleo]

I think this deserves its own discussion as it isn't _directly_ related to the Google reorg.

As far as I can tell Google never received any complaints on their _customer service_ until the release of the Nexus One. It seems like tech journalists everywhere immediately pounced on Google's poor customer service for the device, despite the hardware being produced by HTC and the network being provided by T-Mobile. Since then, people seem to have latched onto the zeitgeist and extended the label to Google Apps, Gmail, and even core monetary products like AdWords/AdSense which I would argue do have sufficient customer support.

I don't fully understand why we, the generally technocratic crowd on HN, are doing this. Google, like every company, has finite resources, so the more they focus on customer support, the less focused they become on polishing & innovating. They have a pattern of taking an everyday product (like an email client) and making it so commonsense/easy-to-use that it no longer needs customer support. I assume this is why Gmail was in beta for so long. It was simply a disclaimer slapped on a fully-developed product that there wasn't going to be reps standing by to take your calls. It's almost as if they're betting that things like a word processor are becoming so quotidian that the product won't need to be supported; a bet I would not take them up on.

I almost expect these sort of criticisms when I'm reading something like _Wired_, but I would think HN would have different priorities when it comes to customer service. Think about the last time you downloaded a piece of software; did you chose to download the stable version, the beta, or _the nightlies_? In other words, when given the choice would you choose a technically superior product or one that is better supported?

[dman]

Depends on what I going to use it for. Nightlies in a trial virtual machine, beta on my backup machine, stable on my workstation and long term support in my business. Business oriented products like Google merchants and Google checkout do not give you a direct way to talk to someone at google. That is inexcusable in my book.

[JayRnotes]

seems you haven't use google at all my friend, google is not just a search engine, but they do have many other products. products like google checkout and merchant generate millions of revenue for Google, but google never care to provide satisfactory customer support, read google checkout forums, you will find hundreds of frustrated buyers and sellers. plus android market place, when you have transaction dispute, that means a nightmare, auto generated reply and countless hours of waiting's to get a answer... no! that's not the way you deal with money.