Like It Is

Google is always in the news these days. More often than not because it’s taking over buying a new company, or it’s pretending to be Microsoft or its shares have entered the stratosphere. Again.

But it seems to Google no news means good news. Because the little fact that several Gmail users had had their Gmail accounts disabled, was mysteriously absent. From anywhere. Even a Google search was hard put to bring up anything. Google hadn’t put out notices about the snafu, even though many users were screaming with frustration, many having been unceremoniously booted off their accounts and their blogs (since the new Blogger now forces you to log in with your Google username and password) with no clue as to why.

Some had gmail accounts that they used for their business blocked (bad idea using a FREE email account for your mission-critical business or work) and could not access files due to some “lock-down” and some were locked out of their personal email – the only email they used. Some, (like yours truly) had the foresight to always forward my Gmail to my Hotmail account.

At least I found out I wasn’t alone, which made me feel better. In fact, after reading some of the messages I felt it could have been much worse.

I found the “notice” about the email account lockouts buried in a Google discussion group here:

Account Disabled? The ABC’s of Gmail

There was no notice on the Gmail main page. No communication to users, to let them know what was going on. Half the posters on the thread were simply looking for something to tell them Google had everything under some semblance of control. But there was nothing. Nothing to say anything was amiss, perhaps so that people wouldn’t see that Google isn’t as great as it’s cracked up to be. Emails to Google went unanswered.

Here’s what they said in the Gmail Guide, posted on April 6th:

“We have been actively investigating a batch of accounts that were
accidentally disabled and are currently in the process of re-enabling
these accounts. This error occurred in an effort to target a large
network of spammers to keep them out of the Gmail system and keep your
inbox free from spam. We apologize for this inconvenience and
appreciate your patience as we re-enable these accounts as quickly as
possible.
Thanks ~
Gmail Guide

By April 13, people were still locked out, for some it has been over 7 days without their email and still there was no information forthcoming from Google, as to why. Even though Google said the disabled accounts had been reactivated it’s clearly not the case.

I really like Gmail. I like the way you can search for email. I love the other Google services – and I think they do a pretty good job with them. But disabling users accounts with no warning and no communication is just bad.

The gmail account they “accidentally disabled” on Friday was one that I use for my blog and which I forward to my Hotmail account, so at least my messages were up to date until they disabled it . I use my email quite a lot, so had this been my only account it might have been quite a different story for me. In fact, it might have been very similar to the over 100 messages on Google’s discussion board.

I’ve since set up another Gmail account for my blog, but I will not trust Gmail and this has soured my impression of their service. To think I was considering using Gmail more. Not any more. I’m sticking with Windows Livemail and backing up my email on a non-web client.

With Gmail’s non-existent customer service I think they show clearly exactly what they think of their users. Of course, since it’s free, should users really expect anything better?

Account Disabled? The ABC’s of Gmail

Technorati Tags: Gmail, Google