ComputerWorld:
The LTE Chromebook Pixel was originally sold with a free two-year mobile broadband plan from Verizon — 100MB per month, with the option to purchase more data on a pay-as-you-go basis as needed. But as I reported yesterday, Verizon stopped honoring the plans halfway through that two-year term. Customer support agents for the carrier have been telling Pixel owners they weren’t aware of any two-year commitment, despite clear online documentation to the contrary.
This was a bit of a black eye for both Google and Verizon. Not clear where the fault lies, but certainly the customers were the ones paying the price.
Google did the right thing here, making up the difference with $150 Visa gift cards for folks who purchased an LTE Pixel while the two-year data plan was still being offered.
“While this particular issue is outside of our control, we appreciate that this issue has inconvenienced some of our users,” the Google spokesperson said.
The credits will come in the form of Visa gift cards that can be used for any expense, including (but not limited to) the purchase of mobile broadband access.
Good move.
I read yesterday that Verizon also had a fix in progress. Be quite nice if Chromebook users got paid twice for this.
There’s a reference to this at the end of the article, that Verizon is “working on a solution for those customers.” Who knows exactly what that “solution” will be.
Forgive my mini rant, but those gift cards are a scam themselves.
Wrong- A good move would have been to sue Verizon to require them to live up to their deal. Or, if Google wanted a good faith gesture, create the same offer with a different carrier.
Because it’s cheaper and easier than cash and traceable/replaceable if it gets lost in transit to the customer.
Amen to you brother.
I wonder if Google had a contract, or if Verizon was just doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.
Or how about Google just pays for a year of 100MB data for each Verizon subscriber who bought a Pixel under the deal.
You’re kidding, right? Verizon…Google…goodness of their hearts? Oh, that’s cute.
As opposed to just crediting my account? I realize that probably doesn’t apply in Google’s case, where it’s a Verizon account — though, google could just prepay a credit to Verizon for each affected account rather than ship around a bunch of plastic.
Google’s claim that the issue is outside their control is hard to swallow. Google offered the service, and Google has the money to make good, even if that means paying full price for the second year of service. Ensuring the service is offered and payed for is entirely within their control.
Bravo.
Ummm..just call Verizon, give the card # and pay for $150 of Internet. Your rant seems very misguided.
How could Google credit your Verizon account?