I don't mind paying Google say ₹50 a month for the ability to reach a customer service agent when things go wrong. And one who's actually empowered to fix things, not a mindless drone.
Just because it's a consumer (rather than business) account doesn't mean we shouldn't have customer service, if we're willing to pay for it. There's no reason Google can't cater to us while also providing no-service free products.
> I don't mind paying Google say ₹50 a month for the ability to reach a customer service agent when things go wrong. And one who's actually empowered to fix things, not a mindless drone.
I'd bet that type of customer service costs far more than that.
> Just because it's a consumer (rather than business) account doesn't mean we shouldn't have customer service, if we're willing to pay for it. There's no reason Google can't cater to us while also providing no-service free products.
And I'd bet there are too few consumers willing to pay for it to justify Google offering. It is the old argumentum ad capitalismum, if it would make money, I'm sure Google would offer it.
Then increase the fee. BTW, it's like insurance — I expect to pay the fee whether or not I actually use customer service. It's not that I'll pay the fee only when I actually talk to customer service. If it's the latter model, the fee could be higher, like, "Pay ₹1000 and get service for the next month."
Even if few people are paying for it, it's worth it to address the negative perception about Google.
You seem to be assuming that Google (or any other company) does everything right, so if they're not doing it, it's a bad idea. That's not true. Companies make mistakes all the time.
Then nobody will use it, and you've set up a massive support infra in 100's of languages for ~0 paying users.
> You seem to be assuming that Google (or any other company) does everything right, so if they're not doing it, it's a bad idea. That's not true. Companies make mistakes all the time.
I'm assuming that people making those decisions are as smart as me, and if I can think about it, I'm sure they thought about it.
I never base my arguments solely on "other people are making mistakes".
That's before we get into the issue of trying to serve both a mass market and a niche at the same time. It doesn't work. Google should not try to serve the several thousands or few million users who want a fully-featured, paid product for personal use.
You don't need "massive support infra in 100's of languages". Start with English and see if it works. Then expand slowly, making sure the service remains profitable each step.
An add-on of the kind I'm suggesting is exactly the way to serve both a mass market and a niche at the same time. Everyone uses Gmail, but the few who want support for personal use pay. That's much less effort than building another product with paid support.
It's also no different from freemium mobile apps where 2-5% of users pay.
Google decision-makers are smart, but not infallible.
If you need 24/7 support get a mail account at a provider who has a tech office near your home/office. In my uni most people do not care if they lose their gmail
Just because it's a consumer (rather than business) account doesn't mean we shouldn't have customer service, if we're willing to pay for it. There's no reason Google can't cater to us while also providing no-service free products.