this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2023
20 points (67.2% liked)

Google

1737 readers
44 users here now

A Lemmy community dedicated to Google products and everything Google.

Rules

  1. Keep it Google.
  2. Keep it SFW.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Long story short about how I naively and foolishly set up 2FA using that account's GVoice number for verifications and also knew nothing about needing to save GAuthenticator tokens externally, and later on, that device went permanently MIA:

With correct passwords and confirmation of the 2FA phone number (but no access to that 2FA phone), without any lockout imposed, and even though the 2FA account recovery security AI is devastatingly limited in its verification options, I verify the correct contact number and it forwards the SMS over, but I can't access the text until I use the back email — I can and therefore should be able to verify with other legitimate means one-on-one with live homeland (Palo Alto) personnel who understand the injustice of it and are willing to manually assist in the recovery process, even if perhaps off the radar.

The third-party overseas Google One paid subscription-based tech "support" personnel I've thoroughly exhausted are entirely unequipped to correct anything, they're totally incompetent, apathetic, and dismissive very slyly, barely within the parameters of their employee tech "support" scripted responses (pretty much the same shady behavior as most cellular company's overseas tech "support").
They aren't real tech support, nor even Google employees, and have no backend access like Google's unavailable homeland security team does. They even lie about scheduling a follow-up with a supervisor because there is no hierarchy of managerial phone support personnel.
The important details are that they work for a third-party subcontractor that imposes a different employee policy in a country far from Palo Alto, California.
The whole organization is a skeleton in a closet.There's just nothing there for customer support.
Paid subscriptions to One are worse than worthless because those Filipinos can't afford to be moral in that role in that country.

I know this is possible because articles have been published, specifically by Ron Miller at Tech Crunch (see link below) stating privileged connection for members of the media who use their publicity to leverage justice — which has been evident for him in the form of relayed access to informal backend tech support personnel — through someone who knows someone at Google.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/22/that-time-i-got-locked-out-of-my-google-account-for-a-month/

"On December 5th, I sent a note to a PR contact who I work with on Google-related news and I told him about my problem. He said he had gotten my case escalated and I should hear within 24 hours."

"The Reset command never came."

"On December 18th I contacted the poor beleaguered PR contact yet again and he wrote back. They wanted me to go through the process again except using my TechCrunch email instead of my other alternative. I pushed back that I already had an open case, but he suggested I do it and see it what happens."

"Reunited and it feels so good I started the process entered my Techcrunch email and was simply asked to enter a new password and I was back in. After all that, that was all it took. I was ecstatic to have my digital life back, but I’m still shocked at a) how easy it was to lose access and b) how little recourse there was to get it back."

So this is possible, and given the multitudes of dissatisfied Google employees and ex-Google employees, especially in this dawn of the degoogled Fediverse, I envision real possibilities.

TL/DR
So I'm here to request connection with anyone and everyone who can connect me to some real backend support before my account becomes scrubbed from the server.

=============

Verification I can provide:
• Access to the GVoice number with its voicemail password. With that, it should be made possible to confirm an audio verification code sent as a voice message instead of the default SMS I cannot access — if an audio verification message could be generated by Google support personnel. Good idea really. • Password histories
• Temporary security Codes which the recovery process was supposed to prompt but did not
• Email addresses of incoming and outgoing emails
° Screenshots of Drive filesystem and filenames
• Screenshot of IP address of connected Chromebook
• Chromebook browser bookmarks

==============

Recordings and Documentation onhand:

• Emails and chats with Drive personnel

• Emails and chats with Google One's Philippines subcontractor which includes attachments proving the Chromebook that was connected to the account is still in my possession connected to an alternative Google account, and those emails include screenshots of the IP address of the Chromebook with the Google Play Services Security Codes, which collectively prove my ownership of the limbo account. They ignored it.
The emails also include attachments of my photo ID. Bad idea, but I'd probably be fortunate if they abused that or jeopardized it anyway.

• Phone conversations with dozens of fully incompetent subcontracted, third-party Google One personnel based exclusively in the Philippines The recorded calls exhibit their discriminatory call center tactics and complete lack of any corrective resources are all whatsoever (not an embellishment).

=================

I want to know exactly who will present real password reset options because this is extremely important. I can't contact twenty years of contacts anymore or ever again until Google just grants a password reset to me.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Clerkle 0 points 1 year ago

I really appreciate your support. Thanks!
Yeah, I'm in the deep end of that creek without all my important contacts, text conversations, email conversations, personal and creative project documents, fifteen years of photos, browser bookmarks. The last thing I realized I can't access now, which is almost as devastating — I can't access linked web accounts, even through the tech support of those website companies, such as eBay and some stores holding my gift card credits.