Google may be great at finding things, but the company is apparently not so good at counting – some Google Apps Premier Edition customers were recently billed $500 for ten accounts, even though they held just one, two, or three accounts.
Several people complained about the billing error in a Google Apps Discussion Group thread; “Nexlar” (also known as Mick Jones) started things off by writing, “I just received this reminder email stating that I would be charged for the user accounts I have requested to date. . . . However, the email stated that I have requested 10 user accounts to date and that this will be charged to my credit card if I take no action.”
The next few posters seemed deeply offended by the error, and considered downgrading their accounts (to a free version), or abandoning Google Apps entirely, in response.
Of course, the company that claims to “do no evil” didn’t let the situation get too out-of-hand, and a Google Guide stepped in to straighten things out. “It has come to our attention that the number of Premier Edition user accounts requested by each administrator mentioned within the email was not accurate for many accounts,” he (or she) admitted. “We apologize for the confusion that this has caused, and we want to assure everyone that Premier Edition administrators will only be charged for the correct number of accounts requested when the trial period concludes.”
Also, for any affected customers who didn’t happen to read that thread – or this article – the Google Guide continued, “We will send a follow-up message with the correct number of requested user accounts to resolve this issue.”
All’s well, then, at least in terms of customers’ credit cards, but Google may have lost some credibility over this billing error.
Hat tip to Juan Carlos Perez of the IDG News Service.
