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Recently, some SMS/text messages sent by Google Fi subscribers were arriving as strange Chinese gibberish — with the occasional emoji thrown in for good measure. Tests confirmed that the problem seemed to be caused by an encoding issue, likely exclusive to Fi messages sent to Verizon subscribers. Google tells us it has since rolled out a fix for the problem.
In all the years that Google Fi (formerly Project Fi) has existed, you had to order SIM cards online from Google to activate your phone. Now, there's another way to get them. Just swing by your local Best Buy store, and you might be able to pick up a Fi SIM for a couple of bucks.Google says Fi SIM cards are coming to more than 500 Best Buy stores across the US, but it doesn't have a full list (call your local store). Google ships SIMs for free, but maybe you don't have time to wait. Fine, you can pay Best Buy $9.99 for the same SIM card with no waiting. After you activate the SIM, Google will give you a $10 service credit to compensate you for buying the card. These are the standard voice and data SIMs—the data-only cards are still just available from Google.Expanding to Best Buy makes a ton of sense right now. Google recently made Fi available on most unlocked phones, so it's no longer the only source for officially supported devices. Although, Google points out that Best Buy reps won't be able to help you with activation no matter what phone you have. You should be able to figure it out, though.
Google Fi's customer service problems are numerous and well-documented. The carrier has been accused of billing customers for using Wi-Fi, blacklisting IMEIs, locking customers out of their Google accounts, and charging them the full price after promotions (causing plenty of overdraft fees in the process). At this point, Fi is more associated with bottom-barrel customer service than the aggressive, on-demand pricing it was once known for. Today we have another horror story involving a two-month-long runaround and $70 in upgrade fees for a phone the company admits was never delivered.Detailed at Android developer Jason Atwood's blog, today's episode of Fi-related woe starts with an attempted upgrade to a Pixel 3 via interest-free monthly payments. The phone never arrived, with FedEx's own tracking and Google Fi customer support representatives confirming it was last listed as on a truck for delivery. Over a week and three separate attempts to contact customer support yielded no results regarding the investigation into the missing package, while Atwood received his first monthly bill for the phone. Repeated attempts to contact customer representatives and escalate the problem over the following month failed.Finally, one month to the day after the phone was out for delivery, a representative at Fi sends Atwood a new device, telling him it's too late to cancel the replacement order, even though he would rather be refunded. Over the next two weeks, the phone is refused at the time of delivery, sent back to Google in the hopes it might secure a refund, and the second monthly bill for the device lands. Finally, almost two months after ordering the phone, Atwood is informed that the two bills he's paid for the Pixel 3 — $70 in total toward a device he never had — can't be refunded, as he's past the "remittance period" which would allow for a return. Ultimately, Atwood considered it a $70 learning experience, eventually moving over to T-Mobile and an Amazon-purchased Pixel 3a.Product Expert and known Google Fi customer support escalation specialist dmziggy over on Reddit says that Google Fi is "aware of the case and looking into it." And while we wish this particular episode of customer service failure existed in isolation, there are piles of other recent horror stories out there:
Hangouts "Classic" is set to retire somewhere around the end of 2020, at which point users will be transitioned to Hangouts Chat and Meet. That leaves quite a bit of time that people will get to continue on with regular communications. Unlike Allo, Hangouts seems to be getting more attention now that there's a ticking clock on it. A new version of the Hangouts app is out and it's making some noteworthy changes. In fact, this is more activity than we saw in the last year leading up to this point.
Google has gone from a plucky search engine startup to a sprawling international corporation with its tendrils reaching into many aspects of our lives. Sometimes, that provides unique advantages. However, it can also be immensely frustrating when you run into Google's famously lacking customer support. As travel blog One Mile at a Time points out, that's a particularly big problem when it comes to Google Pay and Fi.
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- Google Fi has pulled the travel promotion earlier than initially expected. At around 10pm ET a Google employee posted on the Google Fi Help Center forums that the promotion "is no longer available on fi.google.com or store.google.com. She wrote: "Even though we ran out of gift cards, don't worry-- we have other exciting deals for you." She pointed to the $200 Fi service credit mentioned above. Initially, the company stated that the promotion would end at 11:59pm PT, though there was mention of limited quantities. Information and the terms of the deal have now been removed from the Fi site after what was no doubt a very successful promotion for the operator.
When Google revealed Project Fi had become Google Fi (and added support for a whole lot of new devices) this morning, it also launched a tempting one-day deal. Today, November 28th, anyone who purchases a phone through Google Fi before 11:59 PM PT can get up to a $1,000 credit from Airbnb, Hotels.com, Southwest Airlines, or Delta Air Lines.
Google has dropped the price on its latest pair of flagships via the Google Store between $150-200, but Project Fi is set to one-up that offer. From now until next Tuesday (11/27) you can get a cumulative $400 off either the Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL — $200 in an up-front discount, and $200 in the form of bill credits.
The latest Pixel phones are a little too spendy for some, but Google's Project Fi service has a deal that might make them more palatable. If you purchase two 2018 Pixels on a group plan, you can get a $799 service credit. That's sort of a "buy one, get one" deal as the base model Pixel 3 costs $799. You do still have to buy the phones, though.
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- The new Project Fi v10 release has just landed, and you can install it right now by grabbing the download from APK Mirror. You will need Google Connectivity Services v3.0 for the network switching feature to work.
Google's long-term plans for its MVNO carrier, Project Fi, remain uncertain. But for the time being, the carrier is continuing to roll out new software features. No, Fi isn't getting RCS support — but it is starting to test an always-on VPN service and improved network switching.
Project Fi's been around for three-and-a-half years now, meaning it's not really a "project" anymore. It looks like Google may be agreeing with that sentiment, given that one redditor reportedly received this pamphlet with an unannounced "Google Fi" name and a new logo inside his/her Pixel 3 box alongside one with the current branding.
This past week was all about the Pixel 3, and if you're anything like us, right now you're looking to save money any which way you can in order to get your pre-order in for one of Google's latest handsets. Of course, just because you're putting together your Pixel 3 fund doesn't mean you can't drop a little cash elsewhere, and we've spotted a few deals that will hook you up with some desirable tech while also leaving you with money to spare.
LG phones probably haven't been getting much love on Project Fi, especially with the introductions of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, so the Google MVNO has decided to spice things up a bit. Both LG flagships are now being offered for $200 off, bringing the G7 down to $549 and the V35 to $699, with $150 free Fi service credit to sweeten the deal. This beats last month's deal out by $50.
Google has revealed the Pixel 3 and 3 XL, and I mean for real this time. We saw about a billion leaks as the annual hardware event approached, but now we've got all the details. Google's new Pixel phones are spendy, but you can drop the cash on them right now.
Millions of people continue to struggle with flooding after Hurricane Florence wreaked havoc along the U.S. Eastern seaboard. During times of natural disasters, communication is critical to finding lost family members, contacting emergency personnel, and even locating basic necessities such as food and water. Often during these times, we see U.S. cellular carriers provide free services or credits to those living in affected areas.
Those of you who have a Project Fi group plan might have been frustrated by finding that your promotional credits couldn't be used to bring the cost of your overall bill down. Thankfully, that's now changing as Google is letting users share credits with other group plan members.
Project Fi has been selling select devices at steep discounts lately. Last month, the carrier offered hundreds of dollars of service credit with the purchase of certain LG phones, or $200 off a Pixel 2 XL. Now there are two new deals, including a deeper price cut on the Pixel 2 XL and sales on LG devices.
A sad bit news hit Project Fi users' emails today. Google's MVNO service is shutting down text forwarding on September 12. While I'm sure not everyone on the carrier uses this feature, I personally have relied on it since joining Fi.
Project Fi isn't for everyone, but the carrier regularly offers great deals on phones. This time around, Fi has three promotions covering almost every phone it sells. You can receive up to $899 in service credit when buying an LG phone, get a Pixel 2 XL for $200 off, or get $50 in service credit with a Moto G6.
The Moto G6 went up for pre-order on Project Fi about two months ago, and though we never covered its formal release, it officially went up for sale a month after that. Project Fi now sells the G6 in the 'blush' color, which I'm surprised Motorola didn't call 'rose gold.'