When some subscribers opened their Google Fi bill for this month, they must have thought they got a gift from the MVNO as it showed they didn’t have to pay for anything for this month’s service. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a pandemic adjustment but rather a bug that caused this mistake. Google has since then apologized for the “technical issue” and informed affected customers that they will now be paying for two months in next month’s bill. Thanks a lot, Google.
9 to 5 Google says that on average, a Google Fi user pays around $30-$80 per month as it is runs a pay as you go kind of service. So imagine the surprise of some customers when they received a $0 billing this month and a notice that they “will not be charged this month”. Last month’s data reflected that they used 0 GB which probably resulted in the $0 charge. But it’s pretty highly unlikely you didn’t use your WiFi especially as a lot of us are staying at home.
As customers started getting in touch with Google Fi customer service to see if it’s real or it’s a mistake, reps said the company is aware of the issue and they should expect an update email. Sure enough, Google emailed affected users and apologized for the issue. They also informed customers that the bill and data usage will be tacked on to the next billing statement. So the money that you were saving for this month’s bill should be set aside for next month still.
This is the kind of mistake that will hurt the brand of course even if they apologized for the bug/mistake. There’s technically no harm done to users as you should be paying for your data consumption anyway but it is pretty inconvenient.
Let’s see if Google will be making it up to its Fi customers eventually for this mistake. In the meantime, if you’re one of the affected users, maybe put a reminder somewhere that you’ll be paying for two months in the next billing cycle.
