Google Phones — Bait and Switch

I ordered a Pixel3a online, at 25% off. After sale ended, they canceled order & invited me to buy a more expensive phone. This is “bait ‘n switch”. I contacted Google after I placed order to purchase a Pixel 3a phone whose price of was reduced by on Dec 2, 2019. Immediately, I confirmed with their customer support person that everything was in order. The Google Store canceled the order the next day, Dec 3, 2019. That was also the day when the sale on the phone I has ordered expired. The reason given by Google in the email notification of Dec 3, 2019, was “we were unable to validate some of your information.” I had provided two methods of payment in Google Pay: Paypal and a credit card. Both were in order. I called the Google Support people and requested that I be given a coupon for to enable to buy the phone I wanted for the Dec 2 sale price. I escalated the matter to Tier 2. They refused my request. I was told that Paypal had rejected the request for payment. A follow-up e-mail from of the Google Support team stated: “you’re now not eligible to purchase Pixel 3a with discount as it’s now not available in Google store. We cannot give you a 1 time courtesy as your order was cancelled due to payment issue that means that’s not Google’s fault. What I can advise for you is to check for another promotion on the Google store, that you can avail, like for our Pixel 3XL. We are giving discount for those who will purchase Pixel 3XL.” This is clearly a ‘Bait ‘n Switch’ tactic. There was no record when I checked my Paypal account history that a payment request by Google had been rejected, or that Google ever requested a payment. The Paypal customer service representative I spoke with subsequently confirmed that. Moreover, even if there had been a payment problem, the order should not have been canceled my order in one day without first notifying me of the payment issue. Shortly after placing my order on Dec 2, 2019, I checked with the Store Support Team, and a member of that team, reviewed my order and assured me it was fine. Google typically allows 7 days for resolution of such a problem. I have pursued this issue with Google Customer Support, having spent 1 week on 10 phone calls to them. I spent over 10 hours on the phone with Tier 1 and 2 representatives. My last interaction with Google Customer Support was on Dec 11, 2019