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.
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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
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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).
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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.
For the record I use just about every google service available. I have Google Fi, signed up for Google Voice in 2011 and have had it since then with the same phone number, use 2FA (yubikee), and use Gmail, pay for Drive etc. I live in the US which gives me access to options people overseas may not have as far as that goes (I live close enough to a Google office that if I needed to I could go to a physical location.
I have experienced their customer service and been on the receipt end of both the account recovery AI and their problematic customer service escalation tree. And because I both understand what Google Voice is and is not it isn’t my primary phone number and isn’t something I would ever use for 2FA. I also use a physical 2FA device specifically because I want to be in positive control of my ability to unlock my account in the event that I get locked out.
Know what else? I’ve also had people from the other side of the world try to access my account for purposes unknown using that account recovery AI and they were unsuccessful because I took the steps I did to secure my account and create a 2FA backup in the event that my device is lost or stolen.
Now you don’t go into any detail whatsoever even in your comments about anything of relevance that would help us help you. You don’t spell out how the system works in your country, you don’t explain what you were told (the specifics). You have posted none of the chat history or anything proving you’ve even contacted Google about this. For all we know you haven’t actually been talking to anyone actually affiliated with Google in any way.
Google can be trusted to be as corrupt as every other tech company about the things that make them money. They didn’t lock you out of your account according to your explanation. You locked yourself out of your account. They aren’t refusing to let you back into your account either so far as what you’ve said. They just want you to verify you are you.
I’m not apathetic. Someone who didn’t care wouldn’t have bothered to comment. But your language is flowery and amounts to “I am angry and am screaming into the void”. There is no substance to it. If this is how you talk to the call center techs I am not surprised that you haven’t gotten the help you requested.
If there was something tied to that account (a credit card or something) that might help you. If you could report the phone stolen, a police report would be helpful because that is an official document from a local government agency who would validate who you were. It would be something to provide to Google as proof of the validity of your claim.
If the channels available to you locally are not adequate then you’ll have to find another way to contact Google. Making a second account and using it to explore further options might be beneficial to your situation.
Making a second account and signing up for a new Google voice number would allow you to take screenshots of what you are seeing on your end and those might be helpful for people trying to guide you to getting the help you need.
Either way though I’m not sure how you expect us to help you besides giving the advice we have given? I’m assuming you were hoping to get the attention of Google employees. The problem with that is this is Lemmy, we aren’t reddit. I seriously doubt there are employees monitoring this place. If you were to try reddit or Twitter you might have better luck. Lemmy doesn’t have the user base to justify employees of big tech companies to spend working hours here. Good day, sir.