[mythrwy]

Lots of angry people in the comments. Apparently it did affect a number of them quite badly.

What seems strange to me, (and not judging it's just a little weird) are the amount of people hit up for $900-$1000 phones that are overdrawn or cannot buy gas etc because of this event. And certainly that can be a big surprise charge but you still have to pay the $1000 over time, what's wrong with a $250 phone?

Maybe I'm a cheapo who only buys $250 phones and so doesn't understand how much better the $1000 ones are. But if things are that tight it just doesn't seem like the most logical thing to spend extra money on. Even future money a bit at a time. Probably there are reasons I don't understand.

[manigandham]

You're right, they're making bad financial decisions, but then again they agreed to a small monthly payment instead of the full upfront price.

It might be surprising but unfortunately many people really do live one paycheck at a time and finances are a careful balance of paying bills as they come. In this case, the funds seem to be taken directly from bank accounts so there's no extra credit card protection and it can lead to a cascade of fees for overdrafts, bounced checks and other problems.

[Johnny555]

Not sure why you got downvoted so much, you make a valid point, like maybe this guy shouldn't have bought a thousand dollar phone:

Google, because of your ADMITTED MISTAKE, my rent check on Monday is now going to bounce. I very well could get evicted from my house over this. What is your plan to make sure I do not get evicted, or is Google going to pay for a new place for me to rent if this happens?

[marak830]

I purchased x item at monthly payment of y, now I'm being charged a lump sum and it's throwing off my books.

Shit strip out the what and it could screw over most people who don't have a large savings account (hell I do, but it's not linked to my main account, so I'd get screwed as well and I'm fairly well off).

I'm sorry Johnny but the way you have been acting in this thread really makes me doubt your sincerity, or wonder how damn entitled you are.

[jplayer01]

I’m not sure what any of this has to do with Google charging the full amount despite these people being on payment plans. It wouldn't be acceptable for any other provider to do this and it isn't acceptable for Google. The state of these peoples' finances makes this worse, and doesn't absolve Google. It's incredible the mental gymnastics well-off people will do to shift the blame to the poor instead of the weak, vulnerable billion dollar enterprises that fuck up.

This guy took the payment plan according to what he thought was able to pay monthly. And until Google charged him $1000 out of nowhere, that was fine. That's all there is to it.

[Johnny555]

I agree that Google screwed up big time but if you let the cost of your phone get you evicted (even if unexpected), you've made a bad financial decision.

[imtringued]

You keep talking about getting kicked out by the landlord which no one here even mentioned except you in the entire HN thread. "The cost of the phone" leads to additional late fees and in some rare cases to debt collectors harassing you. Suddenly a small $1000 charge that you can pay off next month turns into $1200 and you might pay additional fees to the debt collectors even if their claim is invalid just to get them off your back. Google could also just refuse to hand out refunds at all because they got your money and their law department is bigger than whatever defense you can get and you will lose more money in legal fees than you could possibly recover. Bonus points if they keep charging the monthly payments despite you paying the full price. (congratulations your $1000 phone is now $2000, "plan" better next time)

[Johnny555]

I posted an actual quote from someone claiming that this could lead to eviction from someone that posted on the Google blog page, I didn't make it up out of thin air.

Google should refund all direct costs (NSF fees, etc) but they shouldn't be responsible for rehousing someone that was evicted.