Google's biggest fail point is support. What happens if the device needs service?
Google did a terrible job at servicing (customer service) their phone. Trust me, an email address isn't enough. People want to call someone. And people want to take it someplace to get it fix or swapped out. The same day. A tablet/phone isn't the same as a PC. No one wants to overnight their phone for a replacement next week. ;)
I've recently dealt with Google service for a Galaxy Nexus. They're trying to be better, but they're still basically failing and some pretty basic things. Hopefully they can fix their shit though. Some failings I observed:
1/ They're doing the "call me" support feature, which is one awesome thing that Apple support does. Google, however, doesn't seem to understand what problem is being solved here, so they implement the feature without solving the problem. I file my issue online, click "call me back" and within seconds my phone is ringing. Then I'm waiting on hold for 10 minutes until a Google support specialist can talk to me.
2/ They've apparently got multiple tiers of support people who are working out of silos that don't communicate very well together. The person you talk to on the phone apparently can't really do much except for file a ticket, which gets shipped off to a higher level of support who you can't communicate with. And apparently the lower-level people can't communicate with them either. In my case I thought my Galaxy Nexus had been stolen from my front porch (UPS insisted they delivered it, but it wasn't there).. the next day I learned that they just delivered it to the wrong house, and I got it. But by then I had talked to someone at Google who filed a ticket to level-2 support to ship me out a new Nexus and to remote-disable the one I now have. When I called them back to try to cancel this whole thing they couldn't even comment on the ticket they sent to level-2.. they can only file another ticket asking level-2 to not disable my Nexus and hope level-2 gets that one before they get the first ticket.
This post made me crack up. Especially the "call me back" feature. That's so bad it's hilarious. At least you have some good new smalltalk subjects now.
I was assured that I would get a response from the level-2 support, and so far I haven't. This makes me assume that they still have two tickets open on my account, one that says "remote-disable this device and ship him a replacement" and one that says "you know that other ticket that says to remote-disable his device and ship him a replacement? Cancel that." I've got a Galaxy Nexus that is all setup, but which might be killed at any moment depending on how things work at Google support. Based on my experience so far, I have no reason to expect this to go the way I want it to. :)
I totally agree with this. I wouldn't say it's just about customer support but about customer relations. Whenever I walk by the Apple store, there are so many people in there that you can barely walk around. A lot of them are there for help/support. They know they can just walk into an Apple store and get face-to-face help. They can get their problem solved right there. This is a huge boon for non-tech savvy people. They trust that Apple will fix it for them in a timely fashion.
That's silly. If you buy a phone from Media Markt you aren't going to Media Markt for support, you're going to HTC, Apple, Samsung or whoever made the phone.
Personally, I first go online to see whether I can find a solution or more info about a problem, but I think that is an approach typical for the more technically inclined types. 'run of the mill' consumers, I think, will directly call the shop where tey bought stuff. I do not think they will call whoever made the phone, if only because they often do not know how to do that.
Yes, there are cases where one can register a product with the producer and get a guarantee that way, but even then, EU law is clear: the buck stops at whoever sold you the device.
So, even then, I would be inclined to contact the seller earlier than the producer because, in the end, if you buy form Q, Q is the only one who has an obligation to help you. In this case, If I were to buy from Google, and things didn't work as expected, I would contact Google. They cannot hide behind "but we bought it from X". If they could, consumers would typically get no support at all. For example, X would say "it looks like the battery is the problem. That is not ours; we bought it from Y"; Y would say "I don't know. Maybe it's the controller chip? Z made that"; Z would say "we outsourced the software for that chip" or "no, it's not the chip, it must be the chemicals in the battery/the device getting too hot due to incorrect firmware in some other CPU", etc.
In the past, Nexus devices have been supported by Google, not the manufacturer. Fortunately, Google has gotten better at customer support recently. They finally figured out that customers want phone support, not email.
It's funny because I absolutely hate phone support. I can't think of anything I'd rather not do than call someone on the phone. Email is comparatively excellent.
I had a major issue with my Nexus One. I called, they suggested a reset, after the reset didn't fix it they sent me a replacement immediately. The entire process was as painless as can be. The support rep seemed knowledgeable and reasonable. Unlike when I called Dell a few weeks again - nightmare!
Open a store. Have an online booking system. When someone comes in after booking a time, have staff with some basic training go through a list of things to get a rough diagnosis. Give the customer an estimated repair time and cost. Simple things should be replaced on the same day.
Google did a terrible job at servicing (customer service) their phone. Trust me, an email address isn't enough. People want to call someone. And people want to take it someplace to get it fix or swapped out. The same day. A tablet/phone isn't the same as a PC. No one wants to overnight their phone for a replacement next week. ;)