What to do if you are completely locked out of your Google account?
Google accounts can be used not only for Gmail and YouTube, but also for various other services. This means that the impact will be greater if your account becomes unavailable. Desirea Calvillo, founder and CEO of
When You Get Locked Out of Your Google Account, What Do You Do?
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-you-get-locked-out-your-google-account-what-do-desirea-calvillo
Calvillo got a Gmail account in 2004, when it was still invitation-only. In addition to multiple Google Home Mini Speakers, he also has one Google Home Display Hub and three Nest security cameras at home. He also uses multiple Google Casts from several generations ago and owns multiple Chromebooks. He is a big Google fan, having upgraded his smartphone from a Pixel 4 to a Pixel 5. He also said that he has been using a Google Voice phone number as his main number for a long time.
However, one day, he was unable to log into his Google account, and all other devices were logged out of his Google account. Initially, Calvillo thought that he could reset the phone number and email address associated with his account, but when he tried to do so by clicking the 'Forgot your password' link, he was given two options: 'Send a verification code via text message via your Google Voice number' or 'Send a verification code via email to the relevant email address.' Naturally, Calvillo, who could not log into his account, could not check the verification code sent by email, and on the other hand, he was also logged out of Google Voice, so he could not check the text message, so he was stuck.
Calvillo first contacted a friend, who confirmed that he was a Google One subscriber, which provides support from Google specialists , and arranged for support to contact Calvillo.
When Calvillo contacted a support representative and explained the situation, he was directed to the ' account recovery ' option that Calvillo had already tried. The support representative explained that due to security policy, support representatives cannot make changes to user accounts and that the only option was for the user to 'restore their account' themselves. The support representative then apologized, saying, 'I'm sorry, I can't help you.' Calvillo expressed his feelings at the time as a wordless cry of '@!#$@!$#%#!!!'
After spending hours searching for a solution on community help, social news sites Reddit and Quora, Calvillo couldn't find an answer and the next day he asked for help on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
I also considered transferring my phone number to Google Fi , which requires a fee, thinking that this might not work because I'm using Google Voice for free, but I gave up on that idea because I would have had to log in to my Google account to complete the number transfer.
After all attempts failed, Calvillo contacted Google One support again, and was told by a new representative, who also worked with 'users who have been unable to get their Google accounts unlocked for six months,' that the recovery team did not know when the form needed to recover the account would be provided.
It took Calvillo a month to get the form he needed, and he sent it off with a 2,000-word explanation of his situation, but the next day he received a boilerplate auto-reply saying, 'We've checked and found that your account is active, so you should be able to log in successfully. Please try logging in again. If you've forgotten your password, please select the 'Forgot password' link.'
After going through this process three times over the course of two months, Calvillo was exhausted. He sent a harsh email to Google, saying, 'I pay for Google One and YouTube Music, but if my account is locked I can't stop paying. I'm afraid I'm being sued because I have no way to cancel.' But he still received a standard response.
Finally, Calvillo thought, 'This problem needs to be solved without relying on Google,' and began to look for other ways. The clue to the solution was 'phone number.'
Calvillo was using a Google Voice phone number, but when he traced it back to the source, he found that there was a company that provided phone numbers to Google. Calvillo discovered that the phone number he was using for Google Voice was provided by a company called Bandwidth.com. He then thoroughly checked the Bandwidth.com site and found a statement about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) .
What is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)? - Bandwidth
https://www.bandwidth.com/glossary/federal-communications-commission-fcc/
Calvillo noted that the FCC rules stipulate that 'services shall not be abruptly terminated without adequate notice. This is likely intended to give users time to switch to other carriers after receiving notice of the service termination. However, Calvillo thought this was a turning point, and filed a complaint with the FCC.
The next day, he was informed that a notification had been sent to Google, and eventually, Calvillo's account was restored and available. According to Calvillo, the period during which his Google account was unavailable lasted for two full months, from August 27 to October 29, 2021.
In response to Calvillo's confession, several users have asked for specific information, such as 'I'm facing exactly that problem. What should I complain about?', and one user has also said, 'I filed a complaint with the FCC in the same way and had it lifted.'
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in Web Service, , Posted by logc_nt