Google Checkout checks out
The UK version of Google's payments service Google Checkout has been foundering for two days, and is currently completely offline, with no explanation from the company. Frustrated merchants complain on Google's own forums that the login page is delivering a 404 error. US users are also reporting problems on Twitter. The …
This is really frustrating. I can't update my credit card details now my card has expired, and so I can't purchase any apps from the Android Market, or check on how my app sales are going. :(
You got to talk to a Google Spokesman?
That's a lot better than the hundreds or even thousands that have errors such as this.
Google support is diabolical, even when there are so many posts about a problem they still do not give an indication as to what is going on!
When will the likes of Google realise that it is the customer is the core of any business and start to respond to them.
I'm a paying Google Apps and AdWords customer and find it very difficult to get support. They're happy to take my money but not to provide a support service like most other companies have. You'd think they'd value a paying customer above a non-paying one.
It's amazing that a company of this size cannot provide an adequate e-mail or telephone support for it's customers. Been trying to get the problem resolved for two days via e-mail support and all I get are default/template responses with no information or ETA on the fix, or even why this is happening!
Shame really, Google are getting a bit too lax and spreading themselves too thin.
not good news for us android users, we need google checkout to purchase apps in the market!
The problem with the 404 error has been reported since yesterday but still no fix. I have orders that have come in today from sales from my website but cannot process them as need to login to google checkout to get the customers address and verify the payment has cleared.
Just an generic email from them at 4pm today saying their engineers are working on the problem, if its not fixed by the morning ill remove it as a payment option from my website
I've had a number of clients payments and was expecting them to show up today
and google checkout isn't there anymore!!
Clients sent me emails to confirm their payments, but I can't access my account
it's only a few hundred quid, but un-nerving nevertheless
with my name and address and they expect me to hand over my bank details.
I refuse to use this service out of pure common sense.
I ditched Google Checkout as the payment option for a site I built/still maintain for someone, way back when they ditched Maestro. Quite a lot of people, including me, use Maestro cards.. anyone with Yorkshire Bank for one.
Boy am I glad I did that. Paypal are by no means perfect, but at least they support ALL cards. And, uhm, work.
This is one reason why we at http://www.lancashireroseblinds.co.uk do not use Google checkout as it always seems to have problems. Merchants need a reliable payment gateway and google checkout is no longer that.
Why do Google think that it is acceptable to down systems and not give any feedback? How stomping would they be if their search engine went down and all they got back was 'oh, someone should look into it in the next few days... maybe'. If they want to establish themselves as trustworthy, I'm talking all their bigging up programming for their infrastructure, and using their 'apps', then they need to be giving out contact details! Oh and where's the 'google guys' with horns icon?
P.S. Not that this outage affects me I just wanted to rant ;)
...i'd forgotten that it uses google checkout. hmmm...slightly worrying.
Your personal preference for Maestro matches mine (I need it for German visits) but it's not just Google that are dropping Maestro, it seems to be the UK "financial services" industry in general. Wunch of bankers indeed.
Dunno why Google don't put this kind of thing out into The Cloud, everyone in IT journalism knows that The Cloud delivers everything end users want all the time for no cost (unlike the IT department who never deliver anything end users want and cost the company a fortune).
My French bank card has been reissued as the older Maestro/carte bleu is now a dead duck. I've a shiny gold Mastercard, not that that would impress anybody these days, all the cards seem to be navy blue or vivid gold.
Was there something on El Reg about the demise of Maestro that I missed? [grave icon for Maestro, not Reg]
.
About AC suggesting Google put the service in The Cloud... that's where their heads are, else they might have, you know, switched to the backup. Hey, hold it, it's a payment service with loads of people's bank and transaction information, they DO have a backup system, right? Right!?
Recently had my Maestro replaced by Visa Debit, which is a PitA (as online payments now need to be set up using a new KindaVerifiedIsh By Visa where Maestro used MasterCard InSecure, card details need changing with various merchants etc).
Still had over 18 months left on my Maestro, but no option to continue to use until expiry. Makes no sense, as they use Mastercard for the Natwest credit cards.
At least with my shiny new Visa Debit, I can use Google Checkout. Oh, wait....
that everyone is slowly dropping support for Maestro cards is because it's ONLY UK Maestro cards that MANDATE the use of 3D Secure (thanks for the Mastercard - yay) - if you want to accept Maestro cards you have to go through the joy of implementing 3D Secure... which is, if we're honest, a bit shite.
Since you no longer HAVE to accept Maestro cards if you take Mastercard (as used to be the case) it might be preferable to just drop support for Maestro entirely, avoid the whole 3D Secure debacle and be done with it... which is what Google Checkout did.
I was under the impression that Visa developed 3D Secure, and then Mastercard jumped on the bandwagon?
I know every time I try to use my new Visa debit, I get the Verified by Visa, which means I normally back up to use my main Mastercard, which is already registered with SecureCode. I'd sooner keep just one card registered with these things than a bunch.
I received my outstanding payments after 7pm tonight
well done Google
Well done Google?
They f**k up, fail to have any customer service, give no ETA's and ignore their customers.
Yes Thumbs up Google.
I'm no Google apologist, but to those saying they can't get through to Google, it took all of 10 seconds to find this - http://www.google.co.uk/contact/
OK, it's a generic switchboard number, but I'll lay money on them putting you through to the right department. 99% of companies do. If I have trouble with any support lines I always try the main switchboard and most of the time it leads to greater success.
Gmail outages, App Engine outages, Checkout outages, Sync outages, YouTube outages. The list goes on and on and on.
Consider then that Google want us all to believe that we can all use their Chrome OS safe in the knowledge our personal and business data is safe in their hands and that they will help drive down costs, increase efficiency and thus boost our revenue. Laugh? I nearly died!
That's completely FUBAR too, same story with support, what they have suggested doesn't work and now they've lapsed into an awkard silence
In the past week, I've seen multiple outages while trying to pay online inside the UK:
Trying to pay for my pizza order at Pizza Hut: unknown error (as in "can't talk to the payment system") - they don't use Google
Trying to top-up my SIM: connection timeout - they don't use Google either
Trying to draw petrol out of a Tesco Pay@Pump petrol station - I'm quite sure they don't use Google :)
It feels more like a UK banking thing than a Google thing, and Google is just playing along. You didn't see an HSBC banner on that 404 page by any chance, did you? :)
For me that was their first EPIC FAIL! Even worse than Buzz. Of about half a dozen orders I tried to place they successfully delivered maybe one. Their were pretty good about spamming my inbox with regular reports that the item hadn't shipped yet. Binned it fairly quickly after I stopped thinking it was me messing up.
