Google Checkout Review
Since its release I have wanted to try it. It was only limited to U.S. when they allowed me to register my credit card and Kuwait Shipping address. This awkward start raised the flag! Months later, the Google Checkout service is available globally, but I still did not see a use for it with the current signed up merchants. Few weeks back I had my eye on Nintendo Wii, but it was always out of stock, or extremely expensive. I tried various sites, Become.com, Google Base, and Froogle eventually found me a retail store called TRLStore.com (Short for Takes Really Long I pressume). The site had it in stock and for a reasonable price. What’s even better is they had Google Checkout. I was already registered so it’s very tempting, the whole thing is only few clicks away. Even though the TRL load time was extremely slow, I still managed to add the item to the cart and checkout. This was back in 8th Feb.
Immediately after my order, I received an email from Google Checkout with the status below:
|
|
Your credit card (VISA xxx) was charged for $366.62. “GOOGLE *TRL Store” will appear on your credit card statement. |
That was it. They were really quickly collecting their money, but then again, most people are! I did not care much however if the item is really going to get delivered for that price. 7 working days later, the status is still the same. When I contacted TRL through Google Checkout (they use virtual email to hide your email from the store) I received a reply saying they already sent me an email two days back, and that the item is still out of stock and they have no fixed date for the next shipment. A good hope is 1st March, but it’s again not certain, and I am not sure where do I stand in the queue. I did not receive the two days before email, either because simply they did not send it, or the mechanism of forwarding the email through Google Checkout failed. Anyways, the end result is, I have paid $366 for something they don’t have, when they actually promoted it as in stock, and this is the only reason I chose them. I decided this is a waste of time and money and canceled my order. My argument however that the item was marketed as in stock did not suit them and they replied with this:
“Your order has been canceled. Please wait 3-5 days for the credit to get applied to your bank.
The funny thing is that, even when he posted the URL back to me, and up till this very moment, the Wii Console link does not mention the item is out of stock or not available. In fact the two words (stock, available) do not exist right now in the link. Instead they are promoting the item as “On Sale For: $312.29 (USD)“. You can wonder how the out of stock item is on sale, pretty amusing. After that incident only, I found out that CNet has a review on Google Checkout, and that it is only rated as 3.9 POOR!
So what now? To summarize, below are the Pros & Cons of Google Checkout:
Pros:
- Single sign on with Google. Your personal information is hidden from the merchants and no need for multiple signup passwords.
- Wide variety of merchants, with quick and fast search through them from one interface.
Cons:
- Additional fees for Google Checkout service, as the CNet reviews show.
- The wide variety of merchants is causing low profile merchants to spoil the service quality and overall experience of the end user
- Instant Charging: Even when the item is not in stock, you get charged immediately when you place the order. I am not sure if this is related to how the RTLStore operates or how Google Checkout behaves, it seems like Google Checkout nature and it’s really inconvenient and is on the side of the merchant. Unlike Amazon who charge shipments separately only once they are shipped out.
- Communication problems: CNet reviews revealed cases when merchants did not receive customer purchases, and my experience suggests a possible similar contact forwarding problem.
- No Merchants Review: REALLY BAD! With the wide variety of merchants, how can I tell which merchants I can trust? Right now, there is no way to review merchant rating. Even though Google Checkout prompts you for a merchant review 2 weeks after your order, they still do not provide your review for public. The merchant him self however is allowed to discuss your review. So it’s really a feedback to the merchant, whom I already disargued with, rather than a review for other consumers. This is either because they still don’t have enough reviews to publish them, or because the reviews are still so bad they don’t want to scare people off. I strongly believe it’s the second reason. Cnet reviews prove it, the unknown brands give you a hint, and the fact that the seller is the only one outside Google Checkout beside you who can view your review and comment on it, as they indicate here. It seems they want to reach customer satisfaction by encouraging comments exchange under their supervision.
I hope I have made the Cons list long and detailed enough to keep you away from the hassle of using the service, in the meantime at least. I really like the concept and wish it can improve. I would be a user again if they can deliver quality service.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Most Popular Posts:
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
I have not Tried Google checkout, yet. I, However, am using Papal, which looks very good. They don’t offer reviews. Charges I think are made immediately since they do not know the details of each purchase.
It is very common here that people/stores offer sale price on Wii even without them having it in stock. You have to really be careful not to fall for this, as this will trap your money for unknown period.
The price I can get you Wii for is (293 CAD$ +Tax) this includes shipping to Canada. I can then give it to people visiting Q8 for you. (Tax is around 14%).
There is a website that tracks Wii and PS3 and sends you Emails and SMS alerts once those are available. You do not end up buying out of stock items. The stores it monitors are all Well known Canadian stores and prices are in CAD$. http://www.consolewatch.com
A.
Well that’s a bit of extreme isn’t it! This guy is anti-PayPal more than any Anti-Microsoft on earth!
Beware. Google Checkout does nothing to protect you from fraudlent sellers and websites. in other words, they WILL NOT chargeback if you’re ripped off. They will only “mediate” in “nonbinding” terms, which amounts to nothing.
[...] Google Talk PC to Phone VOIP: An image has been shared around the web of new Google Talk version that will allow PC to Phone calls. No details of the service is available yet, but all we know it’s another Skype killing attempt. I just hope it doesn’t enforce Google Checkout, I still hate it. [...]
Not too happy with Google checkout though checkout is extremely fast. On my Credit Card statement there is no mention on who the seller is. Having multiple transactions on one statement makes it difficult to then research specific transaction
JB Weiler: I also thought the fast checkout is so convenient, but the drawbacks start coming later on as you mentioned.
Sad really. I would love otherwise to heavily use this service.
I’m pretty disappointed in GCO. I ordered from a place, and due to a bug where I pushed “back” on the browser my order was submitted, except it was under the wrong address. Because I used GCO, the place refused to change the shipping address, and I can only place a new order. I asked GCO to intervene and contact the seller with my correct shipping addressed but they just give me a canned nonanswer about how to use GCO.
The place says my only option is make a new order, but the camera I’m ordering is no longer at the sale price that I originally ordered it for, so I’d be $250 (the difference in sale price)
Mathew: Sadly yes. Google Checkout was so much promising for me, I called it PayPal killer. Trying it once to buy item, and a second time to upgrade my Gmail storage (so directly through Google), and it also failed. Heck, their support is even worse than their product it self. They did not answer my email for 1 week, and then sent general email apology not specific to my question!
Just kill it I say, or seriously work on it. This could have been the only serious money making service from Google other than ads, I can’t understand how they could miss it up so badly.
I have been using Google Checkout for the last 2 years for my business, and Pay Pal is by far better. Their rates may be higher but they actually provide phone support and don’t take weeks to respond to email inquiries, sometimes no response at all. Don’t even let me start about their chargeback process… it is a joke. Stay away from this merchant account provider. Pay Pal has been around for 10+ years, GC has been around for 3, which one do you think has more of a handle on things? For god sakes Google, answer my emails. When you don’t provide phone support you have to be that much better at email support. Google Checkout is a joke! I have lost over $20,000.00 over the last year because they don’t know how to properly deal with chargebacks.
Russ: Damn, this is much bad than my case. Although PayPal support has always sucked in my experience as well!
I’m giving them another chance right now.
December 2010 was the first time I used google checkout to purchase and item. I went through the checkout and paid using my credit card and after 3 week did more order status did not change. I contacted the seller and they were first to return my email. google checkout so I am told did not charge enough for international shipping therefore my order was not mailed. If I did not contact seller I would still be wondering where my item is. I believe google should have changed the correct amount so the item would have been shipped. Google has noone to contact when you have problems. I will never purchase anything from google checkout again. I have used paypal for many years and have always been happy with there serverice. after this purchase I am done with google checkout
LLee: Still haven’t improved after all this time huh! I only use it for Google services, which has no other option.
Sad really
Just a few comments on your listed ‘Cons’ up there…
1. The fees are less than PayPal’s fees, but yes, they are extra. Still, most good merchants do not pass these on to the customers.
2. I agree with you entirely, but that’s true in all mediums.
3. Instant charging.. A Google Checkout merchant can choose to instantly charge, or just authorize for charging later. We do the second, ourselves. Authorizations can show up on bank statements as charges, or as ‘memo charges’ though, when the card hasn’t yet been charged.
4. The customer can choose to hide their email, at which point Google provides them a ‘secure one’.. I also feel this is a problem, but it’s not all of Google Checkout. If the customer does not, then we are given their real email address.
5. Um, there is a way to review sellers, but only if you’ve purchased from them. Log into your Google Checkout account, go to your Purchase History, and voila.
I hope these thoughts help a bit. I know this is an old post, but these points were valid from the beginning, to the best of my knowledge.
I am open for Nintendo Wii suggestions now by the way. $320 is the price I am looking for. I assume same as you!