My great experience with Google Support

To October 2021, taken by the euphoria of Google’s promises, I bought a Pixel 6 Pro at the launch of the phone, which as you probably know didn’t happen in Italy. The two Google smartphones have in fact been available on our market only since February 2022, and in fact I bought it through Fnac France, which fortunately provided for shipping to Italy.

All good for several months, at least until one of the corners of the display ceased to be rounded: a problem apparently not uncommon, which I told you about in this article. Therefore thanks to the subsequent release of Pixel 7 Pro, in recent weeks I have decided to try the way ofGoogle assistanceto try to repair Pixel 6 Pro screenbeing the telephone still under warrantyand this is the (short) story of how things went.

Going into the Google Store repair center the first thing I was asked was the IMEI of my smartphone.

No receipts, invoices, or other proof of purchase. In fact, through this unique code, Google will know everything it needs to know about your device, including whether or not it is still under warranty.

It’s a great starting point, not because I didn’t have the invoice from Fnac, but because the IMEI is always available on the phone itself, while a receipt can easily be lost. Also, even if you receive the smartphone as giftor if you were to buy it usedthere will be no problems.

After answering some very general questions about the type of problem encountered (see screenshot below), Google put me in front of a choice: send the smartphone on my own, receiving a pre-paid waybill, or have me send a package ad-hoc, complete with insured shipping. I chose this second route, albeit slower, precisely because it was this way I would not be responsible for damage in transit.

(Following some screenshots confirming the entire procedure, done in a few minutes from the browser.)

Friday 18 November I then sent the request to receive the package from Google, with which to send back the Pixel 6 Pro, and I promptly received an email with the tracking code; package then arrived at its destination Wednesday 23 November. It took more days than expected, but it was worth it for the added security. In fact, here is a photo of my Pixel 6 Pro inserted in the “cushioned” packaging provided by Google.

At this point it is necessary to specify that the device must be sent for assistance resetfor privacy reasons, and not being able to do it immediately, I had to wait until the following week.

Monday 28 November around 19:00 I therefore went to a UPS collection point (Google uses this courier for shipping, even if it omits a link to find collection points in the thousands of emails it will send you: here it is!), And Wednesday 30 November at 13:21 I received confirmation of the arrival of the Pixel 6 Pro in the Polish Google service center.

10 minutes later the phone had already been examined, and Google offered me to replace it directly with a refurbished model, free of charge. I accepted the offer, ed an hour later the replacement device had already been shipped. The next day, December 1st, it was already in my hands, as you can see below: not a scratch or sign of wearand of course it works perfectly.

For the avoidance of doubt the warranty is still valid up to the original expiration dateI checked it on the replacement phone by entering the IMEI on the Google help site.

A swallow does not make spring. That is, the fact that I had a positive experience it doesn’t mean that Google Support is infallible. Looking for opinions online you will surely find those who found it very bad, which is true for practically any producer; and even in that case it is impossible to draw a general value for all.

There are some though objective data which I would like to emphasize.

1. My Pixel 6 Pro was purchased in Francebut the repair request was made entirely on the Google Store Italian, without any problem, completely online, and in a few minutes. In short, the guarantee works very well.
2. Google doesn’t have service centers in Italy, so you can’t take the phone yourself to be repaired, but it has to be shipped to Poland (as we will see shortly it is not a problem).
3. UPS times were very fast: actually a working day to go from Italy to Poland, and vice versa.
4. The timing of Google’s intervention was also exceptionalalthough in the emails received the company reported that “it usually takes 2-3 business days“, confirming the fact that it is impossible to give general indications.
5. Communication by email from Google has always been quick, punctual And almost entirely flawless. A link to the UPS collection point was missing to make it perfect.
6. The phone has not been repaired but replaced with a refurbished one. I can not know why this choice, or whether it is a common practice or not, but this is both good and bad. On the one hand it has certainly drastically shortened the times of the intervention, on the other it is no longer the original telephone. For me, however, it was only a bonus, because my Pixel 6 Pro had quite a few scratches on the front glass, while the one that was returned to me is immaculate, exactly like new. On the other hand I lost the Dbrand skin applied to the old phone, but I’d say I can live with it.
7. As already pointed out, the duration of the remaining warranty it has not been impacted in the least by all this, and it is the same as the original phone even on the refurbished one.

In short, my experience was excellent, to the point of leading me to write this article, given that even today Google does not sell all its products in Italy on day one (see Pixel Watch) and knowing that they can be repaired with such ease if purchased elsewhere of Europe is certainly an important bonus.

For all your other personal considerations, there is the space for comments below.