When Google Shuts You Down

I have heard of numerous cases where Google shuts down a user’s access to everything Google related.  This includes Gmail, Gtalk, Picassa and Google Apps.  And, unless you are a paying customer, getting access restored to these accounts seems to be nearly impossible.

Nick Saber isn’t happy now. Monday afternoon, after lunch, Nick came back from lunch to find out that he couldn’t get into his Gmail account. Further, he couldn’t get into anything that Google made (beside search) where his account credentials once worked.

After contacting Google, he got this response:

Thank you for your report. We’ve completed our investigation. Because our investigation was inconclusive, we are unable to return your account at this time. At Google we take the privacy and security of our users very seriously. For this reason, we’re unable to reveal any further  information about this account. 

Link: When Google Owns You 

Eventually Nick did get his account back; however that is besides the point.  Google should be willing to work with their users to restore access to their account; paid customers or not.  If Google locked me out of my Gmail account, I would potentially be in a very deep hole.

At the very least, Google should explain why the account was closed down.

Justin