Fun fun fun

I've received multiple messages now from Google Checkout about my TIN being incorrect. They need it so that they can report my income to the IRS. This is standard business practice; far from unusual.

The annoying thing comes when Google thinks (wrongly) that my information is incorrect. I have received multiple messages now asserting that my information is incorrect. I suspect that there is a string compare on my name or something that is not recording a character-for-character match with the name on file with the government for my SSN (which I used and can use in place of a TIN that an incorporated entity might use). I got out my social security card and copied character for character. But who knows if this was the problem.

This is why you need real people to interact with your partners/customers. I'm sure at a level higher than my business there are many ways to get this kind of problem solved, but I guess I'm not important enough. You need to have a person to find out and explain what the problem is, and maybe on occasion to gloss over a frivolous problem.

Instead, I found a typical hands-off, no-human-contact-allowed form of support. The email informing me of the taxpayer ID issue was your classic no-reply deal. The support forums are full of people with the same problem and no help. The alleged customer help form presents an array of radio buttons that reveal more radios when clicked on, never allowing for textual input. When I received a robotic response from that last bit, I responded for shits and giggles with what my problem was. Today I received a message that seems to reflect someone having read my email (miraculously), but failed to respond in a useful way. They basically told me where to input the TIN, which is not helpful since I clearly already have used that form.

It really is amazing how quickly Google has gone from being a helpful business partner to being a giant, faceless corporation uninterested in plebes like me. Like I said in a forum post in their support area, I still have considerable esteem in Google, but if they cancel my Checkout account because they can't get their act together enough to use the CORRECT information I have given them or work with me to make it right, then I will be spending my time and energy elsewhere than Android development.