Re: People Being Banned From Google For Reselling Pixel Phones
2The gist of the story, which you can read about here is that over 200 people were buying the Pixel and Pixel XL, and selling them to someone in NH, earning ~3700 points for each phone, and $5 from the person in NH in the process.
The person in NH then would sell them for a considerable profit.
Google has a clause in their T&C’s which limits how many Pixel (XL)s a person can buy, and banned these people.
As reported here, eventually Google restored access for legitimate people.
The biggest outtake from this story is that most people are too dependent on one or two main companies, and if something were to go wrong, they’d have lots of trouble.
What do y’all think about this story?
I.e Google banning people?
On the one hand, there was no warning. On the other hand, they violated the clause which prohibits selling the device for commercial purposes.
While Apple has a similar clause, they won’t necessarily ban the person, but just cancel the order if they detect fraud.
- 6 comments, 43 replies
- Comment
As a Windows Phone user, I don’t think Microsoft cares about any such purchasing
or reselling 
restrictions.
@narfcake
Well based on their worldwide market share, or lack thereof…
(And yes, I get that this is the joke.)
@narfcake @PlacidPenguin even my die-hard Microsoft fanboy brother finally bought an iPhone when his Windows Phone broke a couple months ago.
@narfcake still using the 640?
Dammit, @PlacidPenguin! Now I can’t even joke that “I’m part of the 1%”, because 0.4% rounds down to zero!
@jqubed When I switch, it’s going to be Android. A usable iPhone isn’t going to be under $100.
@communist Yep - it’s still doing what I need it to do.
@narfcake
iphone 5s for straight talk only $99 on thanksgiving on thanksgiving day
its more than usable and after 12 months of paying, straight talk will unlock the iphone
@communist So $99 + tax + (12*$45) for a refurbished 2-3 year old phone with unexpandable storage and a smaller screen?
My sources say no
/8ball Is it worth it for me to?
(I’m piggybacked on a family TMo plan, so I’m paying less than a catshirt a month for service.)
@narfcake
If you’re on a T-Mobile plan simple choice or ONE plant, thru tomorrow - Sunday - that plan can have 2 more lines added for free (monthly).
And you don’t have to have phones or people to use them. The plan holder just had to go to a store or call in, sign or authorize, and they give/send you the phone sims. No monthly charge, or monthly charge if like $1 for FCC fees.
Activate a phone in 2018 if you want.
This weekend only.
When you finally replace phone look at Amazon returns and swap pages. I got a note 3 and a nexus 6 that way. Recommend both if you like phablets.
Do not recommend note 4 (fucking flaky) or note 5 (no external storage).
@f00l
@narfcake
Swappa not swap
Great place to get nice used phones. Quality of phone supposedly assured.
/8ball Will a “new” phone cost less than two catshirts?
Very doubtful
The ball has spoken, @f00l.
@narfcake
You said $99. Now you change the catshirt count.
Ok.
Let’s try this:
“Smartphone vs catshirt” cage match
Ok. I give. Get another catshirt
/giphy cat shirt
@f00l If my 640 becomes unusable, I have an Android phone (Moto E2) I can switch too. Except for the app gap, though, it’s not really an improvement even over my 635.
They weren’t just reselling phones. They were commercially reselling phones.
^^^^^ This. These people were buying lots of Pixels specifically for resale. I have no sympathy for them.
I think it’s worthwhile for everyone to take a minute to consider what they would do if they lost access to their Google account today.
@trisk What exactly is a Google “account”?
Don’t count on it
/8ball What exactly is a Google “account”?
Wow. That is just beyond perfect!
@trisk Amazon and Google. I’d be screwed without those two accounts.
@Collin1000
And we’re kinda screwed with them.
/giphy "welcome to paradise"
@trisk That happened to me briefly- it’s harder to get back a Google account than my Microsoft account, my bank account user name (or likely resetting the password), or any other account.
It’s nearly completely automated, and if you can’t remember the password, you have to hope you fit the magic criteria, or go beg the Google forum people for a review.
Have not yet read story. If google banned them from buying pixels, well ok.
If google banned them from their google accounts, I suppose they had better plan to live off grid from now on. Happy bow-hunting and wood chopping!
/giphy fucked
@f00l The teal deer is:
@narfcake
Moral:
Think it thru before you fuck with google.
/giphy "fuck with google"
@PlacidPenguin
Goddam it. I am getting an offer that’s hard to refuse. Goddam T-Mobile.
Which goddam pixel is most drool-worthy? Goddam T-Mobile will rebate $325.
@f00l
@f00l @PlacidPenguin I have a Pixel. It’s Quite Black. It looks more gray to me. I like it.
@Collin1000 @f00l
I really was hoping to get a Pixel. However, when I saw the pricing, I decided to just get the Nexus 5X
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@PlacidPenguin I’ve been thinking about trying to get the money together for a pair of 5x’s so we can switch to google fi, but I’m hoping the next phone will be released soon and the price of the 5x will drop or the next one will cost the same
@Pantheist
Considering that the Pixel and Pixel XL launched on October 20th, you have some time before newer phones come out.
@PlacidPenguin aw, I figured there’d be a 6x or something since the 5x was released a year ago.
@Pantheist
What about 6p?
@PlacidPenguin
Not which color. Which model?
Have not researched.
@f00l I seee… I don’t know how they determine these model numbers. Maybe I’ll just get the 5x’s in a month or so.
@f00l
I know what you were referring to, but considering they have similar specs
@Pantheist
Which model numbers specifically?
@PlacidPenguin I (wrongly) thought the 6p was the updated 5x. Should have googled it first.
@Pantheist
History of Nexus/Pixel devices:
Nexus Phones:
Nexus One, Nexus S (4G) [4G branding was for Sprint], Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 5X/6P.
Pixel Devices:
Pixel C (Chromebook), Pixel, Pixel XL
Nexus Tablets:
Nexus 10, Nexus 7 (2012), Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 9
@PlacidPenguin Thanks
@Pantheist
There was also the Nexus Q and the Nexus Player, but…
@Pantheist Google will let you split the cost of a new phone over 24 months. I’m paying about $10/month for my Nexus 5X and I checked the numbers and it’s the same price as buying it upfront. You do have to pay all the sales tax upfront.
@metaphore I’ve got shit credit, but it’s worth a try.
@metaphore nope, not approved. Was worth a try though.
@metaphore @Pantheist
There’s always the eBay or Swappa option.
Advantages of each:
eBay - Cashback available if you use a Cashback site. Possibly get it cheaper than Swappa by using an auction.
Swappa - IMEI is checked beforehand. Decent pricing. Especially for 32 GB variant.
Of course, you could always message a seller on eBay asking for the IMEI so that you could check it…
Of course, if one is particular about only buying new or mint condition phones, pricing on Swappa for 32 GB variant is only slightly less than from Fi.
Of course, the advantage with getting it through Fi directly is that there’s financing, but in this case…
@PlacidPenguin fi is still offering them for 199/250, so it doesn’t seem like much of a difference in price going from new to used (at least on swappa, haven’t checked ebay)
@Pantheist
Hmmm… thought I saw it for higher on Fi.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I thought I read that Google had restored their account access.
Edit: Yup
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/18/google-reverses-decision-ban-pixel-phone-resellers
@Pavlov
@PlacidPenguin Sorry. Next time I’ll read the whole thread.
Bottom line: Violate their TOS, be prepared for retribution. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
/ 8ball
Fuck’n A
Yeah, okay . . . so that didn’t turn out like I thought it would . . . but you get the idea.