When is a discount not a discount? The answer to that is something even Google Fi users are wondering. There was much fanfare last month when Google announced that it was selling the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL phones at a 50 percent discount, as Google Fi celebrated its fourth year in operation. However, the deal turned out to be not so much fun for many of those who bought the Pixel phones. Many users were charged the full price of the phone instead, leading to overdraft charges as well from their banks.
This means that the Pixel 3 (64 GB) which was discounted to $399 was charged at $799 instead. The Pixel 3 (128 GB) which was to be sold at $449 instead cost buyers the usual $899 price. The larger Pixel 3 XL (64 GB) was charged at the usual $899 instead of the discounted $449 while the Pixel 3 XL (128 GB) which was discounted to $499 still ended up costing buyers the usual $999. In fact, Google has acknowledged the issue and currently has a Google Fi support thread running with the title “KNOWN ISSUE: Charged full price of Fi device after financing”. In a post, Google says, “Our team is aware of the issue and is actively working on a fix.”
However, users are not best pleased. Even more so since there is no confirmation on exactly when the refunds will be processed. “Understood but I need the refund now, that's a lot of money to have taken from my account. When are the refunds going to happen,” asks one user on the thread in a post. Another user with the account name Harry Alfrey raises a very important point, “I do not understand being charged without being sent a statement or invoice itemizing charges and pertinent details.” It seems Google did not actually send out an invoice to some users. There is another thread running on Reddit, and a user Octocamo just narrated his tale, “Yep just paid rent, did not have $470 in account to cover it, gained $100 in overdraft fees from other bills. Thanks Google.”
The fine-print here is that the Pixel buyers may still have to bear the overdraft fees, running as high as $100, even if Google is to refund the extra amount that were incorrectly charged.
We surely haven’t heard the last of this.
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