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Google Gets Consumer Service Ultimatum From German Consumer Groups

Posted by samzenpus on from the or-else dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Google received an ultimatum Thursday from German consumer organizations that want it to start answering questions from its users via email. The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBV) has asked Google to sign an undertaking that it will provide customer service by responding individually to users questions sent by email, said Carola Elbrecht, VZBV's project manager for consumer rights in the digital world at the VZBV. Signing such a document would expose Google to fines if it breached the undertaking. On the other hand, said Elbrecht, 'If Google does not sign it, we're going to court.'"

2 of 351 comments (clear)

  1. You know... by MrDoh! · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That doesn't sound entirely unreasonable. If it pushes Google to have a bit more of a responsive front end to their customers, then... I'm ok with that. Though I'd also see Google's side of it if they insisted on a GMail/G+ account to prove they are a valid customer and not MS spam bots!

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    1. Re:You know... by AK+Marc · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The issue is "customer." The customers for Google are the advertisers, not the users. The US is about the only place that allows the separation of "user" from "customer" with any meaning. Europe and most other places considers the user the customer, even if they are not paying for it. It's yet another US vs the world definition war.

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