I really do not get the point, I do not have the account logged in on any of my devices. I have tried all the previously used devices to reset the password from. It still keeps sending the code to the same email.
It's an account I use for AdSense and I have unpaid revenue in there. I have literally tried 5 different devices that I have used the account on, I can verify the phone number but then it keeps asking me to verify a code that's sent on the same email.
Now that I'm trying potential passwords, it asks me to solve a captcha everytime and I've tried so many times that it says I've entered the captcha wrong even though it's correct. We're 3 people literally looking at that and solving it and it's done that 10s of times.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22705122
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17428707
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9768593
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19513501
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30677471
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=350968
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24709282
(Some of those threads also have related advice.)
I feel bad for this person because it’s a horrible place to be stuck in, but even if Google had great customer support allowing people to reset passwords over chat / phone would be ripe for abuse
Same here, the only thing I did wrong was use Linux + Firefox + change country
edit: it was a great lesson though got me out of google products after that, everything bar Android itself and very rare niche searches (hoping linux phones get good enough for daily drivers)
They could not send proof, relented, and said that it did not actually need a repair. They also said I had to pay for a new screen anyway as but they would refund it after repair. After a while I paid for their lie, then waited for my phone.
It was returned after a week, but they refunded the money minus tax. I complained, and now, after over 120 correspondences, I do still not have my money back.
I will never get my money back.
Since one of the problems was with the logic board it was not even really possible for me to pay for a repair in a reasonable way.
I ended up buying a pixel 4a, because I didn't want to switch ecosystem, so went for the cheapest Google phone. Might not be able to avoid giving Google/Apple money, but I can certainly avoid buying the flagship devices.
There's no excuse not to if you have an account that has monetary value tied to it. You lose your rights to whine if you're careless with your online identity and get screwed over because of it.
I never thought it would happen to me in this manner. It makes no sense that it's asking me to verify the code from an email that I'm telling them I don't have the password for. Even when I have a recovery phone number set on the account.
If you are in the US, try contacting google by every possible venue and keep a track / paper trail of your communications. If non of these methods work, then sue them in a small claims court. This is something for which you do not need a lawyer, and you can get up to $3000. They will probably take you seriously enough to try to solve it without going to court.
As far as I know, that's about the only way to do things if you can't get in.
> If you still can’t recover your account, you can create a new Google Account.
Difficult to believe that someone wrote that with a straight face.
My sister in law is on her 11th email address in the last 3 years.
I have had my domain and email address for 25 years...
That's from someone who has been an Android user for 13 years, which means I am not ignoring google, I am a user, just not an invested one.
When you do not have any other recovery, google tries a recovery method based on questions ("when did you register the account", "what's an email address you often contact", ...) where the answer do not need to be strictly exact, have you tried that ? And you failed it ?
If yes to both of those, how do you expect google to differentiate between you and someone else who make the same claims ? Do you want google to give a new password to anyone who makes that claim ("it's my account but i don't remember it's password, nor have its recovery method, nor remember enough to answer questions about it") about your account ?
I believe google's account locking is sometime too hard, and them locking the whole google environnement with it is wrong, but in your case google is doing the right thing in not granting access to someone who cannot in any way prove he should have it.
I have a recovery phone number in there. I'm verifying it everytime Google asks me to, but then it takes me to verify the code from the same email that I don't have access to.
It makes no sense but that's what's happening.
Here's the flow of how it's going.
Forgot Password → Enter the phone number ending with XX → Enter the code sent to your phone → Enter the code sent to your email (the same email).
I've tried the recovery methods, there's no other way that Google is offering me to recover the account. I'll happily answer all the security questions if Google asks me to.
Can't you select "I don't have access to this email" or something similar?
I wouldn't be bothering about the account if I had not set a recovery phone number.
The current way Google is asking me to verify makes no sense. I don't know the password for the email, how do they expect me to go into that email and verify the code when I don't know the password.
> And how can they be certain you’re the owner?
I am already verifying the code from the SMS that Google is sending to the phone number on the account.
I know that there's no way to actually get this done, but I can verify that's it's my account.
I can verify that I'm the owner of the account Google has been sending the payments for AdSense.
I can verify by signing in from the usual devices that the account was previously signed in from.
Suggest me another sensible way, I'll do it because I'm the owner.
I mean, Google could also do what other companies do and let you send in a picture of your ID or have you enter identity questions.
Despite being an employee (which implies 1. they can verify my id, 2. they have incentive to solve my problem 3. there's some amount of trust due to my employment), support wasn't able to solve my problem and i had to remember my password i set up over a decade ago after many trials.
Asking to verify a code from the email for which I'm trying to reset the password is stupid and defeats the purpose of having a "recovery" phone number.
You made a point of callout out that you have money tied to the account.
