Consumer complaint received 2023-01-17
Company: Google Compare Credit Cards Inc.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Other personal consumer report
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing issue
Sub-issue: Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone

Complaint:
I am writing to file a complaint against Google, and its parent company XXXX, for their actions in deleting my business and personal intellectual property without explicit notice and in violation of their own XXXX retention policy for business data. As a result, 4 years of my business data is now unrecoverable. 

According to my understanding, my business data was deleted because I failed to pay a {$19.00} fee. I had changed my business name and retained Google services through an email service provider with my new business name. However, Google uses the same servers that any reseller uses for their email service, which is why Google knew I had data from my business email account with a reseller, prior to even signing up for XXXX directly. 

Additionally, a court of competent jurisdiction issued a subpoena to Google and served them through certified mail to the requested address to receive such complaint, but the third party failed to honor the subpoena and therefore at a minimum, there will be a fine imposed of {$500.00} from the court for not reasonably and in good faith responding to the subpoena correctly. 

This situation has caused me significant financial hardship and inconvenience, my business is run on email and that data is worth millions. I'm valued at XXXX XXXX as of my last valuation. Although not billions like Google, my value is just as important and as a business owner, I would have tried to move heaven and earth to retain that data if I in fact knew that it could be so carelessly deleted without an explicit warning and even without the chance to get it back less than a month after the emails were permanently deleted! This harm has caused a great detriment to my business, and therefore, I'm requesting to get my data back or {>= $1,000,000} in compensation. I can prove this amount of harm was created by Google and was deleted by Google XXXX prior to their egregious XXXX retention policy, plus the aforementioned facts. 

I believe that Google 's actions were in violation of the rights of my business and personal intellectual property, and I urge the CFPB to take appropriate action to hold the company accountable and to ensure that consumers like me are protected in the future. 

Note that this official complaint and prior communications with the company will be official evidence, if and when, a lawsuit might be required. 

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX. Timeline XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX customer purchases XXXX basic suit XX/XX/XXXX - Google 's Business Essentials package purchased XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX XXXX email charge of {$19.00} is disputed by customer XXXX - XXXX suspension from XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - Customer switches to XXXX XXXX XXXX - Backup of XXXX XXXX emails with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX per download is done XX/XX/XXXX - Last time XXXX XXXX XXXX email is used XX/XX/XXXX - Customer 's dispute charge is ruled in favor of them XX/XX/XXXX - Credit card company 's chargeback cancellation results in customer owing Google {$19.00} XX/XX/XXXX - Customer goes back to Google Business Essentials after noticing XXXX  emails could not be downloaded XX/XX/XXXX, After trying one last time to get my data and even paid the {$19.00} chargeback on a chargeback hoping that if I paid this money then maybe the emails will be back from XXXX. Its tax season now and there are records from last tax year from XX/XX/XXXX to whenever my emails were deleted. Theres additional liability involuntarily thrust upon me with the IRS. I wonder if they are going to care about how my taxes are GOING to be inaccurate because I dont have all my emails that were deleted by Googles servers less than their unconscionably 51 day purge policy for business accounts? Digital rights are property rights and the property you took from me is valuable, therefore : I reached out to Google regarding the returned subpoena and requested the following information : 1. A timeline of all data related to me 2. An answer to my subpoena from a call from the XXXX Department 3. Information regarding my XXXXXXXX XXXX letting them lease my XXXX land for building servers since they cant hold my invaluable data and I certainly cant be the only one and so Ill help with the problem and offer to lease my property for servers. 

4. Google provide me with a letter confirming that all emails related to me had been deleted and were unrecoverable. This information was necessary to defend myself against any potential liabilities that may arise because of the lost data. 



XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX customer disputes charge of {$19.00}, prompting service suspension from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 

XX/XX/XXXX : Customer switches to XXXX. 



XXXX : XXXX : Backup of XXXX XXXX emails with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX per download is done. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Last time XXXX XXXX XXXX email is used. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Customer dispute charge is ruled in favor of them. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Credit card company 's chargeback cancellation results in customer owing Google {$19.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Customer goes back to Google Business Essentials after noticing BRG emails could not be downloaded. 



XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX article by XXXX XXXX is read by customer, and they attempt to contact Google legal department to get a timeline of all data related to them, answer to their subpoena, information regarding leasing their XXXX land for building servers, and a letter confirming all emails related to them had been deleted and were unrecoverable. 



Potentially Violated Laws : Google could be in violation of the Stored Communications Act ( SCA ) and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act ( ECPA ) due to their lack of providing the customer with a timeline of all data related to them and a letter confirming all emails related to them had been deleted and were unrecoverable. Additionally, they could be in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ) due to their attempts to collect on a debt ( the disputed charge of {$19.00} ) without proper documentation and notification.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation