Last week, while looking at Google Voice I noticed a button that said “Get $10″. I thought it meant “get $10 credit for trying it” so I pushed the button. Ten dollars credit showed up. Since Google Voice is free for the calls I make I had no use for $10 credit but maybe someday….
A few days later I happened to look at my credit card bill. Google had billed me $10! I didn’t even know they knew my credit card number! It hadn’t been required for the $10 transaction. I haven’t consciously used Google Checkout. I haven’t given it to them in any other connection. Talk about data mining…
When I go to Account Settings listed under my Gmail address, one of the sections is My Products, meaning My Google Products. Under that is listed Google Checkout, although I’ve never signed up for it and (I thought) never used it. So why is it there? I looked in Google Checkout. The Google Voice $10 transaction is the only transaction listed. As far as I can tell, this proves I didn’t use Google Checkout in the past (say, 4 months ago) and forget about it. Google really did get and use my credit card number without telling me, much less asking me.
My credit card company quickly gave me a refund.
What happened to don’t be evil? If more stories like this pop up, Google will lose a lot of customers from bad publicity. This story actually has me thinking of switching to Bing and IE. And doing something about my gmail account.
uc berkeley gave me a refund too. although i had to go through hell to get it. not even the manager of the psychology department would give me the refund!
i even talked to all these people in person!
what worked: my writing. and the fact that i have an ipad2 + 3G. i can write anywhere!
refund amount: almost $1500
Google knows everything!
I took a look under my own Account Settings and I don’t have a My Products listed. I guess this means that something you have used seems to have opted you in for the My Products and – I guess – added your credit card in too.
Scary. Big Google is watching you!
A similar thing happened to me where I received a receipt for a pair of sunglasses purchased through Google Checkout. I investigated, but the charge had reversed itself. I have never given my credit card to Checkout now used it in my life.
Google is really screwing up in the privacy area lately, but at least now that Schmidt has taken a back seat from CEO, the public face of Google won’t be as creepy. The man just radiates creepiness.
if you have an android phone that syncs with your google account that’s probably what did it. when you buy an app through your android phone the purchases show up through google checkout.
Thanks for the suggestion. However, I don’t have an android phone. After several days of thinking about this, I am still completely clueless about how Google got my credit card info.
I was recently forced by Google to cancel my YouTube and Blogspot accounts, even though I had had both accounts since before Google took over those sites. Why? Because Google wanted my phone number in order to let me log in to MY OWN Blogspot site that I’d had for like 2 years already. I don’t give my phone number to drunks in bars, creepy guys who hit on me in the library, or anyone else who has no business calling me. The only reasonable response to a dick move like that was to cancel my Google account (which I NEVER signed up for, but apparently got by default when they took over my youtube and blogspot accounts). Cancelling the Google account that I did not sign up for also cancelled (I had no choice about it) my Blogspot, and my Youtube accounts.
A few weeks ago, I thought Google was a pretty great search engine, and had no negative feelings about it. Now, I find Google creepy in the extreme, just like the smelly 50-year-old men who hit on me in the library when I was 16 (gross!). I don’t use the search engine any more. Other search engines turn out to be completely sufficient for my needs.
Nothing to complain about here Seth. You were given the money back, no hassel. Besides, GV is a free, but I’m almost 100% sure that when you first sign up for GV you have to provide a credit card # as ID.
that’s interesting. but I don’t have Google Voice, just a cell phone icon with my email. So I never signed up for Google Voice or the cell phone icon among my gmail contacts.
Same thing just happened to me about 5 minutes ago.. I’ll be calling my bank first thing in the morning to get this straightened out. I’m not sure where I clicked that Google can randomly charge my check card $10 but I’m not happy about it.