Oh Google, what have you done? Or "reevaluating my life choices..."

I have to admit, my patience as a Google fanboy are growing thin.

Firstly on the Pixel C drama. Well, to be honest, Google were pretty good here. I did the old "hit the button in the support section on your Android phone" and I got a call back from Google within 3 minutes. They were great and I had my replacement Pixel C dispatched the same day and within a few days I was back on the horse. So full marks to Google there.

Then there was what I am calling the great Pixelbook ordering fiasco.

I bit the bullet and decided that I will replace my Pixel C with a Pixelbook

So I jumped onto the Google store and problem #1, for some reason Google will not deliver the new Pixelbook to Australia. I will explain why this is really crazy in a minute.

So I organise a friend of mine who lives in San Francisco to be my go to person. I set up her address as my US based delivery address. Order the Pixelbook, a cover, a pen and the extra insurance on the device.

Google use FedEx and I have to say that for my first experience of FedEx, I am underwhelmed to say the least. FedEx were unable to deliver the package to an apartment in downtown San Francisco, which is shared by three people, of which at least one person was in the apartment during the times FedEx claimed they attempted delivery. For whatever reason, FedEx indicated they were unable to deliver the device, so rather than leave it at a local FedEx or UPS depot to be picked up when it was convenient for my friend to do so (even though she or one of her friends were present the whole time), FedEx decided to send the package back to Google. Yep, you read that right. But wait, there’s more!

In my conversations with Google, they can’t just try to resend, they need to cancel the order and I need to start all over again. I do so. I wait for the credit hold on my credit card to release the funds back to me, replace the order, only to get another email from Google saying that the insurance department (remember, my first order included insurance) had been notified that my initial device was not delivered, and a replacement unit had been dispatched. This is after the initial order had been cancelled and my account had been credited with the initial amount.

When I placed the second order, the Google store informed me that the pens and covers were out of stock. (I ordered a cover and a pen from Amazon instead, who delivered those items directly to my Australian address.)

Spoke to Google again, they tried to arrange a pick up of the insurance replacement device (from the first purchase) that had been dispatched, yet their system would only allow a pickup of the device from my Australian address, not the US address. So Google’s system can only deliver a Pixelbook to a US based address, but it can only pick up a faulty device from my Australian address. No words.

Anyways, after a couple of weeks faffing about, we got it sorted and here I sit, in Australia with my Pixelbook cover and pen, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the actual Pixelbook itself that was dispatched by my kind and long suffering San Fransico sister!

I head off to my local cafe to give an update on these series of dramas where I usually blog from, only to discover that the Oreo 8.1 update on my Google Nexus 5X has broken the wifi hotspot function. (News flash: If you are not able to tether on any Google phone you own that has been updated to 8.1, it is an official bug!)

So I end where I started, oh Google, what have you done?

I trust that when the Pixelbook finally arrives (hopefully before Christmas, Merry Christmas me!) all of the dramas will be forgotten and I will be filled with new purchase endorphins and extolling the virtues of this wonderful piece of new kit!