This article was published on August 22, 2019

Google listed the wrong number for its product hotline, nobody noticed

New phone, who dis?


Google listed the wrong number for its product hotline, nobody noticed

Not so long ago, Google set up a consultation hotline in case you needed to be convinced why your home needs a smart speaker – or any other smart device. But if you were wondering why nobody was picking up the phone, don’t worry, it wasn’t personal: the Big G had listed the wrong number on product pages for months.

The company accidentally messed up one of the digits in the phone listing, as spotted by AndroidPolice. Instead of (855) 224-6378, Google had initially put down (855) 244-6378.

Credit: Web Archive

So who did the wrong number connect customers to, you might wonder? The answer is actually somewhat underwhelming: the line simply didn’t work. We all know what happened when Deutsche Telekom gave the wrong number to customers looking to pre-order the then-new iPhone 5. Spoiler: they got phone sex instead.

Fortunately, the mistake has since been corrected. It’s not clear whether Google had listed wrong numbers on all of its products, but AndroidPolice notes that the issue persisted across numerous pages.

Anyways, if you still feel you need to be seduced into copping a smart device, give Google a call at (855) 224-6378. Really though, you might be better off without one – unless being eavesdropped on gets you going, that is. 

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