If you are an SME who wants to communicate with Google, Facebook, or PayPal, searching via the Internet isn’t likely to get you very far.  The omnipresent Internet giants are surprisingly inaccessible, and speaking to another human being is often impossible for SMEs.

Paul Wallbank, a business writer, explained that the fact that this is just “the web 2.0 way of doing business” to SmartCompany.  “It reduces costs,” he explained.  “The business model’s core maintains there be no contact.  Instead of a call center there is often an FAQ webpage and online forums—platforms where users can crowd source solutions.

That is their way of providing support: customer support means a lot of hard work, and many companies don’t want to do it.”

Google: Don’t be evil

Google is known for the mantra “don’t be evil”, but, when evil occurs nevertheless it is often quite a trial to contact the company.  The evil can occur several ways: for example, a business could have had its Google rankings penalized for search engine marketing violations, Google Adwords accounts stonewalled, or Google Places accounts could have been blocked.

Wallbank’s Google Places accounts have been suspended for over a year, even though he has tried to make changes to his account that could repair possible breaches, and has contacted Google.  All to no avail—he eventually received a standard response email explaining that his account was suspended for violating quality listing guidelines, though the email failed to give any further details.

“There were no contact details, no accountability, simply a standardized response that did not even given a specific explanation for the suspension,” Wallbank says.  “The most irritating thing is the failure to tell you the account was suspended, it just happens.  Facebook and eBay have the same protocol.”

“I still have no idea where I went wrong, and to my knowledge I am complying with all their rules.”  One of the problems is the arbitrariness and inconsistency of Google’s rules.  One person may have a situation without any problems, while another will have the exact same situation but with many.

“I call it the ‘Soviet support model’—anonymous bureaucrats giving advice without acknowledging the situation.”

Mark Bowyer, the owner of a travel advice website Rusty Compass, began having troubles when Google felt he had breached its search advertising policies.  They suspended his AdSense advertising account last year and withheld payments that amounted to $131, citing the issue that that site might have “posed a risk of generating invalid activity.”

Bowyer explained that he thinks Google was afraid he was scamming its system by generating invalid clicks and traffic.  Bowyer chose to file a complaint with New South Wales Fair Trading to force Google to respond after they had shut down his account.  “I approached the Google issue absolutely certain I had not done anything wrong, and that conviction leaves one confident when you must face a problem,” Bowyer says.

“Australia has laws against unconscionable conduct meant to protect small companies from big, and I was fortunate to have New South Wales Fair Trading and the press take an interest in my case.”

Bowyer said he is still concerned about the continued absence of human interaction with Google, even with his Adsense network reinstated.

“Even at the end of the affair, I still have not had any immediate contact with Google.”

“Google could potentially disadvantage solid, publishing businesses, if they aren’t careful—and that is a lot of power to wield.”  Many of Google’s defenders point out they give free services, and while that’s true, many of us would be overjoyed if paying a fee for some kind of human interface were an option.

“But such an option does not exist, raising questions about how much of an advantage it is to receive a free service, in exchange for throwing away all rights, and human services.”

After Bowyler’s case, Google issued the statement “If a publisher feels that the decision to suspend their AdSense account was made in error, if they can maintain in good faith that the invalid activity was not due to the actions or negligence of themselves or those for whom they are responsible, they can appeal the disabling of their account.  Accounts will be reinstated on a case-by-case basis.”

Former health researcher Dr. Janice Duffy found similar issues in attempting to contact Google after finding she was falsely accused of blackmail, fraud, and stalking on Ripoff Reports, a US-based website—who refused to remove the comments.  She says it resulted in her inability to work since last August, and has effectively ruined her career.  “It ruined my life, I was forced to leave my last job…and I don’t know where I could find employment now,” she said.

Duffy is in the process of suing Google Inc. and Google Australia for defamation in the South Australian District Court when they refused to remove the links.  In response, she also started a website DrJaniceDuffy.com as an opportunity to refute the allegations, and to attract Google’s attention.  “It took me months just to learn how to get in touch with Google and request the removal of the defamation.  It was months before I filed the proceedings.”

She claims Google has a URL removal tool, but in order to use it you must first create an account, which Google then indemnifies from any action.  “Basically my experience was trying for months to contact them and then having them refuse to do anything.

“Even people who advertise through Google have difficulties contacting them, and I feel it’s because Google considers itself above national laws, and individual rights.

“If they feel like Google’s reputation is at risk they’ll act, but otherwise they’ll just ignore people,” Duffy says.

The only way to get in touch with the company is through their contact page, http://www.google.com/contact/, and even that only offers communication through email and help forums.  Further information, such as a phone number or email address, is never given.  Google was contacted several times for an opportunity to respond to this article, but never responded.

Facebook: Let’s be friends

Facebook’s business is founded on networking people globally, but can be just as inaccessible as Google, according to Victoria Buckley.  Buckley, the owner of a high-end jewelry store in Sydney’s Strand Arcade, was administrator of a large Facebook group of over a thousand members for her store.  The group included photographs of her jewelry displaced with a small nude porcelain doll, images she had used in advertising previously.

Buckley reported that she received warnings from Facebook about the pictures that included the doll, which apparently qualified as “inappropriate content” and breached Facebook’s terms of service.  “The claim was so opaque, and I was given no means to respond to Facebook to learn what breach was made,” she says.

“Facebook works to attract small business owners, but we on the other hand have no way of contacting them, and it takes just a few complaints to have your group shut down.”

Facebook withdrew the complaint when the story became news in over sixty countries.  “Facebook apologized and said they would permit the images, but I’ve chosen to leave them off the group, because I don’t want to be inflammatory.

The images were tasteful and appropriate, but in Facebook’s frame of reference Michelangelo’s statue of David would not be permitted.  Facebook’s terms of service are very ambiguous, and there is no dialogue—if something is too divisive, it’s simply not permitted.”

Through the experience, Buckley has lost her trust in Facebook.  “I don’t trust them because this encounter has proven to me that they can make changes that are worse for your business, even jeopardizing your clients’ trust, entirely arbitrarily.

“I think putting all your eggs in one social media basket is a mistake.  Facebook has otherwise been fantastic, but I wouldn’t invest too much time or money in it.”

Buckley feels her problem was only ever addressed because it received attention worldwide.  “If they are providing their service as a business tool, we have the right to a means of contact if some issue arises,” she argues.  “We have the right to protect our businesses.”

Facebook’s contact page, http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=220217228006012, gives five different forums as points of contacts to “discuss” your issues with the “Facebook community.”  They do not provide phone numbers or email addresses.  They were contacted repeatedly to provide input for this article but never responded.

PayPal: The safer, easier way to pay

PayPal describes itself as the “safer, easier way to pay”, even though the Internet payment processer is by no means easier to contact.  Darren Rowse, a popular blogger, attempted to publish an open letter to them online, in an effort to get a response to a request for payment data.

After several attempts at contacting PayPal for payments report necessary for tax purposes, Rowse, founder of the Digital Photography School blog and Problogger, attempted to turn the Internet into a tool in his efforts.

He sent his open letter to PayPal out to his 158,000 Twitter Followers and 78,000 Google+ circles.  “My tax lodgment is now late and will probably be charged a fine,” it says.  “Every year my business puts about a million dollars in payments through your service.  You take your fee—a substantial one at that, since each one involves a currency exchange—and I expect a certain quality of service in return.  By my count I have contacted about ten customer service staff members, have received three customer services surveys, have emailed you without response at least four time, and spent countless hours on this issue.  I can now no longer freely run my business.”

Rowse’s open letter received much attention and was circulated through his networks, with many readers reporting similar experiences with PayPal.  He eventually resolved the issue through PayPal’s @AskPayPal Twitter account.  But he states that he is still looking into alternative payment methods for his businesses.

For PayPal users that cannot take advantage of their thousands of online followers, James Omond, a partner at law firm Omond & Co., points out the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in Australia as a useful tool for getting PayPal’s attention.  Omond complained to PayPal about an error involving him being paid in Australian dollars, having the payment exchanged to US dollars by PayPal with a fee, and finally having them converted back to Australian dollars when he withdrew the funds.  “I tried to contact them via email because there were no phone numbers,” he explains.  “But the responses were computer-generated, and had little to do with my specific questions.”

He then found out that PayPal is a member of the FOS, and filed a complaint through them.  “This was when my complaint was really addressed, as it involved real people who at one point communicated with the FOS directly, who claimed the complaint was resolved; this wasn’t even close to the truth,” recalls Omond.

“They eventually paid me my full claim, with nothing withheld for the currency exchanges,” said Adrian Christie, spokesperson for PayPal.  He also said he felt “alarmed” that Rowse had to write an open letter to PayPal to attract attention to his problem.  “I can’t speak specifically of his experience, but I think in the end using Twitter as a communication path was what addressed the issue.

“Tracking your account should stay simple, and so we are investigating where the errors are, and in doing so we are addressing the customer directly.  When we become aware of any issue, we approach it holistically to ensure we are not only addressing that specific situation, but any back-end problems as well.”

Christie fights the image of PayPal as a faceless corporation.  “That isn’t at all correct.  It can be frustrating, because we don’t have physical branches, or a geographic location apart from our headquarters.  One strategy we tried last year was to follow a road show, to let customers know we are real, listening people.  We aren’t thinking in terms of short-term business, our long-term business will continue enabling commerce for our merchant customers.”

Christie says PayPal is making efforts to avoid communication problems.  “We opened multiple channels via @AskPayPal on Twitter, and we are willing to open communication channels via email, phone, and social media.”

PayPal Australia’s contact page, https://ww.paypal.com/au/contactus, does give email and phone information for those logged in, unlike Google or Facebook.  “We have over 5,000 customer service agents globally; the Australian agents are out of Arizona, Dublin, Omaha, and Manila,” Christie explains.  “Several years ago, we were not satisfied with our customer service capacities, and have since been improving constantly towards a level of service we are proud of.  Customer service has been a main focus point for the last two years.”

Christie expressed awareness of the disenchantment directed at PayPal, which has led to the creation of sites such as the US-based “Screw PayPal”, a forum for complaints.

“More importantly, any time we hear of an issue with our service, we take the problem very seriously.  Here in Australia we have over 4.3 million customers, and so we take our responsibilities very seriously.  We don’t have much choice in meeting the expectations of our customers, since their business does depend on us.”

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