Big Google Fumble

Not a big surprise

Photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash

Just recently, I read a story about a man who applied for a job, went on an interview, was offered said job, but turned the offer down. And why? Because he saw several signs during the interview process that told him the corporation was a mess — and he didn’t want to work there after all. It reminded me of my recent experience with Google.

I’m not sure exactly how I scored a one-hour $75 gig as a guinea pig for a Google study. It probably had something to do with answering a Casting Networks listing at some point whereupon I landed on a list of likely people who would take the job. I’ve actually done a few of these that require some acting skill. And it turns out that this one did. That’s probably why they run listings on an actors listing site.

So anyway — I arrived at the Google headquarters on time as directed, texted my proctor, and received a response that said “We’re having difficulties with our device. You can go home. You’ll still be paid.” Interesting! But not a problem. I don’t mind getting paid to do nothing.

Two and a half weeks later, I reached out to ask exactly when I might get paid for doing nothing. Brittany responded that I’d been paid on April 16th. Funny thing about that. The money never made it to my bank account.

Sounded fishy. I did a similar gig for an outfit called SAGO in November and haven’t been paid yet. That experience has made me extra circumspect about these studies (as in it’s a study to see how people react to getting fucked out of their promised money).

Google pays through Zelle or Venmo, both new age pay systems I don’t generally use. I thought that maybe I’d done something wrong causing me not to receive my pay.

An hour after checking all my accounts and such, I decided the error was on their end. They just hadn’t fucking paid me. That was an hour I’ll never get back. Me no happy!

In the meantime, I’d signed on for two more studies at Google with the same pay and showed up for #2 on time and ready two days ago. My proctor for this deal was an Indian man with such a heavy accent that he was almost incomprehensible. Taking instructions from him during the study was extremely difficult, and I couldn’t help but think, “Google! You couldn’t come up with a guy or girl who speaks English so somebody can understand them?” What the fuck! First, your device is busted. Then you fuck up the pay. And finally, your guy barely speaks English? Call me crazy — but it seems like ya’ll could do better.

A few hours ago, I got Zelled pay for one of the studies. Which one there’s no way for me to know. The girl with whom I’d been communicating about the non-payment for #1 told me they’d resubmit the cash early next week. Did they do it early? I heard nothing to that effect.

Well anyway, I’m confident I will be paid for both in due time. Brittany was attentive to my emails. But still, Google could definitely do better. I won’t be applying for employment there anytime soon. It looks sketchy over at the tech giant.

P.S. All’s well that ends well. Payment #2 came through this morning.

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