Being an Android developer is a similar experience. If your app gets removed from Google Play, even if it's clearly by mistake, good luck having it reinstated. Unless you know a googler or two. Then it's a breeze. Going through official channels you'll be hitting a wall.
Which is a shame because the platform as a developer is awesome. I've developed for both iOS and Android and will always favour Android. But Apple seem to have more consistent and possibly better customer service compared to Google, especially when it comes to the ability to get a knowledgeable answer after failing an app review.
I've had many interactions with Google where the automated system was clearly wrong but after multiple attempts at human escalation, literally the only way to solve the problem was to ask the right friends who happen to work there, after which the problem was solved almost immediately.
"[Googler], can you suggest a strategy for dealing with Google support issues that doesn't involve "get Matt Cutt's attention on Hacker News"? - 9 years ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2797972
"You'll notice over time that Hacker News is the only way to contact google support without spending thousands of dollars on adwords." - 7 years ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6932516
"I have seen people have to post on HN to get things resolved by google employees reading HN threads! While it seems like a personal touch, people are resorting to it (and I assume googlers are helping) because there is not another avenue that works for MOST products that google has." - 7 years ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5716357
"Google also has a history of disabling accounts and providing no communication, support or other mechanisms to get it restored. Usually kicking up an almighty fuss in public if you have a prominent twitter/blog works" - 9 years ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3885588
"Disclaimer: I work for Google Google's support is a complete joke. The only way to get things fixed in a timely manner (if at all) is to ask someone who works for Google to escalate internally. Then you stand a chance. Otherwise you're SOL. [...] I would recommend the OP to contact a Googler friend if they have one." - 7 years ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6006534
"Particularly if you don't have a friend inside google or the ability to hit the front page of HN to get customer service." - 4 years ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12975195
"far far too often do I see folks who have to reach out to a dev on Twitter or their friend at Google to get a simple billing error resolved correctly. Its a problem with most cloud providers, but Google seems to be notorious for it." - 2 years ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17669161
"this contradicts basically every other google support story I've ever read on HN. Similar to what the few other comments are saying at the time of me writing this, it seems like this guy made a fuss somewhere that caught the attention of someone who didn't want the bad PR." - 2 years ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17707473
"I ended up getting help by going into the google slack and kicking up a fuss. Never heard back from the "official" support channels." - 2 years ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17564220
"monetize on their content for a while (or a long time if they don't have a friend at Google who can escalate the issue)." - 1 year ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19953722
"It seems like the most reliable support system with Google is to have a SWE friend who works there who will document and enter tickets for you" - 1 year ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21334183
"large tech companies like google and amazon for this, where kicking up a fuss on social media is literally the only way you can hope to have a human at the company look into it." - 2 months ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24168390
Mine is first-hand, except the part where you hit the wall. I met one of their developer relations guys at a Google I/O before my app had any problems needing escalation.
