https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-you-get-locked-out-your-google-account-what-do-desirea-calvillo LinkedIn Desirea Calvillo Expand search * Jobs * People * Learning [Desirea ] Dismiss [Calvillo ] Dismiss [ ] Dismiss [Wyoming, MI ] Dismiss [ ] Dismiss Join now Sign in [1635697006] When You Get Locked Out of Your Google Account, What Do You Do? * Report this post Desirea Calvillo Desirea Calvillo Founding CEO, Marketing & Advertising Consultant at Red Violet Works Published Oct 31, 2021 + Follow Now, let me give you a little background before we dive into the thick of this story. I'm a tech savvy person. I've worked in tech for 20 years, and I've always had a natural ability to grasp anything computer related quite quickly. I got a gmail account in 2004 when it was still invitation only. Since then, I've become a fan of Google products in the last decade. So much so, that my entire smarthome setup is centered around Google. I have a Google Home Mini Speaker in just about every room of my home, and the Google Home Display Hub in my kitchen. I have 3 Nest Outdoor Cameras that are recording 24/7 and store the footage on my paid Nest Aware account. I use Google Assistant to control my lights, my August door lock, my MyQ garage door, and several smart plugs throughout the house. I even have Google TV and several generations of Chromecast over the years. I also have a couple of Chromebooks I like to use for travel and for my 6 year old daughter. My mobile phone at the time was a Pixel 4, and I had a Pixel 5 scheduled to be delivered the very next day. To top it all off, I used a Google Voice number as my main phone number for well over a decade; it's even engraved on my pet's collars. So imagine one day, you can't login to your Google account. Not just that, you've been logged out on every single device you have. And since Google Voice is my main phone number, I also no longer have access to my text messages. At first I thought "no big deal, I have several forms of backup on my account". So I click forgot password, and was ready to use my recovery phone number or email address to reset it and go on with my life as usual. But that's not what happened. Instead, when I went through the account recovery process, Google gave me only two options - to have a verification code sent via text to my Google Voice number, or to have the code emailed to the very account I was trying to reset. No option for code by phone. No option to email the code to my backup email. I AM COMPLETELY LOCKED OUT. Panic sets in as I realize I have no way to fix this. I immediately call my go-to friend for all things I can't solve, and tell him what happened. He asked me if I have a Google One account for backup and storage. Of course I do - my whole world is stored on Google. So he sends me a link, and I'm setup for Google One Support to call me. I get a call from Google One Support. I explain the situation. They tell me to go to g.co/recover to recover my account (I already did this on my own). Same thing happens as before - same two options are given. Then I'm told Google has a very strict security policy, and accounts cannot be changed in any way by support. So going through the recovery process is the ONLY way back into my account. So the call ends with them saying "I'm so sorry I can't help you." @!#$@!$#% #!!! After a few hours of trying everything I could find in the community help articles, reddit, and quora, extreme panic set in. I mean complete meltdown. The more I think about everything that is dependent on that email and phone number, the more panicked I get. I scream. I cry. I am completely defeated. What am I going to do? The next day, I'm on a mission. I have to know someone that can help me with this. I tap into my network on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. I try every single support team at Google. I even try to port my number from Google Voice to Google Fi thinking they have incentive to help since I'd be going from a free service to a paid service. Nothing worked. The number couldn't be ported because the number was locked. The only way to unlock the number is to login to your account and unlock it in the settings. @$$#%!!!! Finally, after exhausting every solution, I try Google One support again. This time, the rep told me that she once tried to help a customer that was locked out of their account for SIX MONTHS! She said it was really sad, because the customer's father had recently passed away, and now they couldn't access any of their photos of him. Google still never helped them. She said that the recovery team is allusive, and there is no way to predict when you get the form to plead your case for recovery. She said to do the recovery steps 3 times, then wait 3 days. Then repeat over and over until I get the form. One month later - yeah, a whole freaking month later, I finally get the form! I painstakingly plead my case, and describe everything that happened in under 2,000 characters. I submit the form, and wait to hear back. The next day, I see a response in my email. I open the email, to find this obviously automated response: Hello Google user Thank you for contacting us about being unable to access your Google account. We've looked into your account and confirmed that it is still active, so you should be able to log in normally. Please try logging again. If you can't remember your password use this form and select "I don't know my password". If you can't remember your username, but still have access to the email address you used to create your account, you can regain access to your account by selecting "I don't know my username." If you are having other problems signing in, please go to this form to troubleshoot your issue. Best, The Google Accounts Team Over the course of two months, I will receive this same reply from Google (without the ability to respond or escalate in any way) three times. I was becoming unhinged. I'm not the type to get bitchy with customer service reps. I've managed teams that do that job, and I know how scripted their support has to be. But when I'm told, yet again, that they can't make changes to accounts, I kind of lose it. And I send this response back to google: Under the locked account, I have a paid subscription with both Google One and YouTube Music. Without access, I have no way of stopping those reoccurring payments. Lacking a support option for paying customers and still charging them while denying them access to the account sounds worthy of a lawsuit. And if you're going to respond that you can discontinue the payments, then that would be making a change to an account. Do you see the ridiculousness of this sort of "there's nothing we can do" kind of response. There's nothing YOU can do. So please escalate the issue to someone above you. I've worked for SaaS companies my entire 20+ year career. There is ALWAYS a way to fix something. The problem just has to be presented to the right person. So please forward this to your supervisor, or two levels above you and spare me the canned responses. My case was escalated 3 times, and I was still given the same canned responses, no matter who I spoke to. So I decided I needed to solve this without Google's help. I was determined to get my account back! Now, let me tell you how I ultimately beat Google at this game, and got my account back. While I know my number was provided by Google Voice, I know Google must use a company to provision phone numbers. So I searched my number and found that Bandwidth.com was the number supplier. So I started to go through all of the articles on their website to find a solution. Then I found this article about the FCC: https://www.bandwidth.com/glossary/ federal-communications-commission-fcc/ Since the number is a VOIP number, they have to comply with FCC regulations. Google was denying me access to my account without cause. According to the FCC: FCC rules help to prevent telephone companies from abruptly discontinuing, reducing, or impairing wireline telecommunications service without proper notice, for any reason including bankruptcy. The discontinuance rules, which also apply to interconnected Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, are designed to protect you from an abrupt change or termination of service and to allow you time to arrange for service with another provider. In that moment, I knew I had a case! I filed a complaint with the FCC and described my situation. I received a response the next day stating that a notification has been sent to Google, and they have 30 days to respond. This whole ordeal began August 27, 2021 and ended on October 29, 2021 when Google finally unlocked my Google Voice number because of the FCC complaint. Below is the letter I received from Google. After the number of times I've spoken with their support teams, this response is still completely bullshit, but my issue was resolved. I immediately ported my number, and that allowed me to recover my account and get my life back. So if you too rely heavily on Google products, make sure Google Voice isn't your main recovery phone number. Use it as a backup only. But if you do find yourself in the same situation as I was, save yourself some stress and file a complaint with the FCC. I hope my painful story helps someone out there. October 29, 2021 Federal Communications Commission 45 L Street NE Washington, DC 20554 Consumer Name: Desirea Calvillo Ticket Number: 5057536 To Whom It May Concern: We have received the informal complaint filed with the Commission by Desirea Calvillo regarding porting the number, 415-501-0805, out of Google Voice. We are disappointed that Ms.Calvillo experienced porting related difficulties. Google thoroughly investigated this matter and found that Ms. Calvillo was unable to complete the port out request due to her number being in a locked state. Google can confirm that Ms. Calvillo's Google voice number has been successfully unlocked and she can proceed to port out the number. For more information on port or transfer phone number, please refer to our article https:// support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667. In regards to Ms.Calvillo's issues logging into her Google Voice Account, Google is unable to determine the reason why she encountered problems. To the extent that Ms. Calvillo requires additional assistance regarding her concerns related to Google account login, she is welcome to contact the Google Voice Help Community( https://support.google.com/voice/community/) or follow the Recovery instructions available at https:// support.google.com/accounts/answer/7682439. Based on the foregoing, we request that this informal complaint be closed with respect to Google. Respectfully submitted, Sunil Tumma 44 27 Comments Like Comment Share Chris Irwin THANK YOU! Same situation happened to me. I changed my password then ALL my google accounts asked me for my new password--demanded two ID deal, but was locked out. I just filed my FCC complaint. Thing is when I used my number for the two step ID it wasn't a google voice number. But afterward I ported it. That number is on my business cards, articles, all of it. Thank you. Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 6h * Report this comment Justin Mullis An additional conclusion here should be - having both your primary email and phone number tied to Google is a bad idea. Google does not care about customer service. They do not have the capacity to care, by design. Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 1 Like 6h * Report this comment Myra Bryant Golden Your advice to file a complaint against Google with the FCC worked! I've regained access to my Google accounts. Thank you for sharing your story! Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 7 Likes 2mo * Report this comment ETHEL ALIMBUYAO I did submit an FCC complaint. How long after the submission were you able to unlock it? Thanks. Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 4w * Report this comment Desirea Calvillo This is exactly why I shared my story. I'm so glad it has helped you! Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 1 Like 2mo * Report this comment Kymm Galvan I am having the same exact problem! What exactly did you write to the FCC? I want to do the same thing!!! Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 2mo * Report this comment Desirea Calvillo You just fill out the complaint form. I don't remember the exact language. Just be honest and explain what you had access to before, and when you got locked out, and your attempt to get it back, with no success. Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 2mo * Report this comment Del Lloyd (she/her) Thank you so much! I've been locked out for over a week now and although it's going to my recovery email - it still wants me to do 2 factor Authentication though my locked google voice account! Just filed the complaint with the FCC. Fingers crossed. I have been so stressed out too. Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 2mo * Report this comment Chris Rainey Your post has been so helpful as I had the same experience with Google two weeks ago. Without your post I would have given up in despair since there's no solution for this with Google. Thank you Desirea! Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 1 Like 2mo * Report this comment Myra Bryant Golden I got locked out of my Google accounts today - my YouTube channel, Gmail, Google Voice, everything! Your article is a tremendous help. I've filed a complaint with the FCC and look forward to success. Thank you for sharing your experience. Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 1 Like 2mo * Report this comment Larry Vaughn El Healthy Rising and thank you much for this information. I am experiencing nearly the exact same issues with my Gmail account and it definitely is destroying my life (seriously) . I am gonna follow your steps and keep my fingers crossed... I know that just reading this information has eased my grief and despair momentarily as I am fixated on the remedy you pointed out.... Thanks again Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 1 Like 2mo * Report this comment LinkedIn User I don't have Google voice however I have gmail/youtube etc and have important documents. Google tells me they are sending a notification to my device and nothing happens, my recovery email is the same email I'm trying to access and I don't have those backup codes. I tried entering another email and they sent a verification code there. They said they would try and verify me within 48hrs. I really need access to this account. Fingers cross after 48hrs it will be solved. It's even more frustrating because I know my password so I don't know why this is happening. Google can't do MFA. Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 3mo * Report this comment LinkedIn User Joanna Fung so turns out if you are logged into another device they will do this. Can you check all devices you may be logged into, even potentially through third party applications? I think this may be the issue... Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 1 Like 4d * Report this comment Joanna Fung Iona-K Evans Hi Iona- I received this message too under the exact scenario on this post with my Google voice number. Did they give you back your account after this 48hrs? Or should I go ahead and file this FCC complaint? Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 4d * Report this comment Melissa Manning I don't use Google voice but I have been going around and around for 10 days using my backup email and my cell phone #. I fill out the form, get the code and enter it. Then I am told it is going to be 6 hours, 1 day, 2 days, and so on when I try to log in after the designated time of each attempt it just starts me up again in the same groundhog day routine. My world is wrapped up in my Google account that I have had since 2005 and I am desperate to get back in. Like Sign in to like this comment Reply Sign in to reply to this comment 3mo * Report this comment See more comments To view or add a comment, sign in To view or add a comment, sign in More articles by this author See all * Adverse Attitudes About Agencies Jan 17, 2021 * Ad Management Platforms Born From The Same Roots; Branched Into Various Directions Apr 27, 2018 * Is Search Marketing Dead/Dying?! Sep 19, 2017 * LinkedIn (c) 2022 * About * Accessibility * User Agreement * Privacy Policy * Cookie Policy * Copyright Policy * Brand Policy * Guest Controls * Community Guidelines * + l`rby@ (Arabic) + Cestina (Czech) + Dansk (Danish) + Deutsch (German) + English (English) + Espanol (Spanish) + Francais (French) + hiNdii (Hindi) + Bahasa Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia) + Italiano (Italian) + Ri Ben Yu (Japanese) + hangugeo (Korean) + Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) + Nederlands (Dutch) + Norsk (Norwegian) + Polski (Polish) + Portugues (Portuguese) + Romana (Romanian) + Russkii (Russian) + Svenska (Swedish) + phaasaaaithy (Thai) + Tagalog (Tagalog) + Turkce (Turkish) + Jian Ti Zhong Wen (Chinese (Simplified)) + Zheng Ti Zhong Wen (Chinese (Traditional)) Language