How Upgrading to Google Apps for Business Killed my Company's Email!

"I got logged out of my Flocations email. What's happening?" Kat, our intern Extraordinaire, asks me with mix of sadness and panic in her eyes.

My heart rate had just spiked as I had the same issue and was silently hoping it was limited to only my account. Unfortunately no, the problem affected the whole team. What happened?

I had finally clicked this f%&cking "Upgrade Now" button that Google had shown me ever since we started using Google Apps. I had personally dreamt of paying Google for their service because they have been my internet lifeline for years. Today was the day this dream would come true.

Not.

I wanted Google Apps for Business. Here is what I got:

Gmail not enabled for Flocations.com? My team has been using it for 2 years!
But you kicked us out once we wanted to pay you!

Flocations started using Google Apps in April 2011. Two years later, today, we have a new hire coming, so I simply wanted to create one more Google Apps account.

However, since the team had been growing, we had reached the limit of 10 users allowed by the free version. Not a big issue I thought; I will just click this big F%&cking 'Upgrade Now' button to create the additional account.

The F%&cking 'Upgrade Now'  button. Upgrade and (maybe) get your company's email, or not.

Upgrade made easy: No need for a credit card and no commitment beyond the 30 days trial.
Upgrading to the paid version is obviously innocuous and simple.

After filling out the form, and having seen no message that upgrading could cause any downtime, I saw the following:

Dude, where's my data?

The quota used by our users went down to 0… only slightly scary when all your company's emails are on Google Apps.
Then my business Gmail logged me out.
Then my intern came to me.
Then an another team member.
Then, another again.
The whole team had been kicked out of their company's email.

Panic.

Smile.

All is under control, I can still Google. Search that is.

Ok, there might be a delay after upgrading to the paid version: 72 hours… to get additional storage!
But, I now have 0 storage. I just want my PREVIOUS storage. Please!

Maybe I f%&ked up?

The FAQ does not mention that upgrading includes a we-don't-know-what-will-happen period:

"Will my team lose access to Google Apps for several hours after giving money to Google?"
Probably yes. Do you care? We don't.

I called Google Support at their-oh-my-gosh-top-secret-support-phone-number, and talked with Max:
- "uninstall Gmail and re-install it" he told me.
- "are you sure? I will not lose any data?"
- "no. got for it"?
- "really, it says it will delete the data in 30 days... "
- "It should be fine"
Fingers crossed. Click.

Nothing. I still have no Gmail and 0 storage.

- "Max, it did not work. What do I do now?"
- "Hmm... It's a known problem. It can take up to 24 hours."

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

The team looks at me. Not happy. I smile. I am French.

- "Max, can you repeat that please?"
- "Try again in half an hour. Sometimes it helps."

We gave up. I don't really like Max.

One hour later, I'm trying to work through this the French way, with red wine and pastis.
My phone rings, Claudia from Google Ireland wants to talk to me.

Well, she wants to talk to me after she reads a Google disclaimer that our call is being recorded (for the well-being of the world).

After I confirmed I am all for the well-being of the world, she gives me the magic solution: uninstall Gmail and re-install it.
Been there, done that.

Larry Page, why the f%&k are you doing this to me???

After 6 hours, 8 frustrated employees, and 2 customer appeasement phone calls Gmail is finally back online for Flocations. It seems that there was nothing to do. Just to wait. Not sure that's better.

Be careful when you upgrade to the paid version Google Apps! You might have the same issue.

Apple vs. Google Maps in one Search

Apple Maps or Google Maps? One search gives me the answer:

While Google Maps finds Bali in Indonesia as expected, Apple Maps sends me to ... India!!!

iPhone 5 is now available in 26 countries: HK is still the cheapest

Apple released the new iPhone 5 in more countries on September 28. The comparator of iPhone prices around the world now includes them.

The US still don't have an unlocked iPhone, hence the visible price is not comparable (it goes with a contract).
Canada is the cheapest then, but that's before Sales Tax that are added while ordering, depending on the shipping address in Canada.
Hong Kong has no Sales Tax or equivalent, therefore the visible price is the one accessible to customer, and the cheapest in the world!

The comparator now includes a currency selector for everyone to be able to choose the currency they are confortable with to do the comparison!

Logistics always amazes me: Fedex holds on delivery for 44 hours to be on time!

Having ordered a product from the US, shipped on Thursday, September 13th, it was delivered to me 5 business days later, on Wednesday, September 19th, in Singapore.

That's exactly what was expected and paid for with Fedex International Economy (US$ 36.88 in this case).

The interesting part is that the package was actually in Singapore 2 days before delivery, Fedex keeping it on hold for 1 day and a half.

Why?

I believe that it is because I did not pay the additional US$3.90 of the Fedex International Priority service, which guarantees a 3-day delivery.

For 44 hours, my package remained in the warehouse, not to be delivered earlier than expected.

What is the iPhone 5 price difference between countries? up to 23%!

Since Friday, September 21th, the new iPhone 5 is available in 8 countries. I was curious to know the price differences from one country to another, so I published a comparator of iPhone 5 prices around the world:

The cheapest iPhone 5 is in the US, but the unlocked version it is not yet available.
Seven other countries have the unlocked version of the iPhone 5 with the following price in the Apple Store:

iPhone 5 prices, converted to SGD for comparison

Canada is the cheapest country to get an unlocked iPhone 5 at C$ 699.
An iPhone 5 in Hong Kong will just cost a few more dollars.
The iPhone 5 in Singapore is 8% more expensive.
Australia and the United Kingdom are following.
France and Germany are the two most expensive countries currently, 23% more expensive than Canada: (that's SGD 200 - EUR 125 more).

However, even if you wish to buy it, there is a 3-4 weeks waiting period currently. Hong Kong does not even allow online orders today (I'm sure some resellers around Wan Chai have some to sell though).

The iPhone 5 is unfortunately not yet available in Malaysia, which is the country with the lowest price usually for Apple product (iPhone 4S, MacBook Air...)

The full comparator is available here.

Impact of the Sales Tax

Going further in the analysis, by adjusting for the Sales Tax (or equivalent tax), Australia is the country where Apple gets the most money for the iPhone 5... 6% more than what it gets in the UK or Canada. It also appears that it is due to their high Sales Tax rate that France and Germany have the highest selling price.

iPhone 5 prices with Sales Tax adjustments

There is also a MacBook Air price comparator showing that Hong Kong, the US and Malaysia are the 3 cheapest countries to buy this computer, 51% cheaper than in the most expensive country: Brazil.

How to use a Domino's "Sorry we're late" (FRP) voucher?

Sunday is the day I often order pizzas to eat at home (feel free to blame me). Partly because they are good, partly because they deliver fast and partly because there are not some many pizza delivery services, Domino's Pizza is the provider I choose for the order. Additionally, they have an online ordering system, which is convenient. As I have an account with them, they already know my address making it even more convenient.

However the ordering process is not without flaws... To use a coupon for example, is far from a straightforward experience:

I have a "Sorry we're late" coupon, because the last time I ordered with them, they delivered in more than 30 minute. Which is cool, I get a free pizza now. Except that it's not so easy to use.

The process to use a "Sorry, we're late" Domino's Pizza coupon

The website has a "redeem your coupon" page, which invites me to type the coupon code: A simple input field, as well as a (very small) picture to explain how to find the coupon code.

Unfortunately, my coupon does not look like the one on the website, and it takes me several attempts to find what I should type in:
On my coupon there are 2 different codes:
FRP
and
AA109231027

It is the first one, "FRP" (it is case insensitive, so "frp" also works), that should be typed in on this page, then a popup appears to ask for the second code:

On this screen, the coupon code is case sensitive as I discovered while typing my code:

It took me a while to even see the error message as the font is small and appears in the middle of the popup. Then I typed the same code with upper case and it was recognised:

As you can see, despite being recognised, I was still not successful due to an unexpected error: Domino's Pizza thought that I had redeemed my coupon already!
As this point, I called the hotline and ordered through the phone. That's a failure of the online ordering process I guess...

One a side note, the delivery took more than 30 minutes again, so I got one more "Sorry, we're late" coupon... I'm wondering if it's actually a loyalty strategy: Each time they give me such a coupon, I will order one more time, and still pay for one more pizza...

Suggestions for Domino's Pizza:

- Include details about the code to enter in the first screen (example of code to type in, like "FRP" will help)
- Manage lower and upper cases in both screens to be more convenient.
- Increase the visibility of the error messages: red font is widely used to highlight that there is a problem, and some white spaces within the popup will help readability.
- Update the "I do not have the coupon" button... I still don't get what it does: is it to allow usage of a coupon without having it in your hand, or to go back to the previous page?

Is McDonalds into human trafficking?

Here is what I saw this morning while using the McDo Delivery ordering process on mcdelivery.com.sg , under the section Happy Meals:

After the selection of the burger, side and drink, comes the time to choose the toy... with the choice being not an actual toy, but either a "boy" or a "girl"... Maybe McDo is actually into human trafficking?