Google has just been handed a lawsuit by customers who claim that the company has gone back on its promise to not charge them for lifetime access to Workspace.
Google getting sued isn’t exactly big news, or even necessarily news for that matter, but it’s still important to bring to light the exact details and ramifications of each case. If we refuse to start holding mega-conglomerates accountable for even minute disputes against their userbase, then we actively provide them carte blanche to do as they will. It’s already ludicrously easy for multi-billion corporations to get away with whatever they want without any ramifications, why should we make it any easier?
Especially when the root cause is the company making false promises and going back on them faster than an absent-minded parent promising their kids ice cream if they eat their vegetables, then conveniently “forgetting” to do so. Weird analogies that are not derived from personal experiences aside, let’s take a closer look at the who, what, and why of this lawsuit and whether or not we see any potential victory in its future. Spoiler alert for that last question: it’s always debatable at least.
First, the what, Workspace is essentially a package service that provides users with a myriad of Google online products, comprising the Docs suite, Gmail, Meet, Chat, Contacts, Calendar, and plenty of Drive storage. While most of these components can already be accessed online for free, purchasing them all under the Workspace brand gives users a few extra options to exercise. For example, they can now create email domains with the names of their companies or other personal stylings, instead of the usual @gmail.com domain. Drive can now be accessed with no memory limit, allowing users to go all-out with their storage space. Finally, there are a myriad of admin services that make management of all the different Google products much easier for an individual.
Early adopters of Google Workspace, which might as well be considered some of the first investors in the product, were promised that they would be provided with lifetime access to the bundle’s features as a loyalty bonus of sorts. Naturally, as customer loyalty means absolutely nothing to a corporation, Google recently announced that these legacy users would have to pay along with everyone else. Naturally, they didn’t take to that quite well, and these individuals are now looking to sue.
The Stratford Company LLC is suing Google’s parent company Alphabet on behalf of the initial adopters to the tune of $5 million, insinuating that the tech giant essentially used false advertising to manipulate users into investing, and then cut them off from benefits entirely. While the lawsuit is moving along, with no official statement from Google as of yet, it’ll be a slow procedure. Class actions take quite a long take in getting processed, which corporations often utilize to their advantage since the average individual can’t afford to keep dragging a court case out. Chances are that it might either get dropped entirely or settled out of court for much less.
H/T: Bloomberg.
Read next: Google Fights Lawsuit Accusing Firm Of Collecting Chrome Users’ Data Through Incognito Mode
Google getting sued isn’t exactly big news, or even necessarily news for that matter, but it’s still important to bring to light the exact details and ramifications of each case. If we refuse to start holding mega-conglomerates accountable for even minute disputes against their userbase, then we actively provide them carte blanche to do as they will. It’s already ludicrously easy for multi-billion corporations to get away with whatever they want without any ramifications, why should we make it any easier?
Especially when the root cause is the company making false promises and going back on them faster than an absent-minded parent promising their kids ice cream if they eat their vegetables, then conveniently “forgetting” to do so. Weird analogies that are not derived from personal experiences aside, let’s take a closer look at the who, what, and why of this lawsuit and whether or not we see any potential victory in its future. Spoiler alert for that last question: it’s always debatable at least.
First, the what, Workspace is essentially a package service that provides users with a myriad of Google online products, comprising the Docs suite, Gmail, Meet, Chat, Contacts, Calendar, and plenty of Drive storage. While most of these components can already be accessed online for free, purchasing them all under the Workspace brand gives users a few extra options to exercise. For example, they can now create email domains with the names of their companies or other personal stylings, instead of the usual @gmail.com domain. Drive can now be accessed with no memory limit, allowing users to go all-out with their storage space. Finally, there are a myriad of admin services that make management of all the different Google products much easier for an individual.
Early adopters of Google Workspace, which might as well be considered some of the first investors in the product, were promised that they would be provided with lifetime access to the bundle’s features as a loyalty bonus of sorts. Naturally, as customer loyalty means absolutely nothing to a corporation, Google recently announced that these legacy users would have to pay along with everyone else. Naturally, they didn’t take to that quite well, and these individuals are now looking to sue.
The Stratford Company LLC is suing Google’s parent company Alphabet on behalf of the initial adopters to the tune of $5 million, insinuating that the tech giant essentially used false advertising to manipulate users into investing, and then cut them off from benefits entirely. While the lawsuit is moving along, with no official statement from Google as of yet, it’ll be a slow procedure. Class actions take quite a long take in getting processed, which corporations often utilize to their advantage since the average individual can’t afford to keep dragging a court case out. Chances are that it might either get dropped entirely or settled out of court for much less.
H/T: Bloomberg.
Read next: Google Fights Lawsuit Accusing Firm Of Collecting Chrome Users’ Data Through Incognito Mode
