can't reach google.com for at least 4 hours

no it isn't my browser, no it isn't my computer, and no it isn't my network. It could be my isp's network I don't really know.

I can't contact google... tried mailing webmaster, but guess what.

Thank you for writing to Google. We'd like to assist you, but we only
respond to messages submitted through our online contact form. Please
visit http://www.google.com/support/ to submit your message, and we'll get
back to you soon. We apologize for any inconvenience, and we look forward
to hearing from you.

Regards,
The Google Team

that's great... guess what? I can't reach that url. I can't reach google.com or google.co.uk

but gmail works, images. works, code. works, video doesn't, I can ping google.com, I can telnet to google.com on port 80. But the site doesn't load. I get weird errors. I'd love to talk to a support person and give them a chance to help. But I can't reach them.


here's my error message... (one of them)

window.google={kEI:"3SEhSNfDBoj0ebezqYEI",kEXPI:"0",kHL:"en"};
window.clk=function(b,c,d,e,f,g){if(document.images){var
a=encodeURIComponent||escape;(new
Image).src="/url?sa=T"+(c?"&oi="+a(c):"")+(d?"&cad="+a(d):"")+"&ct="+a(e)+"&cd="+a(f)+(b?"&url="+a(b.replace(/#.*/,"")).replace(/\+/g,"%2B"):"")+"&ei=3SEhSNfDBoj0ebezqYEI"+g}return
true}; window.gbar={};(function(){var c=window.gbar,e,g,h;c.qs=function(a)
{var
d=window.encodeURIComponent&&(document.forms[0].q||"").value;if(d)a.href=a.href.replace(/([?&])q=[^&]*|
$/,function(f,b){return(b||"&")+"q="+encodeURIComponent(d)})};function
l(a,d,f)
{a.display=h?"none":"block";a.left=d+"px";a.top=f+"px"}c.tg=function(a){var
d=0,f=0,b,m=0,n,j=window.navExtra,k,i=document;g=g||
i.getElementById("gbar").getElementsByTagName("span");(a||
window.event).cancelBubble=!m;if(!e){e=i.createElement(Array.every||
window.createPopup?"iframe":"DIV");e.frameBorder="0";e.scrolling="no";e.src="#";g[7].parentNode.appendChild(e).id="gbi";if(j&&g[7])for(n
in j)
{k=i.createElement("span");k.appendChild(j[n]);g[7].parentNode.insertBefore(k,g[7]).className="gb2"}i.onclick=c.close}while(b=g[++m

It's be great if google would get back to 'lil ol me faithful customer of 10 years.

EDIT: A friend has forwarded this message too them for me.

EDIT: and we're back, this has been ~5 hours of google shame. I never was contacted...

EDIT: Finally contacted

Thank you for your note. We appreciate your sending us a screenshot.
Clearing your browser's cache can resolve a number of problems you may be
experiencing while using Google or other sites on the web. Below you'll
find instructions for clearing your cache in Internet Explorer (IE) 6,
IE7, Mozilla Firefox 1.5 and earlier, and Mozilla Firefox 2.0: ...

I guess google doesn't Read what I say either, because I told them that I tried different browsers and different machines.

Poor Support - READ WHAT I SAID

For Starters I'm annoyed and ranting. I'm going to pick on some particular companies, but this problem applies to the WHOLE support industry.

Stop using generic scripted answers for problems where they obviously don't apply. I've used them myself in the support industry, but where they apply.

Examples are paraphrased
Example1: Amazon.com and there poorly worded emails

Me> I received an email saying that I had recently bought or viewed lawnmowers, I haven't. Has my account been compromised?

amazon> this email is phishing...(generic phishing email reply here)

(I received another similar)
Me> Hi I received an email that says I've bought or viewed power tools. Here are the headers, they pass spamassassin and googles filters. Plus I've checked it myself. Maybe, you could fix the emails to not to suggest that I've purchased or viewed something I haven't.

amazon> this email is phishing...(generic phishing email reply here)

Solution: disable amazon from sending me emails on products... and it worked. I guess amazon's support should have paid attention?

Example2: safari.oreilly.com

Me> I can't get this book to load... I'm not sure why. The 'spinner' keeps going
round and round but it doesn't load. I don't have problems with anything
else.

(ok so I could have been clearer on 'anything else' what I meant to say was 'any other books'.)

Safari> I tested the book and do not experience any issues. Here's How to enable scripting in IE.

Me> I'm sorry wouldn't I have had problems with 'anything else' if I didn't have scripting enabled? Also I'm not using IE and it's not on my OS (I don't use windows).

Solution: this seemed to resolve itself overnight... I didn't change anything.


Stop telling me that it isn't an issue when it is. because you are too lazy to do simple checking.

Example3: bugs.gentoo.org

Me> new PackageA Stabilized can't be used by packageB version...


Gentoo> PackageB version is unstable marking invalid
(I poke around)

Me> This is a problem on the stable version as well

Gentoo> Oh...

Solution: I mask packageA to keep it from being pulled... as they seem to refuse de-stabilizing a package that causes problems.


There are always other support problems. But the 2 worst I think are not actually paying attention to a support request, and not doing more than a cursory check, for the validity of a problem.

EDIT: If your company/whatever has this problem, you aren't alone, the almighty google has this problem too.