I wouldn't say that.

I mean, I use Google nearly 24/7. They are by far my favorite company and generally their products are awesome.

I even still use Google Checkout for some of my friends' websites.

It's just that in this particular case it would be nice if they improved things a bit.

There's a difference between "don't use Google" and "don't use Google for business."

A story like this turns me off Google in a big way if I'm using them for anything at all commercial. I don't want to have to worry about the stuff I'm doing. The idea of Google Checkout is to make my life easier. They're failing that in a big way.

It's not even a lack of trust of Google. I think Google's a good company that's just stupid in some ways. It's more a matter of, I don't want to bother with that stuff. I'll find somebody easier.

A commercial relationship is (or should be??) "higher touch" then a consumer one - but google don't want that at all. So that alone makes commercial usage a risk.

Unless and until you're bringing in real money for Google, make no mistake: you're in a consumer relationship with them, not a commercial one.

A merchant that's sold a few hundred dollars worth of stuff is never going to be important enough to Google to bother putting a real person on. It may suck, but that's the way it is.

If the vendor in question had a few more zeroes on their sales figures, Google would make sure that the complaints were valid before shutting them down.

But I agree fully with the basic point - any small vendor should think twice before relying solely on Google Checkout.

If it's a small amount of money, it's fine for them to shut you down with no warning and keep your money?

Imagine if a bank did that with your $200 checking account.

My account was open for a month or less when they closed it.

I consider using Adwords using Google for business and that is indispensable for most businesses.

Also, Google Apps has been stellar for business email so far.

Thanks for picking up on the subtlety.