I appreciate what you're trying to do, but unfortunately this is kind of the problem with the Google culture. Everything has to be done with automation and better tools because they simply do not have the ability to go through the massive amounts of customers that they have without them. Unfortunately, at some point you need a human on the other end that can make a decision, especially with refund/warranty cases.
Sorry that my first post wasn't emphatic enough. The tools the team I'm a part of builds are used by real people (including other Googlers) fielding real telephone calls helping real customers through warranty and refund cases. None of it is automated for use without a human in the loop.
Everyone on the team I'm a part of recognizes the perception you've eloquently provided, and very much care to scale with humans in the loop.
Out of interest, this "in the loop" terminology sounds odd to me and sounds like business speak. Is this common in Google?
I remember once contacting Sun for info on software many years ago and received an email where they promised that someone would "reach out to me".
I didn't want to be reached out for - I just wanted some text answering my question.
Nope, "in the loop" is just me mangling a slang phrase I personally use -- "Keep me in the loop" -- which means "keep me informed in a real time manner". It's not the first odd phrase I've put together, as my girlfriend likes to remind me: "I don't words well".
Haha ok, so not the corporate business speak. I must say that your girlfriend's expression is somewhat "unique" too :-)
I'm very sorry you had that awful experience. I know it doesn't remedy your past experience, but please know myself and many other Googlers have been and still are putting a lot of work into the tools being used by the customer support reps around the globe to better help you.