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The bad news keeps piling up for Google's (News - Alert) star-crossed Nexus One.



It's been out for a while and couldn't have been a more embarrassing pratfall for the usually sure-footed Google.

The BBC found a that 'confusion over who should answer customer queries has led many to file complaints on support forums,' and that 'many people are unhappy with Google only responding to questions by e-mail and are calling for it to set up phone-based support.

It hasn't gotten better. 'The poor customer service vortex has sucked in many Consumerist readers, devouring their access to a functional phone, as well as their 14-day grace periods for returns,' writes industry observer Laura Northrup:

'Reader Prashant reported that he couldn't get HTC (News - Alert) to send him a new phone to replace his deceased one. Now another reader tells Consumerist that he can't get a FedEx label generated to return his phone that he wishes to return.'

'Almost 500 people have logged problems with the Nexus One's support for 3G wireless networks. Others reported bugs when synchronizing contacts or getting the handset to work with existing Google accounts,' the Beeb reported.

Industry observer Tony Bradley notes that while Apple (News - Alert) sold 1.6 million iPhones in the first week, the Droid sold about 250,000,' and even the MyTouch 3G pushed out 60,000 in the first week.' The score for Google's Nexus One so far? A paltry 20,000. One has to think the widespread customer service horror stories are helping keep that figure low.

Industry analyst Susan Choney found that Google's insistence on handling all sales online is a problem, too: 'Customers who want to use the Nexus One with T-Mobile's (News - Alert) service can buy the phone for $179 with a two-year service contract. But Google is the seller, unlike previous Google-related phones that have been sold through wireless carriers.'

Avi Greengart, Current Analysis' (News - Alert) research director for mobile devices, told Choney that, 'Google is trying an entirely new distribution model: the operating system vendor as the retailer, and an online-only retailer at that.' Perhaps needlessly, he adds 'there were bound to be support questions.'

After all, there's the brand to think about: 'I have been a super fan of Google's business model, success, and seemingly steadfast dedication to the end use. But I have to say, that has all been 100 percent shattered by this whole Nexus One fiasco. Google, get your act together quickly or you will no longer be the company that takes us into the future,' writes Loias.

One doesn't want to read too much into essentially anonymous Web board comments, of course, it's not like anybody would stop using Google's search or Documents just because their phone sucks. Maybe Google just isn't the company to take us into the telecom future.