Internet

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Google Home Speaker Upgrade Forces You Into a Trial Premium Plan

Google Home Mini Smart SpeakerMany people have Google Home Mini Smart Speakers which allow you to ask questions, set alarms and reminders, and get verbal answers and notifications. These devices are Google’s answer to Alexa.

They were quite the marvel starting in 2016, but as time went on, the voice became less useful, often saying, “sorry, I can’t help with that.” But late last year, Google incorporated Gemini, its AI platform, into the speakers as a free upgrade if you install it. And once you set it up in the Google Home app, you get an amazingly useful desktop tool that knows the answer to almost everything.

During setup, Google pitches Google Home Premium that adds extra features to the speaker beyond the basic free functionality like being able to hold a continuing conversation with the device without having to say the Google wake phrase, “hey Google” or “okay Google” after the initial inquiry. (Note, this advanced feature only works with version 2 or later of the smart speaker.)

But the way they offer this extra service — integrated into the basic setup process via a 30-day free trial — is worthy of a consumer warning. After the free trial is up, they automatically charge your credit card $100 or $10 a month if you fail to cancel. Here is the screen you see on your phone just before you are signed up for both Gemini and the premium free trial.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Google Home Premium acknowledge trial catches

There is no “accept” or “reject” button on that screen. You have to click “acknowledge” in order to finish setting your smart speaker for AI it appears. And that action subscribes you to the pay plan a month later unless you cancel on time.

It seems unfair to seemingly force people to sign up for the free trial when all you may want is the free basic upgrade to Gemini AI. And the way the setup process is presented might even fail to meet all the disclosure requirements for trial offers under the new Massachusetts “Unfair and Deceptive Fees” regulation.

We asked the company why they constructed the switch to Gemini as they did rather than simply allowing people to opt-in or opt-out of the premium plan trial separately from signing up for Gemini. Google provided an initial response which said, in part:

Users are not required to subscribe to Google Home Premium to set up or use their devices. From the screenshot you sent, it appears the user had already accepted the trial offer and was on an acknowledgement page, past the option to skip.

The spokesperson included a screenshot purported to show that just prior to the acknowledgement screen above that both an opt-in and an opt-out choice is presented at the bottom of the screen:

Google Assistant 6 month trial

The problem with that is the screenshot Google provided is for a different product and offer — Gemini Assistant 6-month trial — and not Google Home Premiun’s 30-day trial. Had such a screen been presented in the Gemini for Home setup allowing you to either sign up or reject the free trial, that would have been great. But that screen was not part of the sequence to the best of our memory.

We obtained the actual two screens users see just before they are signed up for the 30-day trial on the acknowledgement page:

Google screens prior to sign up

Since these screenshots were cut off, we asked Google to provide the full screens showing what was at the bottom. Were there only “next” or “continue” buttons (just as the entire setup process had been configured), or were there accept or reject buttons? They did not reply…twice.

Despite all this, because of Gemini’s amazing new abilities, I still encourage Google smart speaker owners to upgrade to Gemini for Home but to keep an eye on the calendar.

As an example of the brilliance of the new system, I had a neighbor ask a semi-complicated question that never would have been answerable in the old system. So she asked whether her flight back to Florida two days hence on JetBlue flight number so and so was on time. In a flash the speaker told her that at the moment it was leaving as scheduled but warned that this flight had a history of cancellations. My neighbor was absolutely blown away. And so was I.

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Groupon’s Excessive Emails Amount to Spam

For months, MrConsumer’s email box has been flooded with emails from Groupon.

Groupon sells discount certificates to various restaurants and local service establishments. I usually buy my twice-a-year oil changes through Groupon for my car repair shop. The price unfortunately has crept up, so I did not buy it from them in November for my December servicing.

That did not stop Groupon, or perhaps even encouraged it, to literally deluge me with emails — often multiple emails an hour for oil changes and more.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Here is a list of the emails that Groupon sent to me this past November alone — 209 of them, if you can believe it.

Hertz

Scroll down the list.

Sometimes they are minutes apart, and up to a dozen a day. And emails from Groupon in December was even worse — 313 in total!

Congress passed the CAN-SPAM law in 2003. Contrary to popular belief, it does not ban unsolicited commercial email (spam) or limit how much an advertiser can send you. What it does is set up various requirements including having to have a simple way for the recipient to opt-out of getting more such emails from that advertiser.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Groupon goes a step further and says they allow you to adjust how often you hear from them.

Groupon opt-out and adjust frequency

Great… but there is no such option when you click their link.

*MOUSE PRINT:

No way to adjust email frequency

I don’t want to opt-out altogether because I want to know of a great deal on oil changes at my repair shop or membership discounts at Costco, but I don’t want minute-to-minute updates.

So, we asked the PR folks at Groupon why they send so many emails a day to customers, and whether they honestly believe that up to a dozen emails a day is appropriate. We also wanted to know what happened to their promised option to reduce the frequency of emails.

The company’s customer service department responded, and in a moment of candor said:

We sincerely apologize for the volume of emails you have been receiving and for the frustration this has caused.

You are absolutely right that receiving numerous emails in a single day is not a positive customer experience. While we intend to share relevant offers, it is clear that in this case, our frequency did not align with your preferences, and we take responsibility for that.

We would like to inform you that you have the option to limit the number of emails you receive from us on a daily basis.

In fact, the option to limit the number of emails is an all or nothing option rather than providing the ability to select a number.

So to end Groupon’s seeming inability to sensibly limit the number of emails it sends to customers, I opted out on January 1.

This whole experience suggests that the federal law needs to be amended to ban excessive emailing to consumers. What do you think?

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Amazon Sued Over Fake Sale Markdowns

Two consumers recently sued Amazon over fake discounts advertised during Prime Day this past July.

They allege that big percentage discounts are offered off of fake list prices to make shoppers think they are saving a bundle. In fact, the lawsuit asserts, that the savings are often far less than claimed, that the same sale price had been offered previously, or that Amazon never charged that stated list price in the previous 90 days.

As an example, the complaint says this headphone was supposedly 44% off:

Amazon headphone

The consumers’ lawyers contend:

But, in fact, Amazon does not deliver the promised 44% off because it uses a Fake Prior Amazon Price in calculating 44% supposed savings. While Amazon lists a Fake Prior Amazon Price of $134.99, in fact, these Skullcandy headphones have often been offered at the same “sale” price during the past 90 days, and never cost more than $110. … As the headphones were never offered on Amazon for the fake strike through price of $134.99, a customer buying these headphones during Prime Day 2025 overpaid because Amazon did not deliver the 44% savings it promised.

MrConsumer checked CamelCamelCamel.com and in fact that headset was offered at the full $134.99 price for about 10 separate days in the first half of 2025.

Amazon has made some modest strides in explaining what it means by “list price” in its product listings. That almost invisible little “i” reveals their definition.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Amazon List Price definition

And you can see Amazon’s own price history chart by clicking the Rufus button at the top left of the screen.

That said, for many years, Amazon and others have used exaggerated or rarely charged list prices to give shoppers a false sense of the savings being advertised and the product’s value.

It may be a while before this case proceeds because the judge placed a temporary hold on the proceedings while a similar case is being heard in a Washington appeals court.