Here’s my thread over the past 48 hours with google play support.  here’s what happened.  I bought a movie on the google play store ($14) for my daughter to watch when she was on the bus on her way to a field trip.  It wouldn’t play.  The net:  I’m seriously bummed that google’s own products don’t work together.

googleplay-support@google.com

Mar 24 (1 day ago)

to me 

Hello Greg,

Thank you for contacting me today. Sorry to hear that you weren’t able to watch your recent movie purchase.

For future reference, please update your ‘Play Movies’ app to the latest version available.

To find out which version you have installed go to Menu > Settings > Apps > ALL > Play Movies. 

The version will show under the name of the app on the top. If it isn’t 2.3.7 (the latest version) please update the app by following these steps:

- On your Android device, open the Play Store app and select “My apps” from the Play Store home screen. (On some devices, press Menu and then touch My apps)

- Select the Google Play Movies app.

- Tap update

Once your app is updated, you will be able to open the app and retry playing your purchase. Please let me know if these steps help, and if not I’ll be happy to troubleshoot further.

Regards,

Dylan

The Google Play Support Team

Greg Wallace 

Mar 24 (1 day ago)

to googleplay-sup. 

I have it set to auto update

Still not working

Greg Wallace 

7:39 AM (12 hours ago)

to googleplay-sup. 

Hi. When can we schedule some more help?

Thank you

googleplay-support@google.com

7:53 AM (11 hours ago)

to me 

Hello Greg,

Thank you for contacting me today.

In order to resolve this issue, if you haven’t done so already, please make sure you’ve cleared the cache and data of the Google Play Movies app. Here’s how:

1. Remove the movies that are downloaded to your device

2. Visit Menu > Settings > Apps

3. Tab over to “All”

4. Select the Play Movies app, and then tap “Clear cache” and “Clear data”

As a next step, please try uninstalling and re-installing this app to see if this resolves the issue. 

To uninstall the Google Play Movies app:

- On your Android device, open the Play Store app and select “My apps” from the Play Store home screen. (On some devices, press Menu

and then touch My apps)

- Select the Google Play Movies app.

- On the application home screen, select the “Uninstall” button.

After this, you will be able to return to “My apps” to reinstall the Google Play Movies app once you’ve removed it. Please also note that on some devices, the Google Play Movies app is a system app. System apps (apps that come pre-installed on your device) cannot be uninstalled, however, you can uninstall the updates and then re-update the app.

You can download your purchase for offline viewing by going to the Google Play Movies app, and then selecting the grey circular pin button in the righthand corner of the image, which will initiate the download. Please first make sure that you have enough storage space available. 

For more information about offline viewing, please visit:

http://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?answer=1266228

Please let me know if these steps help, and if not I’ll be happy to troubleshoot further.

Regards,

Dylan

The Google Play Support Team

Greg Wallace 

8:03 AM (11 hours ago)

to googleplay-sup. 

thanks.  google play movies is a system app on my device (Galaxy Tab 10, model GT-P7510, Android 3.1)

I uninstalled the updates and then reinstalled them and I get the same error.

googleplay-support@google.com

8:15 AM (11 hours ago)

to me 

Hello Greg,

Thank you for contacting me today. According to your report details, you did not ask for a refund for your purchase. However, at this time I’d like to extend a courtesy refund to you because you were not able to watch your movie/show as intended.

Please let me know if you’d be interested in this, and I’ll be happy to offer a refund to you. Please also note that you should be able to play your purchase through a browser on a computer at play.google.com/movies if you’d prefer this to a refund.

Greg Wallace 

8:19 AM (11 hours ago)

to googleplay-sup. 

I appreciate the offer.  I would like to know why the movie is not playing and if I will be able to play other movies on this device.  For background, I have a mostly google/android house and I must say I find it very very disappointing that your own products do not work together.  I am about as anti-apple as anyone I know, but this experience is causing me to seriously consider abandoning android for iOS.  

I’d like this fixed.

thank you

googleplay-support@google.com

8:32 AM (11 hours ago)

to me 

Hello Greg,

Thank you for contacting me today. I’m sorry but my system has showed you have uninstalled the updates to the app but not that the app has been re-updated. Can you please verify that the app has been updated please. And provide me with the version you have installed.

For future reference, please update your ‘Play Movies’ app to the latest version available.

To find out which version you have installed go to Menu > Settings > Apps > ALL > Play Movies. 

The version will show under the name of the app on the top. If it isn’t 2.3.7 (the latest version) please update the app by following these steps:

- On your Android device, open the Play Store app and select “My apps” from the Play Store home screen. (On some devices, press Menu and then touch My apps)

- Select the Google Play Movies app.

- Tap update

Once your app is updated, you will be able to open the app and retry playing your purchase. Please let me know if these steps help, and if not I’ll be happy to troubleshoot further.

Greg Wallace 

8:40 AM (11 hours ago)

to googleplay-sup. 

thanks.

Yes, I am on version 2.3.7 of the Google Play Movies app

I tried again and am getting the same error

Greg Wallace 

12:58 PM (6 hours ago)

to googleplay-sup. 

thoughts?

Please let me know the process to get this resolved.

thank you

I’m getting old, and I’m cool with it.

The more I work with Millennials, the more aware of it I become.  But it’s all good.

I have some advice, though, for Millennials that want to effectively communicate with old farts like me.  Watch these movies:

• Airplane - so, so many lines - I can speak Jive.
• Office Space
• This is Spinal Tap - so when I respond to a question like “how much more awesome can this be” with “none more awesome” you won’t think I’m an idiot.
• Zoolander (and the entire Ben Stiller collection) - the files are *in* the computer - I don’t actually think you’re in outer space. 
• Caddy Shack (and the entire Bill Murray collection) - Because if you can come to appreciate the sense of humor of Bill Murray and Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield and Chevy Chase, you will come a long way towards understanding old farts like me

I know there are more - I’ll add to this list as I think of them.

Add yours too

thenextweb:

Here’s a fun stat to emerge from the Slush conference, currently taking place in Helsinki, Finland. Angry Birds soda is the top-selling drink in that country. As noted by attendee Hanna Manninen and confirmed by our own Jamillah Knowles, who is at the event, the soda bearing Rovio’s mobile gaming mega-brand is said to be outselling Coke and Pepsi in Finland. During a talk onstage, the company’s CMO, Peter Vesterbacka also said that the drink would soon be available in New Zealand and Australia too. (via Rovio: Angry Birds soda is the best selling drink in Finland – “Ahead of Coke and Pepsi” - The Next Web)

here’s a brand extension I never would have seen coming.  I wonder how they decided to launch in Finland

Another great post from VR.  What makes their posts great, IMO?  It’s the transparency - they freely share their best practices.  So, read this entry for its advice and also ask yourself if you share your best practices on your blog.  If not, you should.