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Comment by kccqzy

3 days ago

I had free G Suite until 2022. I don't remember when I signed up for it but given Google discontinued signing up for it back in 2012, it must have been before then. 2022 was the time Google said no more free G Suite. So I upgraded to Business Starter. I didn't know that after I upgraded, Google introduced a free tier Google Workspace. Of course they never bothered to tell me, given that I had already started paying $3/mo as a special discounted price of Business Starter.

I even found the link posted by Redditors to convert the business starter account to free. That link expired in 2023.

This is the email Google sent me in 2022:

> As a valued customer, you can get started now with Google Workspace Business Starter. Billing will not start until at least August 1, 2022, and you’ll also get a discount of at least 50% for 12 months after that date.*

> Note: If you no longer want to use Gmail with your custom domain or the ability to manage multiple users, you’ll be able to join a waitlist in the Google Workspace Admin Console for a no-cost option in the coming weeks.

The only option presented to me was to stop using Gmail and enjoy a no-cost option. They must have backtracked later and offered a no-cost option with Gmail included.

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kccqzy

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ggm  3 days ago

Ah. I am sorry, At the time having done what you did, I managed to find an email trail which said "if you walk it back now, this way, we will refund and put you back on free" and I did.

I cannot recall what URLs or I would share. Basically, I think you acted in good faith, missed a mail or message and were lost. There was some class action threat.

This was within months of the forced cut over.