Another Access Code Story. [Solved]

[Bloodonfire3]

So here's the thing: I heard about the Stadia a year ago, and contemplated pre-ordering it, then decided to wait a while. Came across the Stadia page around Thanksgiving, told my mom about it, in the pre-text of a Christmas gift. Well, lo and behold, on Christmas Day, got the controller and Chromecast (i.e. Premiere Edition) and set about setting it up prior to going to one of my Aunt's for the second part of my annual Christmas season. The problem of the access code began. On the way to my aunt's, I got in contact with Google to figure out how to get the code, since my mom bought it, she mistakenly deleted the email chain. She says she bought it off of amazon. After the past week of contacting Google, I am still unable to play because there is no trace of the order number anywhere in my family. Had a phone conversation with some guy by the name of Jose, and he's unable to help me with a code, because they linked this system to an email which is gone. It's possible that my older brother's email address was used, but this is ridiculous. Playstation, Microsoft and Nintendo all put the codes needed inside the box. Why can't Google? This was a gift, and it's asinine to believe that a code can't be generated and sent to MY email instead of the email that ordered the device. Anybody else have this issue? I've since read that some people have had issues with getting the codes after pre-ordering. @GraceFromGoogle do you have a solution?

[Xevioso]

Pretty sure the only place you will get help for this is the actual Google store customer service where your mom ordered from... Not Stadia help, and definitely not the community forum mods like Grace. 

Double check your mom and your brothers email (you said your mom accidentally deleted the email but you also said it might have gone to your brother's email). Check the spam folders and check the trash (hard to believe if they accidentally deleted it that they also emptied their trash folders). 

If not, your mom needs to contact the Google store and give them the info she used to order (name, address, maybe last 4 digits of the credit card used?) And they should be able to find her order. Wrong emails get used all the time when ordering. I can't believe Google can't find the order with some basic identifying information.

[Bloodonfire3]

@XeviosoYou're right. They should have been able to help me when I told them my last name. We all share the same name, so figuring that out should have been a no-brainer. I have checked my mom's email, my brother checked his. It's as if it's disappeared into the ether-web.

@bmillerAccording to my mom, she bought it via Amazon, though I did look through the catalog at Amazon and came to the same conclusion that you pointed out.

[Xevioso]

@bmiller dude... I totally missed the Amazon reference, lol! 

@Bloodonfire3 as @bmiller said, it's not available on Amazon. I guess it's possible someone ordered it, used the code to start an account and then resold the hardware on Amazon. But that seems like a lot just to get a code. Either way, if your mom insists she bought it on Amazon then she probably got scammed. But it would be in her Amazon order history of she bought it on Amazon, so that should be easy to check. If she did your probably out of luck until Stadia opens up to everyone. 

Also if she is just mistaken, and she actually bought it from the Google store, there should have been at least 2 emails with the order number. One when she bought it, and one when it shipped. Anyway, it sounds like there's a lot you guys have to figure out before Google is going to be able to help you with a code.

[bmiller]

Stadia isn't available for purchase through Amazon.  It has to be purchased from the Google Store.

[Bloodonfire3]

As a follow-up to the problem I faced, I was able to get another email sent to my brother, whose email my mom used to make the purchase. I was able to finish the setup process. I still am of the opinion that this was a flawed rollout by tying ones hands to an email. I can understand security concerns - I work in the private security industry, but this was ridiculous to have to hunt down a code that should have been secured inside the product. To me this was a convoluted and backhand way of getting a product with potential out to the public, one that I'm sure not everyone appreciated. Suffice to say, I'm impressed with the system.

[Xevioso]

@Bloodonfire3 It's good to hear that you got your code and successfully activated your account.

About the idea that the code should be secured in the product, I would say this. The Stadia code is not just a game code that would be included in a package like when you buy a physical copy of a game. It's the code that actually allows you to create your Stadia account.

No matter what platform or service you use, almost all of them use your email for things setting up your account, verification codes, password resets, etc. Almost all of them even make you verify the email when you first create an account. So it makes total sense that Google sends the account code to the email of the purchasing user, and not with the controller and Chromecast. 

I think they had to be especially careful, because all the codes going out with the Founder's and Premiere editions are account codes that include 3 free months of service. So there's a lot of potential for fraud and theft. 

But mostly, I think you're just looking at it wrong. Don't think of it as a game code that would normally come with a physical copy of a game. It's an account code, and those things are almost always done via email.