The phone started to swell on Friday 18th July. I've contacted the Google Support immediately and we're going in circles since then without any result.

Phone is registered on my daughter's account and since she's under 18 years old she can not file the support request. I can not file the support request either – the phone is registered to another account. I'm contacting the support every few days but all I'm asked is to fill the support form that does not work for me.

Meanwhile the phone continues swelling and clearly heads to self-destruction in fire with a lot of toxic fumes.

I'm filing the complaint to Verbraucherzentrale of course, but it can take weeks to resolve.

What else can I do in Germany in this case?

by snakeye

38 comments

  1. Take the phone to a reputable store and change the battery?
    Same as people do with Samsung, Apple, Motorola etc

  2. Don’t use the phone. Put it in a metal container. If its in warranty, you can contact the place where you bought it or google directly (through their warranty page, not the general support page) . Bring it to a Problemstoffsammlung and trash it there. Do NOT put it in your regular trash.

  3. where have you bought it? and since when do you have to be 18 to file a support request?

  4. The Pixel 7a has a know battery problem. Changing the battery at a reputable store is recommended.

    Besiedes that you can check if you are entiteled for compensation. Mine had the same problem and Google gave me ca. 400€ bc of that. You can still keep the phone, and the battery swap was <100€ so that was pretty neat.

    [https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/16043453?hl=en](https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/16043453?hl=en)

  5. that thing might be beyond repair already especially if the swelling is happening this fast. Get the battery removed ASAP and professionally taken care of.

    Put it into a fire safe box for transport. A dutch oven with a lid or something should work, put some sand into it if you have sand available.

    Do not carry this thing out in the open and should it start to burn do not use water, under no circumstances. Put it outside and let it burn out.

    If you do not have something that’s firesafe it might be a good idea to call the local fire department and ask for help.

  6. I had a similar issue with a Pixel 6, and they were pretty fast to send a new unit. As others said, you should get rid of that battery as soon as possible – please don’t go to bed with it inside your house or leave it unattended in this state. In my case I just removed the battery myself and disposed in a specialised shop (use gloves, safety glasses and be next to a metal container). The replacement phone arrived one day later.

  8. When two phones loved each other very much 7 months ago

  10. Whats going on with Pixel? So much battery problems with the a problems…

  12. I had a similar issue on Pixel 7. I just went to Google’s authorized repair shop, I think Comspot, to get the battery replaced. Just show them your warranty. Unfortunately my warranty period was already over but it works fine now.

  13. Usually the Erziehungsberechtigter can sign stuff for their children.

  14. Just remove the battery and put a new one in or go to a repair shop in your city. Its an easy job and costs ~100€ (<30€ in parts if you do it yourself).

    In Germany your contact person in a support request is always the seller and not the manufacturer. Only contact google if you bought it directly from google (or there is a recall campaign or similiar).

  15. I don’t know what else you can do. But please keep the phone somewhere outside. And if a fire starts use sand to put it out. Wanter can make it worse.

  16. Well you are not allowed to send this by mail at all, so I’d say you take the back cover off and remove the battery. Put the battery in a metal container, the rest of the phone is safe.

  17. That’s weird – my 7a had problems with the battery and I went on their website and within a few minutes I found an article specifically for that and 10 minutes later I got the confirmation that I was eligible for 400 euros compensation. This was before it even begun to swell.

  19. I had same issue with my Pixel 7Pro, and they replaced my phone within a week. It was out of warranty.

  20. Hi, I had the same issue with my Pixel 7. Get in touch with Google chat Support. They are usually quick to respond. They usually tell you to send it to them or take it to their authorized service partner.

    Since yours is in a much more dangerous situation, it’s better to take it to their authorized service centre. You can pay for it and get it reimbursed from Google later.

    Their service partner is Comspot and look for any Comspot service points nearby and take it to them right away. Mind you, if you get it replaced at any other service center that’s not Comspot, you won’t get a refund. As others mentioned, put it in a metal case and take it right away. And before you do, take pictures of the phone from all angles: front, right, left, top, back, up and down. This will help you with the claims when you contact them

  21. Op this happened to me recently with my pixel 6 and I contacted the Google support and they replaced the device without any discussions.

  22. Wow, didn’t expect this. I’m in the same boat as you – Pixel 7a that is swelling (although not as severe) and I can’t get help from Google. If I try with the form, it just says “Couldn’t detect Battery issues”. I think the extended repair program is only valid for certain lots but apparently it happens in others too. Google support is unhelpful and unresponsive. I bought mine at Media Markt, they just said they would repair it for the regular cost since it’s out of warranty 

  24. Contact Amazon via chat. Describe the issue, include a photo, and kindly ask for a replacement. Refer to the potential danger it poses and let them know via chat that, due to this, you will be disposing of it today. Normally, support will agree to send a new one.

    Once everything is sorted out, take the device to the nearest electronics store such as Media Markt or Saturn. Ask them to dispose of it — they can handle that.

  25. I had the same issue with the same model and they replaced the whole things after a few weeks of wait, I suddenly got a new one via mail.

    Sorry you are facing this, the account thing might be the issue.

    Stop using the phone, don’t charge, etc.

  26. I’ve had the same issue regarding child accounts with the Pixel 4a. Only thing that solved it was resetting the phone and logging in with my own account, after which I could send the support request. Presumably that’s not an option for your phone anymore though, with the state it’s in? I’d keep trying to get through with support and maybe get the issue escalated. Unfortunately Google’s support is really shit.

  27. Alright, I don’t know why everyone is suggesting to thow a good phone away??? Just take it right now and bring it to any repair shop you have around. They will remove the battery and most likely will even have a new one in stock they can replace…

    Seriously, don’t contact firefighters or contact any non emergency numbers. And don’t throw the phone away, perfectly fixable and should cost under 50eur for sure.

    But definitely complain to Google and to Amazon for the shit they are trying to pull

  28. What else can you do? Well, take it outside and store it in a fireproof receptacle (e.g. a metal bucket with some sand in it).

    Other than that, no Idea. Sorry.

  30. Had the same issue. Took mine to Mediamarkt and they took out the battery, was quick and about 20 or 30€

  32. I had absolutely the same problem back in April with 7a – i also bought the phone in Germany via Amazon. Google was absolute trash in helping out, even with the extended program, but Amazon very quickly and kindly took it for a return and refunded all the money. My phone was still under warranty, but in any case simply try contacting Amazon and they should be very generous with helping out. Good luck!

  33. What do you mean Google Support does nothing at all?

    Google has an extended repair program cause this is a known fault

    https://share.google/yXFPVp4w5GhgZisaE

    You can either get a free battery repair or 300€
    I took the money and didn’t even had to provide pictures or sent the phone in

  34. That is average for old batteries, about 50% of mine started to inflate at some point (eventhough I have to say the it‘s very huge in your case).
    Unfortunately batteries are usually not covered by an extended warrenty if you have one.

    In case you own this less than 2 years, I would file a complain at the shop where you bought it. Since you will have to send it back, I would highly recommend talking to the support of the shop about your situation first, since I wouldn‘t feel confortable sending the phone like this.

  35. Happened to me with 7a as well about a month ago. It was under warranty and they gave me €395 for it via a payment site call payoneer. It was all done via their support chat; I presented my complaint, filled up the form, about a day later they approved the money, I created the Payoneer account, about a day later they approved the transaction and 17 days later the money was on my account. Once you get sorted the form thingy that’s probably what’s gonna happen to you. You should definitely either dispose of the phone in a specialized place or keep it off and inside some metal container.

  36. You can search for “Comspot Repair GmbH” on Google maps for their nearest shop. They are official Google partners for repairs.

  37. Same model, same issue sent yesterday for repair, since it still has a warranty.

  38. I had the same problem. Pixel 7a with swollen battery.

    On my case, it was pretty straightforward. I just went to Google, and they had a special page with extended warranty for 7a model. They asked to put IMEI and immediately suggested a few places I could book and repair it for free.

    They already fixed mine at a store called iCracked. Everything took less than 1 hour.

    I livei n Japan btw.

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