I dont see where you tried to chat with google fi. I could not connect in Copenhagen on my Fi Moto X4 last year, but I got on with chat and they gave me the force dialer codes. Here is a Reddit thread from 2015 and I feel confident there are newer threads to help you.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/nex...force-t3132393

Thanks but altho that thread is a bit technical none of the codes work in Thailand eg I was asked (multiple times) to identify the carrier by a short code (*#*#, etc) - but it didn't work.
I have spent about 50 hours over the last week on chat for technical support (waiting time, chatting, etc) The first 2 reps refused to let me talk on to an escalated person. 3 days after a promised 2 days response from escalation I was able to chat with someone who claimed he was consulting with an higher person - after hours of trying various things (including my having manually connected to EVERY carrier my phone shows - even tho I know their partner is AIS - the agent didn't even know who their partner/partners were in Thailand) including them "reactivating" my sim still not able to make or receive calls.
The only solution seems to be to pay for a vpn! (or if I had a pixel maybe put the sim in a pixel then back in my android - alto every time I've taken the sim out and replaced it in the same phone (eg to change sd card) the phone has told me I have to activate my account and I have been told that I have to be in the US to do this
So after all these hours the "solution" per the "escalated" agent is - sorry we can't do anything!!!!
I am beyond frustrated that their cs is horrible, that they are selling a service that doesn't work and they (apparently) don't have any way to "open a ticket" and have someone pursue the problem to get it fixed - just tell me "sorry we can't do anything"
So I can make calls using hangouts only if I pay for a vpn!!! (btw a service that allegedly is included if I had a "made for fi" phone)
btw - I've also posted on reddit about this and emailed support - maybe I'm the only one using samsung 8 in Thailand trying to make calls)

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectFi/c...port_card_for/
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...-Thailand.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectFi/c...ai_sim_sms_on/

Thanks for the links - 2 of which I had seen - the problem is that they are either 2 years old or 1 year old and don't address my problem exactly - but it is clear that there have been problems in Thailand for all that time that haven't been fixed (data works but voice calls don't - different report voice calls work but data doesn't). It is beyond frustrating. Sounds like someone else had similar problem and was asked to do many trouble shooting steps that I also did - but no progress in 2 years!

One thing someone mentioned is getting a fi account but not through google (is that even possible) b/c then they could use hangouts in Thailand - would like to know how to do this.
Today was even worse - data lost when I really needed it for directions - had to restart phone multiple times, etc until after 30 minutes I could use maps again - no clue why this happened except kept getting conflicting messages (eg cannot connect to data, cannot search for other networks while connected to data!)
Anyway it is teaching me to deal with frustration I guess (and not to trust google fi for sure! - esp with a non fi phone)

Offline maps are your friends.

Yes except they don't give me bus routes ;)

Tiffany at OMAAT (who has been a big Fi fan for years) shares a Google Fi horror story.

https://onemileatatime.com/google-fi-review/

Basically, her husband bought a Fi phone during the November promotion, but Chase flagged the transaction as fraudulent. Google went ahead and shipped the phone anyway, then later put a security/fraud flag on his account. They've been trying for weeks to get it resolved - which should be as simple as giving Google a different card to charge - but no one has been able to help. Meanwhile, his service is suspended, he can't even transfer his number to another carrier, or make any other purchases in the Google ecosystem (Play store, youtube, etc).

Has anyone else had anything like this happen? Any advice how to minimize the chances of it happening to me? Should I add additional backup credit cards to my Google account? I can deal with the usual cell phone headaches - dropped calls, international calling issues - but the idea of no service for weeks or losing my long time number is worrying.

Yikes. That sounds bad, and I'm glad that didn't happen to me. But one thing is clear: if you need any kind of human intervention, it's just not going to happen with Google Fi. This is an absolutely bare-bones product with almost zero human support. Neat idea if it all works...horror story if anything goes wrong.

People keep referring to online chat. That's been down every time I've attempted to use it.

My service is working fine so far, about 1 month in (after my horrible experience simply getting my phones).

Well even if you don't have these kinds of problems you can end up with no service for weeks if you're in Thailand! (see my previous posts) BTW - their customer support has fallen off a cliff since the promotion and no response for weeks before a response is common - as well as reps who know nothing and make you do ridiculous things b/c they don't know the difference btwn a fi phone and a "compatibile" phone

They're showing that I didn't activate my account under their 11/28 promo.

If I look at billing, it shows usage since the day after I received my phone.

That's just one click away from the promo saying I didn't activate.

I emailed them. Chat has literally never been a non-grayed-out option since I've been active.

But I emailed them once before about a month ago, and I still haven't heard back on that.

keep checking on CHAT it does come and go. I find that If I sit there and keep the page open, within about 2 minutes it lights up. Then, well it says "you're 45 in queue about 30 minutes"

Yup! Just got it!

Of course, "Shashank" promised me an email telling me I'm all set on the promo. None came. Can't even get a transcript of the chat emailed to myself.

Pathetic.

Google Fi is NOT ready for prime time.

Sign up for Fi with a "dummy" Google account--either the spare one you use for stupid promos or just create a brand new one. This has several advantages:

• If you're a Google Voice user, you can keep GV (and you can retain access to GV while you've suspended Fi as well)
• You can sign multiple phones/devices into your Fi account without allowing those devices into your "real" gmail, payments, etc.
• If Google drops the ball on billing, only that Google Payments account is blocked

We have a Fi account that's normally suspended; it gets activated mainly for trips to the US... which is good, because even in Belgium Fi really only works when it feels like it.

It's pretty pathetic if you have to resort to using dummy google accounts as a workaround IMO..

-David

Tell me about it. In my case, I did it to keep a GV number I've had for a decade--because if you let Fi assimilate your GV number, it's useless while Fi is suspended.

The service is not that great and the data is way overpriced, but no other provider lets me suspend and resume at will. My alternative is buying a month of service every time I spend a week in the US.