Google Store checkout issue spoils Black Friday for many people

The laws of Murphy strike again, as an issue with Google Store checkout prevented some buyers from using any store credit when making purchases. The issue was reported by a number of people on Twitter and subsequently picked up by 9to5Google.

Even though users had a positive store credit balance in their Google Store accounts they weren’t able to use it and they had to pay the full price on their purchases. The issue has been reported mainly at Google Store UK but other regions see problems too, such as an error message reading “OR_FGPMH_26”, preventing people from completing a purchase or adding a payment method.

The most troublesome part is the way the issue manifests itself. When you add an item to your cart and proceed to checkout, you’ll still be able to select the option “apply shop credit”, and subsequently see the discounted price of the item. When you hit “confirm purchase” however, Google Store will attempt to take the whole payment, disregarding the discount.

The guys at 9to5Google have been able to replicate the issue, and what’s more - even when the checkout amount showed “£0.00” due to the store credits applied during the purchase. There’s no official statement from Google at this time but it’s really unfortunate, especially at this time of the year and with the huge demand for Pixel 6 phones in the past couple of weeks.