In a dystopian twist on customer service, Google's support team has transformed from helpers to tormentors, deliberately providing nonsensical solutions and ridiculous troubleshooting steps to desperate users. What begins as mild pranks—recommending users dip their phones in water or chant at their devices—escalates into an organized system where support agents earn points and promotions based on the frustration levels they generate. The team meets weekly to share recordings of their most exasperated customers, laughing as people miss job interviews, lose important data, and suffer technological breakdowns.
Behind this sadistic game is Support Director Miranda Phelps, who discovered that metrics improved when the team stopped caring about actual solutions. She implements a formal "Misery Index" to track customer suffering, with bonuses tied to tears elicited and curse words provoked. Meanwhile, user Dave Hoffman becomes the team's favorite target after his polite initial request for help, leading them to transfer him between 37 different departments over three months for their ongoing entertainment.
As Google's stock price mysteriously rises with increased customer frustration, the support bullying becomes institutionalized. New hires undergo "anti-training" to unlearn helpfulness, while the company secretly records and monetizes compilation videos of user meltdowns. However, trouble looms when Dave Hoffman, now dedicating his life to exposing the system, begins gathering evidence and building a coalition of mistreated users, setting the stage for a showdown between the tormented customers and their technological tormentors.