Lost access to 12-Year old Google Workspace account/admin...

[thecomputerguy]

I am piggy backing off this thread:

https://www.technibble.com/forums/t...-not-sure-what-to-do.93264/page-2#post-778774

I told them it was going to be somewhere in the range of $15-$20k for the migration and this new assistant asked what the steps are to move forward, so I was like . I don't think the assistant is communicating pricing with the owner and might be just sending me on a goose chase that will never happen. I can't see this owner ever approving a project in that dollar amount.

Anyways, I realized that we have a pretty major problem here. Since I migrated them AWAY from Google Workspace about 12 years ago and I never intended on them coming back, the credentials for the Admin account for their domain are unknown.

12 Years ago me never thought to notate the Workspace admin account for 12 years later.

When I try to reset the password for what WAS the owners email I get this:

Which to me means that the owners account was NOT an admin account.

When I register a new Workspace Domain it detects this Domain as already being a part of Workspace.

When I try to go through the Account Recovery:

Google Admin Console: Sign in Issues - Google Workspace Admin Help

support.google.com

I get the confirmation email that my ticket has been submitted, then I immediately get an automated response email stating that this recovery method is ONLY for Workspace Admins... meaning, the owners account is, as I said above, not an admin account.

So the domain is held up an Google Workspace purgatory. Does anyone have any help here?

I'm tempted to tell them that it's in never-land forever so I can skip this nightmare job.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

There's a second level of support...similar to Microsofts data recovery team when you need to access a tenant where the GA is MIA and known...you provide proof of ownership of the domain by creating certain DNS records they'll provide you with. So you also need access to your clients public DNS control panel.

2nd half of this page.

Recovering administrator access to your account - Google Workspace Admin Help

If you're an administrator of your organization's Google Workspace or Cloud Identity account and you forgot your password, or you're a user and your administrator is unreachable, here's what you can

support.google.com

Yes it's not quick.

 

[thecomputerguy]

There's a second level of support...similar to Microsofts data recovery team when you need to access a tenant where the GA is MIA and known...you provide proof of ownership of the domain by creating certain DNS records they'll provide you with. So you also need access to your clients public DNS control panel.

2nd half of this page.

Recovering administrator access to your account - Google Workspace Admin Help

If you're an administrator of your organization's Google Workspace or Cloud Identity account and you forgot your password, or you're a user and your administrator is unreachable, here's what you can

support.google.com

Yes it's not quick.

Yeah so it looks like I'm stuck in a loop:


Option 1.)

Ends in automated recovery, then back here:



Option 2.)

Ends in a sign in requirement (which I don't know the credentials for):



Option 3.)

Not what I need

Option 4.)

Puts me back in to a support form in which I get an email stating this recovery method is only for Administrators.

I never get to the point where I can add DNS records, not even close.

The email used for admin purposes 12 years ago is simply unknown.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

You're choosing radio button choice #2 right?

 

[thecomputerguy]

You're choosing radio button choice #2 right?
View attachment 17939

To be clear I technically DONT have an active user because the workspace hasn't been in use in 12 years and they are currently at M365 as of me migrating them 12 years ago.

Yes, I tried them all... so these are the steps I am presented with (actual email replaced with john@johndoe.com for privacy). I don't even know what email I should be entering in here because the only email I recall from 12 years ago (when they had like 2 employees) is the Owners email and that account doesn't appear to be an admin.

 

[frase]

No idea, though I would hate to be you with this one. Strap yourself in going to be a frustrating ride.

 

[timeshifter]

I think when you leave they don't totally destroy your old tenant and IDs. But I think they convert your email and logins to something similar like this:

Original Account	Example Renamed Account	Typical Scenario

wilecoyote@acme.com

wilecoyote@acme-com.invalid

Domain removed from Workspace

wilecoyote@acme.com

wilecoyote@acme-com.test-google-a.com

Domain unverified or subscription canceled

wilecoyote@acme.com

wilecoyote@acme-com.googleuser.com

Converted to individual Google account

wilecoyote@acme.com

wilecoyote@acme-com.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Became a service account identity

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

To be clear I technically DONT have an active user because the workspace hasn't been in use in 12 years and they are currently at M365 as of me migrating them 12 years ago.

Yes, I tried them all... so these are the steps I am presented with (actual email replaced with john@johndoe.com for privacy). I don't even know what email I should be entering in here because the only email I recall from 12 years ago (when they had like 2 employees) is the Owners email and that account doesn't appear to be an admin.

Ahh OK. I saw you mention above that you didn't have any account creds that were an admin. I didn't know if you had some account creds for "other staff" ....like perhaps they had a half dozen other employees or so.

So...yeah, yuck.

Hmmm.
One approach...find an MSP that is a Google partner. We're not...the entry level is steep and we'd never reach that. Not sure if you're in the IT BOG Facebook group, but I had a situation about 2 years ago...reached out for help, and some dude from an MSP in Canada that is a Google partner got whatever I needed done for me.

Another approach, stand up a new Google tenant...some domain you whip up and will never use, yes it will cost (the client) money, but...gets you in the door with Google support...and from there you can engage them to reach across to THIS tenant and revive it.

 

[HCHTech]

Another approach, stand up a new Google tenant...some domain you whip up and will never use, yes it will cost (the client) money, but...gets you in the door with Google support...and from there you can engage them to reach across to THIS tenant and revive it.

Ooh, I like this option. You are not responsible for maintaining old credentials from 12 years ago - that's the client's job if they want to do it. It's their choice: Give you the credentials, or you'll do what you can to try and get them access - at your normal hourly rate, of course.

 

[callthatgirl]

Buy an account and put in a ticket and ask for help, it's worked for me in the past.