Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen

[SRWylie]

We got a Nest Hub (2nd Gen) as a free gift for signing up with a new fiber internet service. When we first set it up, everything was great. In the last month or so (that I've noticed), the time on the Nest Hub display is an hour ahead. We are in the Central Time zone (CDT), but the display is showing Eastern Time (EDT). The address in the Google Home app for our house is correct, and Google seems to know that the house is in the Central time zone here in Henderson, Kentucky, USA.

I cannot find any way to change the time without putting in a bogus address in the Google Home app, which kind of defeats the purpose of having the display show local news and weather, right?

I've looked at previous posts discussing this same issue, but the suggestions in the responses have not worked for me.

[MplsCustomer]

@SRWylie 

Have you tried a simple reboot, either by unplugging your Nest Hub for a minute or by rebooting from within the Google Home app, just to see if that corrects the issue?  (It's odd that the timezone changed.)

[SRWylie]

@MplsCustomer  Yes, a couple of times. I'll try it again, though. Couldn't hurt!

[SRWylie]

Rebooting the device did not fix the problem, unfortunately.

[MplsCustomer]

@SRWylie 

I don't have any further suggestions on correcting your time is off, or why this happened spontaneously a month or so ago.

You could try contacting Support, using the link and instructions in this post:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Using-Google-Nest-s-quot-Contact-Us-quo...

[Muddi]

Hey SRWylie,

Chiming in to make sure we cover everything here. Please proceed with resetting your Nest Hub (2nd gen) by pressing and holding both volume buttons together, located at the back of the Nest Hub, for about 10 seconds. You'll hear your Google Assistant confirm that the Nest Hub is being reset.

Please note that resetting your device will revert your device back to its default settings. Additionally, you will need to set up the device again on your WiFi and link your Google Account.

Let us know how if that works.

Cheers,

Muddi

[SRWylie]

Thanks, @Muddi - I went through the reset and reconnect process, and as soon as the display came back online, the time was an hour ahead as it was before. So unfortunately, that didn't work. 😢

I'm going to try creating a temporary home with an address that is obviously in the central time zone and see if that changes the time display. That will confirm that Google has my address in the wrong one.

Steve

[Muddi]

Hi SRWylie,

Thanks for trying.We have one more step to try. Let's proceed with updating your address on Google Maps. Please follow the steps provided in this link, and kindly let us know if that resolves the issue.

Cheers,

Muddi

[SRWylie]

Hi @Muddi ,

The location of the address is correct in Google Maps. I don't see any option to update anything other than the location of the map pin. As far as I can tell, that is correct in the Maps app.

Steve

[Muddi]

Hello there,

To confirm, have you attempted to remove and then re-add the address in both the Google Home app and Google Maps? Are you residing in an area that falls between two cities? Also, please check the location permissions on your phone to ensure that you have granted the necessary access for the apps to utilize your location.

Follow the steps below to know-how:

1. On your Android device, open the Settings app.
2. Tap Location > App permission.
3. Tap the app you use to search, like the Google app or Google Maps.
4. Choose location access for this app: Allow or Deny.

Important: Some of these steps only work on Android 10 and up. Learn how to control your app permissions, including location for earlier versions of Android.

Cheers,

Muddi

[SRWylie]

@Muddi,

All these "tips" are starting to get annoying. I've been in technology for most of my career as a software designer and manager. My Samsung tablet and Google Pixel 6 Pro phone both run Android 13. App permissions for location are set appropriately. 

This is clearly an issue on Google's side. Stop trying to make this my fault or responsibility to fix. I've done every step you've recommended only to get the same result. That's either the definition of idiocy and foolishness.

I live in the heart of a small city of 28,000 people. The boundary for the Eastern time zone is at least an hour's drive from here. Our state does cover two time zones, but we are clearly in the Central (US) time zone.

[MplsCustomer]

@SRWylieand @Muddi 

There are numerous posts from other customers in this forum regarding incorrect timezones. Judging from the responses, it seems that Google Nest gets the timezone for each of our home addresses from some database at Google, or Google Nest, or Google Maps. This database sometimes has errors in it, with incorrect timezones assigned--sometimes to whole areas, large or small. Sometimes it's due to a governmental change (as in Mexico, where the timezone for one area was changed, but Google Nest (or Google, or Google Maps) failed to update their database for quite awhile.  Sometimes Google simply has erroneous timezone data.

Google Nest seems to have no process whatsoever to get errors in this timezone database corrected. Some customers have been referred to the Google Maps community forum, but that hasn't resolved the errors.

As if that isn't bad enough, most of the responses from Google Nest in this forum do not even acknowledge that Google has such a database, or deny that the problem exists, or provide totally unrelated "answers".

No one from Google Nest EVER says, "Ah, I see we have an incorrect timezone listed for your home address in our database. We will get that corrected."

[SRWylie]

Thanks, @MplsCustomer - to confirm, I moved the device to a new "home" with a different address that is clearly in the Central US time zone, in a state that is all in the same zone. The time updated correctly and displayed the accurate time. I have moved the device back to my actual home, and the display has returned to the incorrect time, one hour ahead.

I know it's not anything I'm doing wrong. The easiest fix would be for Google to allow us to set the time zone manually on the device rather than depending on an address in the Google Home app. To be honest, I hardly ever use the Nest Hub for anything except being a pretty display that shows pictures and the (incorrect) time. It's a good thing I got it for free, because I would NEVER purchase one of these on my own.

[Muddi]

Hey SRWylie,

We appreciate your efforts. Since all troubleshooting steps have been exhausted, the next best thing to do is to escalate this with our higher tier of support. Please fill out this form with all the needed information. I’ll keep an eye out for your response specifically, so please let me know once you’ve filled it out.

@MplsCustomer: I appreciate your response here.

Cheers,

Muddi

[SRWylie]

I have submitted the contact form.

[Muddi]

Hi SRWylie,

A quick update. One of our team members has already sent you an email, so please make sure to check your inbox and confirm receipt. If you have any further questions or concerns about your device, don't hesitate to let us know by updating this thread. We're here to help!

Cheers,

Muddi

[Muddi]

Hey SRWylie,

Thanks — we got your form and have sent it over to our team for review. Please check your inbox from time to time as someone will be reaching out to you.

@MplsCustomer: Thanks for sharing the link. We appreciate your feedback.

Cheers,

Muddi

[SRWylie]

I can now verify that Google has our city in the wrong time zone. We had been traveling across the USA, and on the last leg of our trip, I set our home address into Google Maps to guide us home. The estimated arrival time was in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), even though we are in the Central time zone. This is a Google problem, and I will await the proper fix to the time zone database so that we show up correctly.

Steve

[MplsCustomer]

Here is another thread on customers with incorrect timezones. It seems that Google Nest has STILL not corrected the timezone problem in Mexico.

[Muddi]

Hello MplsCustomer,

I can confirm that the issue with the timezone in Mexico has been fixed. The OP on this thread lived in Henderson, Kentucky, USA, as per his post.

Ceers,

Muddi

[MplsCustomer]

@Muddi 

I know the OP on this post lives in Henderson, Kentucky.

A customer on this post is reporting that as of yesterday the problem in Mexico is still not fixed:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Time-on-google-nest/m-p/458798/emcs_t/S...

My point was that Google Nest insists on using a timezone from their database, rather than letting us set our own timezone, but seems to have no mechanism for correcting timezone errors in the database that Google Nest uses.