So they argue that having a support phone number is important because of trust. Does Google even have a support number? Can anyone really even get in touch with a human there if something goes wrong with one’s account?

This is foolish indeed! Any phone number I’ve tried for “service” shunts me into voice menu hell with excruciating Muzak, interspersed with announcements “did you know you can do this on our website?” Voice phone #s are useless, except for (a) people who know each other, and (b) scammers.