There are dated messages in the article showing this going back to at least July 2023. So yes, your second case is closer to what appears to have been the sequence of events.
The deleted part doesn't come up until you have seven days.
otherwise it says, verbatim:
Hello,
Your account was previously placed in a 14 day grace period because you exceeded your pooled storage limit.
The pooled storage grace period expired on May 25, 2023 and your account is now in a “read-only” state. In this state services are impacted, including users not being able to upload new files or create new Google Docs, Sheets, Slides or Forms. Learn more about the features that are currently impacted.
To prevent any further disruption to services, you can free up or get more storage.
Sincerely,
The Google Workspace Team
If you just read that there is nothing mentioning it will ever be deleted.
gambiting|2 years ago
icehawk|2 years ago
otherwise it says, verbatim:
If you just read that there is nothing mentioning it will ever be deleted.