The future of customer service is here, and it's making customers miserable

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/ar-AA1uLVwB

AI, so sick of AI. It seems like it's all smoke and mirrors to me, other than a few exceptions.

[DB]

More and more companies prioritize their time over your time. That's the bottom line.

Sometimes you have to uproot who you do business with to communicate to them when enough is enough.

[andy58-in-nh]

If you have ever worked in a customer-facing telephone role, then it is likely you have been relentlessly bullied about AHT (average handle time).

Eventually, you figure out that the company considers you to be a cost and a liability far more than it considers you an asset.

[DefiantMassRINO]

They focus on "average handle time" because that is one of the few quantitative metrics they have to plug into bar charts, pie charts, and peer comparison charts.

This how bean counters ruin companies with an experiential competitive advantage.

[DB]

They focus on "average handle time" because that is one of the few quantitative metrics they have to plug into bar charts, pie charts, and peer comparison charts.

This how bean counters ruin companies with an experiential competitive advantage.

And the sooner the customer gives up, the sooner it is "handled"...

[DB]

I did learn a couple of things when having to deal with a bank or a cell phone company. When asked what you are calling about, tell the bank "open a new account" and the cell phone company "get a new phone". That's the express ticket to talk to a human regardless of what you actually need...

[Smokin Joe]

I got an amazon package that had been mangled and taped back together somewhere along the way. Everything I ordered was in there and fine, but I had something extra. A part for a Nissan diesel that I did not order. My bet is on multiple mangled packages in a sorting/feed device, mine was scooped up and reassembled with part of someone else's order (or maybe the whole order, I do not think the fuel system will work without that valve).

Silly me, I didn't order it (can't use it, either) so I called and tried to return it, partly because someone somewhere is waiting for that part, and I don't know how common they are (fits two models over a 10 year range). Well, that was an adventure in AI-land. Naturally, no one had anticipated that anyone would get more items than they had ordered, so the voicemail menu didn't work. Online, there was no option to click on except 'other', which led to a menu that was irrelevant. Finally I wound my way through that, and got a human (elapsed time 20 minutes, but I'm persistent when I'm trying to do the right thing).
Well, it was a situation they were unprepared for as well, not just the AI.
I said, 'just send me a prepaid UPS label and I'll return it'.
Finally, they just told me to keep it. So, if anyone knows someone who needs a suction control valve for their Nissan Diesel, let me know...

[Fishrrman]

Weird observes (thoughtfully):
"AI, so sick of AI. It seems like it's all smoke and mirrors to me, other than a few exceptions."

This is a replay of the "dot.com" bubble back around 2000 or so.

Lots of promises.
Little delivery.

[berdie]

Since "customer service" is a joke now I foresee a dismal future with AI.