Finally switched my stance on automated customer service bots after getting stuck for 45 minutes

I used to think AI chatbots were the worst thing to hit customer support. Then last month my internet went down at 2 AM and the only option was their bot. It actually diagnosed the issue, reset my modem remotely, and had me back online in 8 minutes. That experience made me realize they have a place for simple problems. Has anyone else had a bot actually solve something faster than a person could?

4 comments

4 Comments

annajenkins7d ago

Man I had the SAME kind of moment last month. My phone bill was showing a charge I didn't make and it was like 11pm on a Sunday. The bot walked me through the last few transactions, spotted the duplicate charge, and had it refunded before I even finished my coffee the next morning. Took maybe 4 minutes total. I kept waiting for it to say "oh sorry you need to call during business hours" but nope. Now I actually try the bot FIRST when something goes wrong. For the SIMPLE stuff it's honestly better than waiting on hold forever. Still not trusting it with anything weird though.

daniel_gonzalez3d ago

Is it still "morally wrong" to enjoy bot help or are we finally allowed to admit it's just better for the boring stuff? @gray_morgan I feel you on the weird problems though, my router blinks orange too and I still have no idea what that means. But for a duplicate charge or a password reset, I'm all bot now. I hit that chat button at 2 AM wondering if I'd get a human and instead got my refund before I even found my glasses.

phoenix_bailey7d ago

My 3 AM chat with a bot about a billing error actually worked faster than any human I've ever talked to. It found the overcharge, applied a credit, and sent me a confirmation in under 5 minutes. I sat there staring at my phone waiting for the catch. The catch was there was no catch. Now I secretly hope for a quick bot fix instead of waiting on hold for 20 minutes listening to elevator music. It feels wrong but it's true.

gray_morgan7d ago

Yeah but I don't know @phoenix_bailey, I still think there's something off about trusting a bot that much. I've had too many times where the bot just couldn't understand what I was asking and kept going in circles until I finally gave up and called. That billing fix you mentioned sounds great but what happens when your issue is something unusual that doesn't fit their script? I'd rather wait ten minutes for a person who can actually think through a weird problem than get stuck with a bot that can't do anything outside its list. Doesn't mean they're totally useless, just that I'm not ready to hand over all my trust to something that can't tell me why my router is blinking orange.