Consumer frustration grows as customer service becomes more automated
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- As customer service becomes more automated, some consumers are becoming frustrated with how difficult it can be to get help from another human. NBC News’ Jacob Ward visited a company that offers AI powered agents to answer calls and put the technology to the test.
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#Tech #AI #News
The companies hammer the employees to get good customer survey results. But, on the inside, they're cutting out the employee's ability to do so.
So True!
I am disabled with cognitive difficulties.
Stop making it so hard for me.
Yes this has got to be one of my top pet peeves. So frustrating when you really need to talk to a person and you keep getting rerouted back to option 1 or the automated system just hangs up on you all together.
Just stop using the company. Vote with your dollar.
I've had a couple of good customer service experiences in the past few years. I made a point to tell the person that helped how well they did but more importantly I contacted the companies directly to tell them thank you for good service.
as a former CSR, I thank you.
thanks for being human
Didn’t seem to make things any better. But I hear you. I praise the rare good customer service experience too.
Looking at doing business with a company, call their service department first. I do this with internet providers, dealers, etc. Just to see if they care about you after you sign up. Most don’t. Move on to the next.
Kudos! This is the other side of the issue! If you want assistance you are to conduct yourself to that end and thank the representative for helping you, if that is what you received. Otherwise, the end point stands: vote with one's wallet!
I’ve worked in call centers, hotels, pbx operations, reservations, etc, for over 20 years, and I have seen companies offering less and less to customers, making callers more aggressive to agents. No one wants to work in this industry anymore, the pay is lousy, not enough manpower to answer calls, companies offering less to guests but charging more, callers becoming more abusive even downright dangerous. I’ve seen the automated systems beginning to appear, this whole industry will soon be nothing but machines doing the work. It’s time to hang up my hat, and get out of this industry, time to do something else. Maybe I’ll study how to maintain these machines, and charge my former bosses a fortune to fix them 😂
That's true. Customers are just abusive, and they then ask why no one wants to serve them.
I've been to stores where people whine "kids don't want to work anymore," and any kid they have, they'll just yell at them as much as possible
Exactly people want a human on the phone so they can insult them if something is wrong but with a robot they can’t blame them
Holy crap! Thank you! That's a superb idea!
I feel this kind of job is going to possibly get harder to hire for, they may have agents for certain areas who maybe spealised in certain areas, but I feel majority of the general stuff will possibly be ai driven, I feel.
There is no customer sercive anywhere... even in healthcare, you can never get a real person to answer the phone half the time... you get a recording. I feel really sorry for the very elderly, who may not be tech savy who have to try to navigate all the automaed systems..... sometimes there is not a pick option 1or 2 for certain problems...
eBay will keep putting you thru their automated service loop. Hopeless.
Don't you hate it when you have an over the phone doctors appointment, and he tries to take your blood pressure?
You can get a person on the phone immediately by pressing the option for bill payment.
It's impossible for those who have Low English Proficiency. They have to rely on their children to do everything for them.
@@ronaldrenegade8519 Yep. Just saying they could have someone live if they wanted to.
The scary part is our government is following. It's almost impossible to speak with a elected representative or any person who can help.
It is kind of aggravating talking to robots, listening to music on hold and going nowhere, not being able to connect to a live human. You'd think that if the customer can resolve the issue on their own with the FAQs or articles on the support page, they would not need to contact support, right? 😒
Unless things have changed since my days on the road, I found many Asian countries put customer service and satisfaction as a priority unlike profit geared American companies, sadly I say this as an American.
@@ronaldrenegade8519
To an American, the word Asian means what you would call oriental.
To an American everyone on the Asian subcontinent is in the end, including Bangladesh and Pakistan.
@@ronaldrenegade8519 Outsourcing customer service when possible, yes, I would agree. I am referring to the overall attitude and personal touches like when at a restaurant or hotel or airline or anywhere personal service can be rendered, the Asian countries go to another level, that is rarely seen in America.
If only companies would just hired more people, for jobs and remove AI.
When getting a voice-only prompt, press 1 for "yes", 2 for "no." When you get the "how may I help you?" recording, keep pressing 0, waiting for the recording, and hitting 0 again. Usually it takes about 4 zeroes until you get a human. Hope this helps. EDIT: Pressing the Human Resources option for local companies sometimes works.
You can also just start yelling representative to the automated attendant, That's sometimes works but sometimes they have no humans at all
Cvs will just hang up on you for pressing 0.😢
@@outoftheklosset CVS is horrible. Their apps always fail, their website fails, calls fail. CVS fails. They are a joke. The only thing they are competent at it getting your money. Because that’s their only priority.
@@outoftheklosset I seriously just email CEOs. It takes a while to find the heir contact info but can be done in about the same amount of time.
These companies do not care about you.
they're in the business to make money
@@discardmine5191 they used to make a quality product for the money. Now they just make a crappy product that gets you by long enough until its planned obsolescence,
Ive moved away from companies that cant service my needs in a timely manner. Customer service is foundational for any business that deals with people or the public.
But the young bucks running these companies now only think short term, give it to me now profits.
Profits, profits, profits, money, money, money NOW!
They don’t comprehend that todays decisions affect tomorrow’s outcome.
When the business tanks in 5 years they don’t care to understand why and blame everything but themselves.
Lol hopefully you don't have comcast
Its also the fact that no one wants to work as a CSR. Its a thankless job.
It still surprises that with the low pay and having to interact with often times frustrated customers at best and hostile at worse, companies can still find people willing to work in such a field.
It's a hassle but often the best outcome one can hope for is to shop at brick and mortar shops where one can communicate with a human.
I check out customer service BEFORE buying...just to see if they really have customer service. If it sucks...I don't buy!
Yes, it pays to do the homework to find companies that try to work with a customer.
The bot that AT&T uses is dumber than the Carl's Junior machine in Idiocracy.
Imagine hearing someone making a phone call just yelling HUMAN HUMAN HUMAN!!!
The day your employer can replace you with a machine, they will.
Absolutely!
It's funny though considering MGM is currently having to hand pay all customers in their casinos! 🤣
In a second.
Then be the guy who’s that one guy who can operate and fix those machines.
@@animateddepression lots of competition for the few jobs remaining I’m afraid. Best be the best.
God I hate those stupid robot voices, imo all they do is frustrate me to no end. If I had access to a human agent in the first place, my mood would be 10xs better.
Even once you finally get to an actual Human Being on the Phone, the lingering frustration/anger still remains...
Call center work can be pretty tough, not surprised companies are going this route. It's easier and cheaper than having to train new employees when your staff inevitably quits. sucks for consumers and those replaced by an automated system so the company can save a buck.
I have a hard time calling American Airlines…..I just use the option for them to call me back….it usually takes two hours of waiting….and the craziest was when I called the IRS…I stayed on that phone for 6 hours….and just when I thought for sure the day was over for them to answer…an agent answered! Omg! At least staying on the phone worked in my favor…just was a very long time!
❤❤❤
I've worked low paying customer service job for years and all people ever wanna do is cuss you out constantly and blame everything on YOU and you habe to help while being demeaned! Glad we have automated services now! This is what people who name call get.
That is the one good thing I will say about Godaddy is that if you call you will speak to a human being and that is super rare especially in tech
They had awesome commercials.
They also charge X10 their competition. Godaddy domain $22 a year vs namecheap $12. Godaddy hosting starts at $15 a month vs namecheap at $5. Than you really start talking money with website building $$$$$ vs fiverr usually less than $300. If you are not making changes to the site you can slash your costs in half by finding another provider who will provide all the same services for a fraction of the cost.
A couple of places I know have even gone to online chat and email help only, no phone assistance any more, and they kick you off the online chat and block you from re-signing on after you ask to speak to a manager/supervisor. Calling (cough, choke) ""customer service"" (cough, choke) now triggers anxiety attacks (anxiety/depression since childhood, and I have epilepsy and stress can trigger a seizure) and I can't do it any more no matter what the problem is. Trying to get help for ANYTHING has become a health hazard for me, medically and mentally.
Whenever I call customer service of any company these day I always start by “I’d like to speak to an agent.” That will save me lots of time.
Not if you end up with that same hour of elevator music because it just dumps you in the same queue as the people who did go through all the menus.
@@rosameryrojas-delcerro1059 😅
Chargebacks with your credit card. That's the only way to get their attention, The more they get rid of customer service, the more I get my money back
I don't know what is worse, automation or the few businesses with rude to extremely rude employees
You cant get a live person anymore. It is ridiculous.
Mere humans don't count... deplorable useless eaters as the elite Dems say😮
Boycott check and balance that out citizens
Walmart had no one willing to help and a empty customer service desk. Employees would ignore you!
Yes, this SUCKS, we NEED to be able to speak to REAL PEOPLE !
The other day at the supermarket there was only 1 human lane and 4 self checkouts. I was buying some beer but had to wait behind several full carts bc you can’t buy alcohol in the self checkout. Next time that happens I swear I’m just walking out the door with it. I tried to pay but they didn’t want my money they didn’t have anyone there to take it.
Of course you can buy beer at the self-check out🤷
You scan the beer, or "Sudafed", the register alerts the self service cashier that an age restricted item was scanned and they walk over to you to check your ID, unlock the sale and then you pay.
If you have several other items, scan the beer first.
@@mybackyardparrots9198it’s a state-by-state law. In California they made it illegal to buy alcohol at self-checkouts about 8 years ago (which is stupid cause like you said they check your ID anyway 🙄)
@@mybackyardparrots9198 ok I think you should tell that to the grocery store employee who told me I couldn’t x
You stand a better chance of winning the lottery than getting through to customer service at LYFT or Uber. That's not a joke. Students at the U of Texas estimated winning the lottery via a scratch off was 1 in 27 on average. It took over 220 attempts to reach customer service at those two rideshare companies.
The problem is people just don't care about customer service. My company is more expensive, and produces far higher quality product (hand and machine sewed roman shades instead of hot glued like the shade store, smith and noble, three day blinds, ect., we offer a 10 year on site warranty which we stand behind, and thus, only sell quality products. Our competition sells things like duet shades (literally 2 pieces of paper glued together), or hot glued roman shades, and won't fix anything when it fails 2 years later, but they keep buying from them because they are $300 instead of $600, even though our shades will last 5 to 8 times as long, hand much better, look much better, and theirs come with terrible or no customer service while we treat our clients like royalty. But people keep buying the cheaper shades. We live in a throw away society, and when companies make cheap disposable products, you can't be surprised when their customer service is horrible or non existent.
who wants blinds? I have no window coverings so I can see all the flowers and koi ponds in my yards. Who'd want to keep the light out? Vampires?
If you live in a place where you need them for privacy, you picked the wrong place to set up camp. Only shades I have I wear on my face.
Difficult to promise and live by a 10 year warranty when companies go bust all the time, it's just not a valuable selling point. You need to find a different angle.
A long warranty on an item that you don't need is something you don't need.
@@chrismorrison9140 wow sure glad you said that, glad you're around to state the obvious.
@@trildi Master Lock has a Lifetime Warranty, they have replace dozens of locks for me for free.
My watch has a LIFETIME parts and labor for free Warranty for the rest of my life. I've had it for 40 years, I send it in every few years for service and cleaning.
Buy quality and a warranty means something.
My truck is 91 years old.
I don't have a problem with automation in particular, however, I really need to tamp down the rage when the automation doesn't work or the attitude of the employees over watching the automation fail at their job. I went to Walmart a few weeks back, middle of the day and did self check out. Half way thru my checkout, the system froze. I called over the attendant and she started lecturing me about how I was scanning products ( her response made no sense) and I need to "pay attention." I had to remind her I don't work for her or Walmart so dial back the attitude. She tried to enter a code to fix the kiosk and then when it didn't work, she shut down the kiosk and I had to go another check out and start over.
It's just stupid when they have a local store and the number is for the local store but it actually reroutes you to the centralized automated system so you can't even ask if something is in stock locally
I was the one who was laid off from some big company. The company want to cut their spending, so the customer service went downhill accordingly.
This story should have been written about 20 years ago
If I receive bad customer service, I'M DONE with that company.
When the computer tells you your call is important to us. What they really mean your call has no importance to us. I can’t even imagine why they still put it there. The rest of your experience is going to tell you they started out with a lie.
I called State Farm insurance and they have a high quality voice service
The second I get a machine I start screaming into the phone "operator" I have no interest in dealing with an automated system. I pay cash for a service and when I have an issue I wish to speak with a human. Do not care how simple or complicated the issue is, Human or nothing.
You can also press 0 repeatedly.
I’m frustrated with it being outsourced.
Its not only that, but the companies that do have human customer service are call centers in india, where your personal information is collected and sold and worse. It's used to mass spam call victims into scams
I went through the self service check out at my local supermarket. It upset me to have to do the work for no pay, and my attitude was clearly apparent....so much so, I went to Customer Service afterwards, and complained about my lousy attitude, and poor customer relations!
All you did was make the human you actually talked to life harder, congratulations. 🙄
@@TheBLGLyour the problem, you like working for free. Being ignored and over charged.
Don't be forced on to websites and portals
It's either a recording or someone in another country.
This is nothing new. I have been dealing with this for dozens of years. Good customer service has gone the way of the rotary dial phone! I read somewhere it costs companies 7 cents per hour with auto-mation compared to paying a human to do the work.
Yes, that's an issue. But it's not the biggest cause of frustration. Its being directed to a call center in India, to speak with a non-native english speaker who barely speaks english, when you want to talk to someone at the actual store location. For example, when you call Enterprise, or Uhaul, or a pizza delivery service, you CANT call the actual location. You are automatically directed to some call center on the other side of the world or in a different part of the country.
Yeah! I thought that I was the only one who had a problem with this. Where are the humans? Are they all dead?!
Saying one is cancelling can potentially backfire depending on the company and service. As for shopping around, there often aren't many other choices, such as with ISPs, doctors, insurance, etc.
I like when I get some that understands my language, nuances and inflexions and uses their real name
Two things I hate when I place a phone call to a company. One is to get a recording and not get through to Customer Service. Second, is to get a person on the line who cannot speak English well, and does not understand what I’m saying because of that fact! And cutting your operating costs, you’re going to lose customers, which is probably worse than paying someone to do a job, a proper job!
Thank you and your big fantastic head Jake!
I needed to change phone service last month. One of the companies I attempted to contact had a completely automated system where anything pressed except their prompts eventually lead to the call getting disconnected. I had questioned that weren't answered by information on their website and I needed to speak with a human being. There was no one to speak with no matter which department I selected or what I said or pressed. It seems like they didn't want my business and they didn't get it either. I wasted a good amount if my time trying to get information from them. I should send them a bill for my time.
Let me save you from future laughs behind your back, but really in your face while being muted....
I don't know who started that concept of threatening to send a business a bill for waisting their time BUT it's as laughable as the other threats of "I'm calling my lawyer" or "I play golf with the CEO"😡
~There isn't a single company that will pay your unsolicited work invoice/bill!
~IF you actually have a lawyer the corporation has a team of lawyers!!
~IF you actually play golf with the CEO, then you should at least have his/her work mobile number, so why are you calling a general 800#????
Customer service is at an all time low !
I’m beyond fed up talking to robots when I need to book an appointment or have a question about something
FYI...in about 3-5 years all human customer service agents will be replaced with AI. Many corporations with call centers have incorporated AI into their systems that the customer service reps are interacting with during the call. Basically they are training the systems to take over their jobs. AI doesn't need a salary, paid time off, it doesn't get hurt on the job. It doesn't have a family so no time off needed for parental leave, child or elder care, etc. It provides more profits for the shareholders & CEO!
The problem is when they abuse AI. I had a problem with the cable box which they attempted to reset with the AI. When it didn’t work, the AI didn’t say well then you need to speak to a human. It simply repeated the process.
At which point I had to go with the representative, human, agent, person until it couldn’t figure out what I wanted, then it gave me an agent who actually helped.
First calls get answered by someone in Asia now it's AI. It's only downhill from there 😵
I'm so tired of this, when things are going good theyre good. But the second I have an issue its impossible to get help. Automated services can only help with FAQ. It takes days and sometimes weeks to get in touch with a human. At this point I regret ever sending companies my money
There is no customer service anymore just canceled a 10k purchase because the seller couldnt be bothered to update me on shipping and when it would arrive.. its like they dont want money
Yes.. Most corporations have monopolies and don't need us. We need a trust buster ingovt!
T mobile is $10 to speak to a person and a $5 fee if you pay your bill at a store in cash.
I’m on permanent file that I’m NOT to be charged these fees.
Just threatened to leave and they accommodated me.
They do same thing to government offices. So frustrating! It takes like 30 minutes to dial a keyboard just to talk to a real person and hour later.
Yet they keep increasing prices
Kudos to Discover having Real customer service representatives 👍
This is so true
Would love to hear who’s doing it right
Try calling Canada revenue and getting to talk to someone. Hours on the phone and surprise surprise no solution except THEY lost the paperwork. It took 45 minutes to make an appointment for the doctor. This is outrageous.
Same thing with UBER.... I'm sick of talking to stupid robots. A.I. is being used wrong, and companies just want your money. I left my phone in a uber I realized it with 5 minutes and we got hold of the driver...she was back within 10... Later I find out i was being charged $20 for it. My original ride was $8.85...bye-bye UBER! They won't get another dime from me.
You can get credit for that $20 from Uber.
To be fair, that driver is losing money due to your mistake. Why wouldn’t they get compensated for the inconvenience? As for the robots, I agree with that part.
@@monicarenee7949 I agree half that would be reasonable. Point is my ride took longer than for her to turn around a couple blocks yet i was charged twice as much...she couldn't have gotten that far in that short of time. Yeah customer service is endangered.
Where's Ashley Biden? MSM for 3 years: *cricket's 😂
So i now identify as A.I. Just to get a job…😂
Allow CS to be done from home?
I agree with that last recommendation, If I find a company has done with a real human accessibly I just don't spend my money with them anymore. I have saved a lot of money.
I absolutely HATE dealing with “customer service” people and systems. If and when you finally get a real person, it’s highly likely they won’t speak understandable English. I dumped Comcast because of this.
What customer service? Some online companies do not give a contact at all
If I can’t get through on a customer service line, depending on the problem I send off an email to at least one or more of the owners of the company, executives, board chairman. I always get an answer. Sometimes I go through any department to find a human and say I am emailing an executive as I speak.
Exactly! When you cannot reach someONE to resolve a problem, it tells me that that entity does not value my business!
And then, they never bloody help you because your problem isn't on thier script, or outright LIE.
Why do they keep cramming this AI down our throats when the feedback is so poor? I don't even care if the robot gets it right. I want to talk to an actual human being.
Good luck and god be with you to anyone trying to cancel their Xfinity service
Frustrated is putting mildly
I have a degree in MGMT... Business MGMT. I (unlike most PPL) am not afraid to call the manager, contact C.S. (customer support), call Corporate. They are Non Existent, Hiding, Unwilling to talk.
In the 21st Century, global finance does not know what customer service even is. Greed has taken customer service out of the conglomerate businesses world’s vocabulary.
Even IF you get someone on the phone it's someone from India or the Phillipines 🤦♂️
A real agent? Get serious; I'm deleting about every place I've ever used, I mean not using them again, because of very poor customer service. When I was employed, good CS was the #1 thing you provided to customers. Now you can't even talk to a living, breathing person. It's pathetic; so my bank account grows because I don't buy the things I need or want.
Forget about LYFT, call a cab! So much better. When ever you can, go directly to the box offices of the venue where the artist is going to perform and purchase your tickets. So many more of these box offices exist, they just don't want you to know.
The problem is customer support equals employees and that costs money. Companies don't like a lot of employees.
True.
Yea I also hate to speak to a robot with limited options and many things customer service has a leeway like full and partial refunds that is based on the scenario.
I like to press 1 for English to speak to “bob” in Vietnam.
customer service is basically “give them what they want or they won’t shop here again” entitled people have turned everything in life upside down
Here is a thought... Stop doing business with these companies.
This is one of the problems with tech.
INFLATION it’s everywhere too it’s stressing us out
"Constantly looking at ways to improve estimates for wait times..." do we give awards for solving the wrong problem? A lot of big businesses out there would sure win a lot of awards if we did.
Your call is important to us, To watch this again... press 1.
"Automation" is corporate code for "make the customer do it themselves"
WHAT CUSTOMER SERVICE?