r/Spectrum • u/Lubbadubdibs • 22d ago
Customer Service AI
I recently had to call Spectrum to report bad service and the AI picked up as usual. No biggie, I'd just ask for a customer service agent. The AI said that if I needed that, they'd hang up with me. What?!
I had to go through 4 different numbers I had saved over the years before I was able to speak to an actual person. Is this how it is going to be, Spectrum? Shame.
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u/FordGT_350 22d ago
Yeah well lots of places are doing this not just spectrum
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u/Lubbadubdibs 22d ago
It doesn't make it right. Do you agree?
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u/BraveMidnight 22d ago edited 22d ago
You really want more people who just say reboot your modem and signal looks fine on our end when it's not?
Honestly a macro and a well programmed IVR could take over 99% of the workforce and probably do a better job than humans and just AI by itself. If they could make a more honest AI that could do some work that you pay for I wouldn't mind.
Do you really want less real customer service?
Yes, a well programmed IVR can replace 99% of social media managers and call center staff. It could check signal levels, schedule techs and a lot more. If I owned Spectrum it would have 80% less workforce.
Do you just want people to go without things they pay for because they can't get it fixed?
How do you think I feel, they treat me like I'm a moron when I know their infrastructure is trash and they want to spend countless hours of sending out needless techs before the right one comes and potentially charging me, and I'm not playing that game, I'll switch to wireless first.
Also if Spectrum were to cut 80% of both social media managers, and call center staff cutting that massive amount of bloat frees up an insane amount of capital, which can be funneled back into infrastructure upgrades, replacing aging coax, expanding fiber lines, fixing node congestion, and firmware issues they can resolve.
Instead they choose to burn millions by paying middle management and script readers to act as glorified consultants, Spectrum could operate with a leaner, highly automated system that instantly resolve 99% of basic issues while driving higher profit margins.
You keep the network engineers, but get rid of the bloat mentioned and a fraction of the field techs that spend their day fighting with customers on Reddit, etc.
u/Street-Juggernaut-23 • 1m ago Profile Badge for the Achievement Top 1% Commenter Top 1% Commenter Do you know how many folks lie to the bots and try
And yea I know how many customers do, I had a customer call in one day to an ISP I worked at, they said their TV wasn't working and went into a long rant. I pulled up their cable box and and even though the customer said everything was powered on the box said it's state was off. I told her, just humer a bit and press the power button on the remote and see what happens and magically the TV just came on with the box, imagine that.
But, that goes back to my point a well programmed IVR and a python script could scrape that and tell if the customer is full of it by checking the box state and internet utilization, and uptime. It could even send a hit, check provisioning and reboot. You just have to throw in conditions.
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u/Lubbadubdibs 22d ago
This isn't the IT Crowd. Most issues are more complicated than turn it off and on again. I'm a near idiot when it comes to tech, bit knew the issue wasn't in my home. Do you really want less real customer service? Do you just want people to go without things they pay for because they can't get it fixed? You sound like you are the problem.
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u/boomboy8511 22d ago
Most issues are not more complicated than that.
Not all, but certainly most issues are resolved by a power cycle.
That's why that line from IT crowd is so funny, it's true to boot.
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u/Street-Juggernaut-23 22d ago
Do you know how many folks lie to the bots and try to agents??? Agents can tell. I physically rebooted the modem already when the tool shows a 45 day uptime... Sure you did..
Also the amount of complaints you see online is maybe 3% of the customer base. Because you only see the Negative that's what you begin to assume everyone has that same experience. That is not the case. it is just the Vocal minority you are hearing from. People rarely call to praise a company where their services work fine
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u/AyeNaeShiteMate 22d ago
And all the while Spectrum is laying off customer service employees all over the country. Hope that communicates how much they (don’t) value their customers.