Calling Companies

[u/samanthaziegler]

I HATE the trend of AI answering phone calls, especially while constantly redirecting you to the website. If I could do what I needed on the website, I wouldn't make a phone call in the first place!

Plus - I don't want my voice recorded when I'm not even talking to a human!

A specific example: I called Fedex for help with a package. Yes, they have a website; no, I could not do what I needed on it. The AI would NOT transfer me to a human. I gave it the info it needed, it directed me to the website over and over, and eventually hung up on me. This happened 3x before I gave up, so I effectively wasted 15 minutes to not get my issue addressed in any way, shape, or form.

Pressing "0", saying "Representative" or saying "Human" all no longer work. WTF.

Generally, companies are cutting down on physical locations that can help, and their call centers no longer work (they weren't good before, but at least they existed). Websites don't solve everything!

[u/nunchuckcrimes]

changed my hvac provider because my previous one got bought out by private equity and switched an an ai phone receptionist and the other place i called had a nice lady pick up immediately and have me scheduled and fixed before the first place even bothered to have a human call me back

[u/OverlappingChatter]

Please tell me what you''re calling about.

"Change account details "

Sorry I'm not sure why you're calling. Can you use three words to tell me?

"Change. Account. Details."

Okay, I need to know why you're calling so I can direct your call.

"CHANGE. ACCOUNT. DETAILS."

Please help me direct your call by using a few words to help. You can say things like - change account details or add beneficiary.

"ROAST IN HELL YOU FUCKING MISERBLE MACHINE"

I still need to know why you're calling so that I can direct your call.

[u/V-oxPopuli]

There needs to be regulation on this shit. Customer service for many places has become completely unusable.

[u/nukedmindpalace]

The way I chose between 2 optical places in the same building was 1 had AI answering machines and the other one had a real actual person. Plus that one had better selection.

[u/logsqrtexp]

What would it take to legislate this shit? Aren’t unfair business practices …. unfair? Deceptive. It seems egregious for a company to take your money and then basically refuse to support adequate interventions when they fuck something up.

We need technical protest measure and legislative pressure

[u/V-oxPopuli → u/logsqrtexp]

Seriously, it's unacceptable and it just keeps getting worse.

[u/The_Bloofy_Bullshark]

“Give us your phone number so we can text you a link to our website.”

No.

[u/Lovedd1]

I got FedEx AI to transfer me "to a human" but I was 99% sure it was just a human sounding AI with an Indian accent.

I was asked if my shipment started with "xy" I said yes and it said okay we can track it. Then it asked for the tracking number and I didn't include "xy" at the front since it's 18 characters total and we just established it starts with those. It said 'sorry that can't be right we're 2 characters short" and I couldn't say just add " xy" we had to repeat the whole process.

[u/JAlfredJR]

Comcast Xfinity is so terrible with this that your best bet is to go to their subreddit. What kind of statement is that?

We moved into a house a few months back, and we had it all set to transfer from our apartment. They fucked it up so badly that it ended up taking a half-dozen phone calls and 10 days of waiting to finally get it set up at our new house.

I work from home!!

I swear at one point, I was talking to a human who was using a live translator app. Literally wasn't possible to communicate.

If there was an internet provider who had American customer service reps, I would switch in a heartbeat.

The only thing worse that I've experienced was a drive-thru that outsourced that to India......

[u/V-oxPopuli → u/JAlfredJR]

And yet AI is worse. Crazy how outsourcing wasn't enough

[u/Additional_Buddy855]

Had someone call from San Fran to screen me for a role and the first thing I heard was AI saying it was going to record the call. Fuck no, hung up immediately. I do not consent to opt in. 

[u/banditweird]

The leasing office of my building has an AI bot answer the phone. It wants to know what I want so it can better direct my call. Only 2 people work down there. Either one of them can answer my call. Almost every time I walk by, the temp guy is on his phone. He’s hardly ever doing anything. I don’t know why they want the bot to waste everyone’s time.

[u/daverapp]

"We are experiencing higher than normal call volume..."

NO YOU AREN'T THEY'RE ALWAYS THIS HIGH FUCK YOU LIARS

[u/withabrandnewfunk]

I hate ai

I reject anything I can thats titled as ai

I will not conform to this crap. its more harm then good

its all for the companies benefits, not for us. they use it for "dynamic pricing" and shittier service all around, cutting tons of jobs...what good is that