3 ms·

I don't mind talking to "someone". But I sure mind talking to customer service folks who have absolutely no interest in talking to me and make it as difficult a

by shados 8y ago

I don't mind talking to "someone". But I sure mind talking to customer service folks who have absolutely no interest in talking to me and make it as difficult as realistically possible. Worse, they're probably gonna spend 3/4th of the time trying to sell me shit I don't want and make me fight against it. Online, I can ignore any prompt and just click next next next finish, and the form won't be in a bad mood. I have no interest in talking to an annoyed clerk, and they obviously don't want to talk to me, so we can just avoid each other.

danShumway 8y ago
Story time! When I was signing up for Internet at my new apartment, there were 3 ways I could do so: by contacting my apartment's official representative, online, and through the regular phone system. I used all three. First, I contacted the representative, who gave me a price. Then I looked online and found the actual price (considerably lower). When I tried to sign up online, I was told I'd need to provide an extra security deposit because I have my credit reports frozen. So I called the generic phone system. The agent gave me another price (lower than my official representative, but still higher than the website). I pointed out the website price, and the agent switched me to that price. I asked if I'd need to provide a security deposit and they said no. They finished signing me up, and everything was fine. The whole process was annoying, I would have loved to have someone else do it for me. This was the perfect time for a phone assistant to step in. But that would have been a really bad idea with Duplex. The point is - an automated call system probably doesn't protect you from an abusive representative. If I had Google Duplex handle either of my calls, I'd be paying more for my Internet right now, because I guarantee Duplex isn't smart enough to determine if a representative is lying about an advertised price. 95% of the time this probably doesn't matter, because most people I talk to on the phone aren't abusive. But if someone does want to upsell you or bury you in service fees or waste your time, Google Duplex is probably making their job easier, not harder.

by shados 8y ago

danShumway 8y ago

Story time! When I was signing up for Internet at my new apartment, there were 3 ways I could do so: by contacting my apartment's official representative, online, and through the regular phone system. I used all three. First, I contacted the representative, who gave me a price. Then I looked online and found the actual price (considerably lower). When I tried to sign up online, I was told I'd need to provide an extra security deposit because I have my credit reports frozen. So I called the generic phone system. The agent gave me another price (lower than my official representative, but still higher than the website). I pointed out the website price, and the agent switched me to that price. I asked if I'd need to provide a security deposit and they said no. They finished signing me up, and everything was fine. The whole process was annoying, I would have loved to have someone else do it for me. This was the perfect time for a phone assistant to step in. But that would have been a really bad idea with Duplex. The point is - an automated call system probably doesn't protect you from an abusive representative. If I had Google Duplex handle either of my calls, I'd be paying more for my Internet right now, because I guarantee Duplex isn't smart enough to determine if a representative is lying about an advertised price. 95% of the time this probably doesn't matter, because most people I talk to on the phone aren't abusive. But if someone does want to upsell you or bury you in service fees or waste your time, Google Duplex is probably making their job easier, not harder.