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The other issue with bots is whether a company's support is bot-only or human. Free choice and all, but without disclosure (pre-purchase) a company shouldn't b

by ethbro 7y ago

The other issue with bots is whether a company's support is bot-only or human. Free choice and all, but without disclosure (pre-purchase) a company shouldn't be able to "cost manage" their support function by using an algorithm fronted by chatbots.

sokoloff 7y ago
Should they have to disclose that their phone system has an IVR before every purchase as well? That they use a third-party logistics provider to handle returns?
- ethbro 7y ago
  Utilizing algorithmic-only customer support seems far more impactful than those technologies, from a customer standpoint. As Google and PayPal have shown, it's generally a cluster$&#* (at best), even with state of the art technologies. Furthermore, it provides a fundamental shift in the power dynamic by removing the possibility of whistleblowers and ethical counterpressure. You literally have management as the sole arbiter of algorithmic settings, with (currently) no legal disclosure requirements as to any internals. That seems pretty screwed up from a free-market, transparency perspective.
- acdha 7y ago
  Only if they pretend that you're interacting with real people. An IVR is often bad customer service but it's clear what you're dealing with.
- jjoonathan 7y ago
  Nah, those with an IVR should be summarily shot. Kidding, of course. Mostly. Disclosing IVRs before purchase would be a good start. Preferably with a legally mandated recognizable logo that customers can quickly learn to associate with terrible support.
acdha 7y ago
Yeah, I'd also back laws banning a lot of the no-recourse situations companies cost-minimize you into but that'd also want to account for, say, having you talk to people who are under strict instructions not to help you or tell you why. (Once Verizon tried to charge me an ETF despite being a couple of years out of contract. The phone support was horrible and I thought it might have just been an English fluency issue but then I called the executive office and the person who fixed my bill just casually volunteered that the people in the first-tier call centers cannot in any way reverse charges or escalate to people who can, and aren't allowed to say that. They understood the question but their jobs were literally on the line if they told you that they couldn't help.)

by ethbro 7y ago

sokoloff 7y ago

Should they have to disclose that their phone system has an IVR before every purchase as well? That they use a third-party logistics provider to handle returns?

ethbro 7y ago
Utilizing algorithmic-only customer support seems far more impactful than those technologies, from a customer standpoint. As Google and PayPal have shown, it's generally a cluster$&#* (at best), even with state of the art technologies. Furthermore, it provides a fundamental shift in the power dynamic by removing the possibility of whistleblowers and ethical counterpressure. You literally have management as the sole arbiter of algorithmic settings, with (currently) no legal disclosure requirements as to any internals. That seems pretty screwed up from a free-market, transparency perspective.
acdha 7y ago
Only if they pretend that you're interacting with real people. An IVR is often bad customer service but it's clear what you're dealing with.
jjoonathan 7y ago
Nah, those with an IVR should be summarily shot. Kidding, of course. Mostly. Disclosing IVRs before purchase would be a good start. Preferably with a legally mandated recognizable logo that customers can quickly learn to associate with terrible support.

acdha 7y ago

Yeah, I'd also back laws banning a lot of the no-recourse situations companies cost-minimize you into but that'd also want to account for, say, having you talk to people who are under strict instructions not to help you or tell you why. (Once Verizon tried to charge me an ETF despite being a couple of years out of contract. The phone support was horrible and I thought it might have just been an English fluency issue but then I called the executive office and the person who fixed my bill just casually volunteered that the people in the first-tier call centers cannot in any way reverse charges or escalate to people who can, and aren't allowed to say that. They understood the question but their jobs were literally on the line if they told you that they couldn't help.)