Chatbot vs. real human for a refund: I tried both and one was a total joke

I had a messed up order from a furniture store in Austin and first tried their AI chatbot which just kept giving me scripted answers about their return policy. Then I called and got a real person on the phone who fixed it in 5 minutes with a full $280 refund plus a discount code. Has anyone else found that talking to a human is way better than those chatbots, or do some of you actually prefer the automated stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.sean1d ago

The Delta chatbot had me going in circles for 20 minutes about a canceled flight last spring. It kept saying "I understand your frustration" but then just linked me to the same policy page over and over. I finally called in, got a woman named Maria on the line, and she had me rebooked on a different airline with meal vouchers in under 10 minutes. That chatbot wouldn't even admit the delay was their fault. I think for simple stuff like tracking a package, bots are fine. But for anything where you need someone to actually use their brain, talking to a person is the only way to go.

susan4241d ago

I actually had the opposite experience last week with an airline chatbot that processed my refund in under 2 minutes while the phone line had me on hold for 45 minutes before I gave up.