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Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

arstechnica.com

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Re: Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

#41

Post by joe_the_user »

taylodl wrote: post #3

How many times has a chatbot successfully taken care of a customer support problem you had? I have had success, but the success rate is less than 5%. Maybe even way less than 5%. Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. They warn against assessing someone when everything is going well for them - the true me…

I remember the pre-AI Geico chat bot that I liked. I could call it once every six months and pay my entire balance with a few words. But then the company started leaning harder on monthly payments and the "pay entire balance" option was removed and I now must either laboriously speak-out the entire dollars and cents due or talk to a person.

What is to say that a lot of the functions that a customer service person does is getting people things they need and that the company resists giving to them. Which is to say that companies mostly need customer service agents because the company's raw impulses are so shitty they need someone with the slight independence of a customer service agent just to provide the services their customers need.

It's like why I never go to company websites despite being very web-savy. These websites only serve the company's idea of what I get and if I'm calling at all, it's because I need more than that.

Naturally, the point is an AI chat can't do customer service because it can't override policy, tell people tricks and similar things.

Re: Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

#42

Post by antonymoose »

IT4MD wrote: post #35
taylodl wrote: post #3

How many times has a chatbot successfully taken care of a customer support problem you had? I have had success, but the success rate is less than 5%. Maybe even way less than 5%. Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. They warn against assessing someone when everything is going well for them - the true me…

>Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. As someone that's worked in basically a service industry my entire life, good luck with this. I don't disagree, I'm just old enough to understand the world that humans build, and this type of long-term approach is dead in the current "Profits over all" culture of th…

While I generally agree with you on the consumer side, I have the opposite experience in selling Business-to-Business solutions.

I’ve worked for small firms selling software to libraries (public and university systems), enterprise managed security services (think anti-Phishing operations), and now in managed medical claims for niche practices.

In all cases, our firm has had the customer-first philosophy to make them love us. Provide rapid responses and quality outcomes, regardless of perceived cost-center metrics. That has always, in my experience, resulted in an easy contract renewal or even having fans of ours jump to a new job at a new firm and buy our product at their new job.

Turns out people aren’t as fickle and price sensitive and still highly value good service, at least when they’re spending the companies money and not their own.

Re: Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

#43

Post by guywithahat »

blackguardx wrote: post #16
guywithahat wrote: post #11

[flagged]

I grew up in the rust belt. I've never heard of anyone leaving to "escape unions" but rather there just being not many jobs, lots of historic pollution to deal with, and a poor future economic outlook. Why were unions specifically to blame for your family leaving?

> but rather there just being not many jobs, lots of historic pollution to deal with, and a poor future economic outlook

I have never seen someone leave due to pollution, other than just wanting to leave the city.

The poor economic outlook and lack of jobs is directly due to the unions. If there weren't unions, Detroit and Flint would still be the capital of the auto industry, and Erie PA would still be a major locamotive hub. Instead everyone was forced out because of the unions.

Re: Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

#44

Post by neom »

taylodl wrote: post #3

How many times has a chatbot successfully taken care of a customer support problem you had? I have had success, but the success rate is less than 5%. Maybe even way less than 5%. Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. They warn against assessing someone when everything is going well for them - the true me…

Look at this from today: https://s.h4x.club/WnunYn98 > https://s.h4x.club/NQuXwXmQ > https://s.h4x.club/L1uwdwwo

I'm literally trying to give them tens of thousands of dollars...I dunno why I bothered even engaging with it, I hoped it would end up taking a report or something, but it doesn't, it just wastes my time.

Re: Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

#45

Post by ec109685 »

neom wrote: post #44
taylodl wrote: post #3

How many times has a chatbot successfully taken care of a customer support problem you had? I have had success, but the success rate is less than 5%. Maybe even way less than 5%. Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. They warn against assessing someone when everything is going well for them - the true me…

Look at this from today: https://s.h4x.club/WnunYn98 > https://s.h4x.club/NQuXwXmQ > https://s.h4x.club/L1uwdwwo I'm literally trying to give them tens of thousands of dollars...I dunno why I bothered even engaging with it, I hoped it would end up taking a report or something, but it doesn't, it just wastes my time.

Hilarious how little context that model has access to.

Re: Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

#46

Post by ec109685 »

ranger207 wrote: post #9

""a reduction in call volumes" by 2,000 a week" means people aren't calling in as much. How many problems people have per day is roughly constant, so the only change in how many calls they get is entirely dependent on how much people expect calling in is going to fix their problems. So a reduction in call volume means they're not fixing as many problems which means customers are less satisfied

Actually call volumes increased:

“ The union took CBA to the workplace relations tribunal earlier this month as the company wasn’t being transparent about call volumes, according to a statement Thursday from the Finance Sector Union. The nation’s largest lender had said that the voice bot reduced call volumes by 2,000 a week, when union members said volumes were in fact rising and CBA had to offer staff overtime and direct team leaders to answer calls, the union said.”

Re: Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

#47

Post by graemep »

IT4MD wrote: post #35
taylodl wrote: post #3

How many times has a chatbot successfully taken care of a customer support problem you had? I have had success, but the success rate is less than 5%. Maybe even way less than 5%. Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. They warn against assessing someone when everything is going well for them - the true me…

>Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. As someone that's worked in basically a service industry my entire life, good luck with this. I don't disagree, I'm just old enough to understand the world that humans build, and this type of long-term approach is dead in the current "Profits over all" culture of th…

Its more "short term profits over all".

Its not just the US - I think its pretty much the norm in the west now. Things like family owned businesses take a longer term view sometimes.

Re: Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

#48

Post by mmmlinux »

no_wizard wrote: post #4
taylodl wrote: post #3

How many times has a chatbot successfully taken care of a customer support problem you had? I have had success, but the success rate is less than 5%. Maybe even way less than 5%. Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. They warn against assessing someone when everything is going well for them - the true me…

The only time a chatbot worked for me is Amazon's, of all things. It auto approved my return after I answered a few questions. I haven't had any chatbot outside that be useful to me. I always end up getting to the end of all the prompts only to be told I need to speak to a human or the chatbot going in a circle, in which I have to reach out to a different layer of support.

the last time i tried this i got pretty far then it switched to a human and i had to provide all the same information again. and then the person ghosted me.

Re: Bank forced to rehire workers after lying about chatbot productivity, union says

#49

Post by m463 »

no_wizard wrote: post #4
taylodl wrote: post #3

How many times has a chatbot successfully taken care of a customer support problem you had? I have had success, but the success rate is less than 5%. Maybe even way less than 5%. Companies need to stop looking at customer support as an expense, but rather as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen your business relationship. They warn against assessing someone when everything is going well for them - the true me…

The only time a chatbot worked for me is Amazon's, of all things. It auto approved my return after I answered a few questions. I haven't had any chatbot outside that be useful to me. I always end up getting to the end of all the prompts only to be told I need to speak to a human or the chatbot going in a circle, in which I have to reach out to a different layer of support.

On the other hand, amazon chat support, which they forced on at some point, treats your time as worth zero.

I think I used to just type in my problem into a text box and press send like an email.

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