Hopping mad when you try to contact customer service but only reach bots? You aren’t alone
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Why it is so frustrating to get help from hotlines, digital portals and helpdesks these days?
That is the question posed by Stomper Francis, who feels that technological advancements in customer service have not necessarily improved the lives of consumers.
The 70-year-old retiree was inspired to share his thoughts after reading an ST Forum letter titled ‘Make it much easier to speak to a person on a hotline’.
In the April 16 letter, the writer described her difficulty reaching human support while trying to resolve a credit card matter, noting that “no real avenue for help exists” if the path to an officer is “buried within layers of prompts and becomes apparent only after a long sequence of automated options”.
Francis described the letter as “spot on” and weighed in on the issue.
‘You end up talking to a robot’
“Customer service automation is so ubiquitous that you likely interact with it multiple times a month,” he said. “One can feel agitated when you are interacting with a robot and not human.”
He cited a common scenario: calling a credit card company to dispute a charge or request a fee waiver, only to be greeted with automated messages.
The Stomper added: “Many company websites now have chatbots that allow customers to send a direct message. Many of these chatbots are programmed with template replies.
“Sometimes, the person on the other end of the chat isn’t a person at all. Worse, it’s common to receive a template message: ‘Sorry, I am unable to find the answer.’”
Francis said email support can be just as aggravating. Not only does one get auto-generated responses, there is also no way for one to reply and reach someone.
“Even though some of the more advanced bots can learn to expand their knowledge base, customers sometimes have queries that might be too complex for them to handle, requiring a human to step in and fill the gaps,” he said.
“Frustrated customers looking for answers and encountering only unhelpful, automated replies or being rerouted to the same FAQs might find themselves boiling in anger by the time they reach a human agent.”
The Stomper feels this leads to a poor customer experience.
He also pointed out that while automation tools “don’t need to sleep”, there will still be downtime for scheduled maintenance works, system updates and upgrades.
“In the worst-case scenarios, they might get hacked or crash due to some technical issue or power failure, leaving customers adrift,” he added.
Human touch is necessary
“There is something to be said of the human touch”, said Francis, citing holidaymakers dealing with an airline that has lost their luggage as an example.
“Customer service automation might be able to take care of their concerns, but it can’t express contrition for the unfortunate turn of events in a way that makes it seem like the airline actually cares.”
The Stomper does not dismiss the benefits of automation, however. He acknowledged that such systems are free of human error and are available round the clock.
“The technology delivers fast, accurate and highly repeatable results,” he said.
Yet this does not necessarily guarantee higher customer satisfaction. According to Francis, automated customer service suggests a lack of empathy and also puts service providers at risk of losing more users.
“True, it free up humans, increases human productivity, and reduces churn and labour costs,” he said. “But it lacks human traits like personal warmth, empathy, interpersonal connections, compassion, understanding and people skills.
“It does not imply a friendly, caring or personal approach nor a heartfelt nature. Rather, using automated customer support comes across as cold and mechanical.”
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