"Customers Prefer AI Chatbots" Claims British Gas

Customers Prefer AI Chatbots" Claims British Gas1

Not according to anyone I know.

Customers do not prefer.

As an example, a friend fell sick in Greece while on holiday and was sent by ambulance to a hospital 3 hours away. She then needed to get back to her hotel 24 hours later, so contacted Jet2 insurers for assistance. There wass no real person, and The AI Chatbot kept giving her directions to the airport! Useless, especially when you're stressed.

This customer doesn't!

I don't mind text chat as opposed to a phone call but I want to be chatting to a real person not AI.

In extremis we all need a real person to tell our tale of woe to, we don’t prefer a machine.
This is the same as supermarkets and stores saying that all the automation is for the benefit of customers.No it damn well isn’t!

That is why I am an Octopus customer and not a British Gas customer.

Why trumpeted? Many media outlets have published stories about Centrica’s proposed job cuts.

Chris O’Shea, the company’s chief executive, insisted that the changes were being made because customers preferred to take their queries to digital channels rather than people.

AI isn’t driving these particular job reductions; that’s mainly due to changing customer behaviour,” he said. “What we’re seeing just now is over 90% of our customers actually use digital channels in the first instance, and we’ve seen a 20% reduction in customer calls, so this simply reflects the changing customer behaviour.

We’ve got to reflect the changes in customer behaviour. We expect to grow more jobs around our digital interface and maybe having fewer people on the phones.

That isn’t the same as saying 90% of customers are using chatbots. It means that more people are finding the answers to their queries online rather needing to make a call - so more resources are going to be put into providing digital content. That’s how I read it, anyway. That gives a chat bot, when it is used, more data to draw on when asked a question. That’s how AI works.

This is the same as many organisations, including DWP and HMRC, who advise customers to try to find the answer through their online resource rather than wait on the phone lines.

Well, I guess many prefer a chatbot to being on hold for 50 minutes then getting transferred to a second agent only for the call to be disconnected... It isn't really a choice, is it?

Me too, MOnica. If they ever change there will be a monumental uprising! Or if they ever dare put their c all centre overseas.

^Well that's the story trumpeted in today's Guardian as justification for axing call-centre jobs.
^

I rarely ask for a link, but think I would need one this time.

“Well he would say that wouldn’t he?” comes to mind! 😁

... yes, we use the chatbot because we don't have the time or patience to wait at least half an hour for the 'next available operator'.

I believe BGas are doing this for one reason only - overheads reduction. Organisations and companies cut to the bone...

... and it's not for our benefit.

The assumption is that the chatbot can understand and answer your query,

My experience is that chatbots have a limited and curated database whether it is AI or not and is incapable of answering a question that does not relate to the purpose of the chat bot.

When a few years ago we wanted our electricity meter moved, we rang our supplier, who would not give us access to anything unless we had an account number, when we put that in we were told that ours was an internet only account so we could only use the chatbot. When we typed in our query into the chatbot, it quite simply did not understand us, because as it was attached to an energy account. its abilities to search the world for answers it was limited to answering queries about energy supply, bills, readings and payments, but not moving metres.

I forget how we got in contact in the end. I think it involved pigeons and tins either end of very long bits of string.

I usually just repeatedly type "Customer Service Agent" when dealing with BGs limited chatbot.

I just moved to another supplier where all queries are dealt with by a real person.

DollyRocker

I usually just repeatedly type "Customer Service Agent" when dealing with BGs limited chatbot.

Yes, or similar, good move.

btw Zoom use them and I have to say my one go was excellent. They must have top of the range...

Yes, I always found BG’s chatbot completely clueless, but typing “speak to a person” used to flush one out quickly and to be fair they were pretty efficient. I certainly prefer dealing with an actual person online to hanging on the phone and taking potluck as to how good an agent you get connected to.. And you have a record of what was said, which has proved useful in the past. I’m sure I’ve filled in a survey asking whether I prefer to use the online service or the phone one - it certainly doesn’t equate to preferring to talk to a chatbot though!