@mmiasma @kimlockhartga @RegGuy Haha, that's both apt and catchy!

@mmiasma @kimlockhartga @RegGuy That is an almost impressive level of ineptitude and customer contempt.

@agturcz That is such a frustrating situation. And so sly. It is utterly depressing, how badly customers are treated these days, and depressing that sea-boiling technology is enabling it to get worse and worse.

@kimlockhartga @RegGuy All of this, agreed - and especially this: "When did all the work fall to us?" We need to normalise asking this question aloud and often!

@kimlockhartga @Nead @RealGene Haha, agreed - this is a great and beautifully human business model.

Customer service staff must be hit doubly hard by enshittification and AI. Companies use AI in a bid to replace their jobs. The AI is useless and wastes time, so even a placid customer with a benign query will become frustrated and fed-up as they try to battle their way through to a human who can actually help. Customer service was hard enough in advance. It must be harder still these days, when AI has made even the pleasant customers cross before they get through to the human.

@kimlockhartga @RealGene That sounds wonderful. Even the name fits the elegance.

@RegGuy @kimlockhartga Same here. I recognise this entire situation. The automated voice trying to send me to Double You Double You Double You Website drives me bananas. I wouldn't be bloody ringing in the first place if their website could provide the answer.

@kimlockhartga @RealGene That sounds like such an elegant way to do it.

@RealGene @kimlockhartga That sounds like an excellent restaurant. That's how to do it.

@dianea It's infuriating. Great if you can waste some of their time and money back on them - good for you!

@RegGuy @kimlockhartga "To the AI, I repeat, over and over again "Agent." Until I get a human"

If I absolutely cannot get around using an AI chatbot at the start, I do this too. Hating the company and the AI techbros and me, every one of us, as I do it, annoyed at having to degrade myself through the exchange with a bloody machine.

@urbanfoxe @kimlockhartga That's like a double-word score of enshittification. Ridiculous situation!

@kimlockhartga Hooray! Am delighted to know I'm not the only woman yelling at clouds I won't use QR codes either. Agreed that AI customer service is not customer service. I have started to view the waste of time involved as the company showing pure contempt for their customers.

@antoniovr Agreed. AI 'support' in much worse than even the previous automated solutions. As you say, it wastes so much of our time and patience before we battle through to an actual human staff member. Who then, often, solves the query in a matter of minutes. The entire exercise could have taken them and us mere minutes from start to finish.

@leffe Good idea. I would think that would be a great place to let companies know how we feel about their use of AI 'customer service'. These days, if I shop around for, say, insurance quotes or a new broadband provider, I would like to know in advance if a given company has actual or AI-based customer service.

@st3phvee That is such a frustrating experience. And it's playing out for all of us in different varieties every day.

"I was eventually able to get through to a human, but not after a whole bunch of my time had been wasted."

This is the nub of it. Their use of useless AI displays pure contempt for their customers' time. And if and when we finally get through to a human, the query is often answered and solved in a matter of a few minutes, and with a nice bit of friendly chat too.

@venite Thank you for making me laugh

@giosci I have had that thought too. It is - or perhaps 'was', in real letter-writing days - a strategy in Ireland as well. It requires an entirely new layer of time and effort, though - finding the name and contact information, another follow-up mail, etc.

@NatureMC Good for you for doing something, for trying to combat the misinformation with an actual fact-checked article.

"Like species loss, we'll get a knowledge loss" - well put, and so sad

@FaithfullJohn