Finally, A Good Use For Bots
My manager is called over because a customer is demanding to use an expired coupon.
Manager: “Ma’am, if it were a day or two, maybe, but this is specifically a summer sale coupon and we’re in winter.”
Customer: “You will do this for me, or I’ll call corporate and complain! I have all your names written down so I know exactly who to get into trouble!”
Manager: “Please do, ma’am. However, we don’t have a corporate contact number anymore. We just have a ‘contact us’ link on the app that will take you to a chatbot pretending to be a human that can’t really help you. No one ever reads that stuff.”
Customer: “I don’t want to do any of that! You will give me a number!”
Manager: “We don’t have a number, ma’am. Even for ourselves. Corporate took it away when they realized that they don’t actually have to answer to complaints these days.”
Customer: “Then how do I complain?! Why would they do that?!”
Manager: “Probably to save costs after losing so much money by allowing customers to use expired coupons.”
The customer complained again, but upon realizing that she had no higher power to complain to (at least within our own organization) she accepted her fate and suffered the indignity of paying full price.
