AI and Losing Customers

I had an interaction with a lender earlier today. They informed me that there was an issue with a payment on my account. I could not resolve it online, so I called customer service. 

I found myself talking to a machine and eventually a "human" or AI-sounding Human. The entire experience left me feeling like my lender did not care enough to hire a human to interact with me on this critical issue. 

I wanted to voice my concern, so I sent a message to their customer service department, not expecting a reply.

Below is what I send to the lender:

Your voice prompts for "customer service" are just awful. I needed to speak to a human, and it kept trying to redirect me to use the automated service. Once I did get a "human" online, I didn't feel they were an actual human but rather an AI bot. I hope I am not wrong in this, but regardless, you need to know how it feels to be a customer and not have the ability to talk to a caring human being on the other end of the line. I am a geek with years of experience in IT support. So, I understand the desire to automate things. There is nothing wrong with that. But when you automate your client-facing interactions, you make your clients feel less appreciated and more like a number.

If I were you, I would think long and hard about this. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. You will lose customers if you only care about saving a buck on what it costs to employ humans in roles like this. I guarantee it.

Below is their response to me:

Thank you for contacting us and sharing your experience. We appreciate your feedback, and I will share it with our development team for review.

If you need to reach a representative using Max, our automated phone assistant, first say "Account Question." Next, say "Information," and then press 0. This will direct you to our call center during business hours.

Conclusion:

They admitted that they use AI and that there is a trick to getting to a human. But I suspect they don't give this trick to all their clients. Why is there a trick in the first place? Why do they expect their clients to know how to navigate their AI system? Why not just hire a human in the first place? I am pro-human and make no apology for it. 

I can tell you this much: I will be looking for a new lender. Admittedly, it may be a lot harder to avoid companies that use AI than I hope it is. It will probably be a losing battle, but it is a battle worth fighting. 

If you feel like I do, let the companies you work with know how you feel. We don't have to take all the crap that these companies push on us.