My Ebike Delivery Was Missing. After Trying to Recover, I Landed in Chatbot Hell

A few months In the past, my friend and I were infected by a pear ebikes. We live in Atlanta, which is a mountain city, and we both just got bonuses at work, which makes almost $2,000 per bike feel, for a while, like a grind.

We ordered online, and a few days later, my friend’s beautiful and very heavy bike arrived at our door. Mine, purchased separately from another seller, was delayed, then delayed again, and again.

Finally, on Wednesday evening, I received a text message from FedEx confirming that my bike had been shipped to our address and signed for it. That seemed impossible, considering that when the letter arrived, I was standing in my kitchen, bike-less, roasting chicken thighs.

I looked outside our house; My package was missing. So, I looked at my order confirmation, and realized that the bike was signed for by someone with the mysterious initials “MM,” which doesn’t match me, my boyfriend, or anyone in our house. Whether it was stolen, misplaced, or delivered to the wrong address was nothing like getting a response. I started doing this the next day by calling FedEx’s customer service support line.

The result was a few months down in the bowels of the client, where I spent hours watching, chatbot-waiting rooms run by FedEx, the bike company, my bank, my credit card company, and even my local police department – desperately trying to find a real, live person who would talk to me, let alone my $2,000 problem.

New “Sludge”.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about my situation is how well it has turned out. In recent years, companies are working artificial intelligence and some skill in the hands of their customers, often at the expense of human workers.

In a survey of customer leaders published in April, 31 percent said have already reduced or are planning to reduce their population due to adoption of AI. Most of the leaders surveyed said they are transitioning their assistants into new roles or adding new tasks to their roles rather than letting them go.

Some leaders have been more blunt, however. Verizon CEO Dan Schulman he recently told Bloomberg that AI will likely replace a “significant percentage” of the company’s customer service work, noting that it is one of the businesses most affected by the changes brought about by technology.

For consumers like me, this has resulted in fewer people, more hassles of frustrating wait times, music on hold, and unresponsive responses that have been common for years. In addition, these systems are sometimes used deliberately, using a corporate strategy called “mud,” in order to discourage customers seeking resolution.

As Ryan Hamilton, professor of marketing and consumer psychology researcher at Emory University, says, AI has just given a new face.

“Sludge existed before AI,” says Hamilton. “But AI, like everything else, has only added to the dystopian culture.”

Whether it’s due to bad experiences, intentional flooding, or a combination of both, it’s clear that consumers aren’t happy with the AI-driven customer experience. In a report published in May by consumers from the US, UK, and Canada, 59 percent said frustration with AI customer service agents. Meanwhile, 85 percent said they would prefer to talk to a real person.

My Private Chatbot Hell

When my ebike went missing, almost every call led me to a chatbot, FedEx’s AI agents often ignoring my requests to speak to a representative.

Even the police department in my area made the situation worse. When I called them to report the missing property, I was prompted to leave my details on the chatbot and wait for an officer to speak to me again.