Her Expression Says it All

In a world of technology there are place where AI does not belong. One of those places is customer service. If you have to deal with an AI bot in chat know it is only programmed to answer between 1-6 questions. They do have an option for "Other." If you are foolish enough to click "other" your bot will ask you to clarify your question. Do Not repeat the same question. Find another very succinct way to answer it. If the bot still doesn't understand, it sends you another 1-7 options again with "other" being the last. If it is none of the above and you type agent or representative, you get 1-7 new questions. When the AI Bot has exhausted the questions it knows, you might get and agent or representative. By this point you are fuming. The bot has sent to articles to read and you have an issue that needs a human NOW!

Between my new cell phone, my cell provider, Microsoft, and my credit card company I am currently locked out of three accounts. Yesterday, I spent 2 hours and 24 minutes on the phone with Microsoft and absolutely nothing was accomplished. NOT. ONE. THING. Here's how it went. I go to Microsoft.com. I log-in. I hit the support button, I hit Surface because it's my computer that has the issue. They ask which Surface I am using. I click on the one I am using. They ask what the issue is. I cannot download my Office 365 program. They send me the first 8 items on downloading Office. This is not the problem.

The initial problem that brought me to this point. I was going to start a podcast as the interviewee and I had no sound on my computer and no audio. Funny it had been working fine the day before. I end up doing the zoom on my cell phone. The interview actually turned out great! The hostess was kind about the problem. I get off the interview and go to Microsoft.com to get support for this problem. They call me. I tell the tech the issue and he says okay this is what you need to do. We go into device manager. He has me drop down some link and open it. He says you need to delete the drivers. I'm thinking, No, drivers run computers. I ask if he is sure he says not a problem, we will restart the computer and the drivers will come back. So I uninstall the drivers. All the while thinking, "This is a mistake and I'm going to regret it." Next thing he tells me is we have to restart the computer. I do this we check, nope drivers are gone, no sound no audio. So, he says completely shutdown the computer. I do this we wait, I turn the computer down on and it reboots. I log-in. He says go to YouTube.com and choose a video and click on it. No sound. In his brilliance he says we are going to have to set your computer back to factory settings. The next words out of my mouth are, "The Hell We Don't!" All of my work for my two businesses are on this computer and he wants to wipe it clean? Every story starter for the next five years is on this computer and then some. Every book I have ever worked on, every book I am currently writing, and all my bookkeeping records are in excel. No he is not wiping it clean. He says he understands, he will find someone who can help me. He transfers me to accounting. Brad in accounting is pleasant, but he can't help me. He will transfer me to someone who can. I get Ken. Ken has me copy the link to our chat, so if we get disconnected I can put the link in my browser and come back to it. Every two minutes I have to type something in the chat or Microsoft assumes we are done and stops the chat. So, I am on chat hold and every so often I say are you back yet, how's your day been, are we still connected? Then the chat closes and Microsoft is gone. I got to support and have someone call me. I think this guy was Roland. We do screen sharing and he goes in and does a bunch of stuff and I have sound, then we test my microphone and it is working. Problem solved in 5 min.

Or not. Next week, I get into a problem where I have lost sound. I go into device manager and sure enough my speakers and audio are turned off. Funny I didn't do that. But it works the rest of the day. Go to log-in to a meeting on a Friday and once again I have no sound or audio. Type in the chat, I'll be right back going to check something. Go into device manage and sure enough my speakers and audio are turned off. I turn them on, they turn off and tell me there are no speaker or audio devices available. Now we have a real problem.

I go into Microsoft.com, fill out the form and get a call back and case number from them. Call comes almost immediately. I don't have to wait long. I am talking to Roland. He asks for screen sharing and tells me to first close down everything. I tell him we are good the only thing I have open is Microsoft. He goes in and works in a dozen other places no on had been. Then he goes to an outside site and clicks on site that has everything you could ever want in a driver. He says not to worry Microsoft has an agreement they can download however many drivers they need. Driver gets download. We shut down computer. No drivers got added. Now we have a problem and my computer does have to be set back to factory settings. They will give me time to offload everything onto an external hard drive.

Aren't I lucky to have one? It takes the better part of a week to move all photos, all writing, all work related materials to the external hard drive. I call back give them the original case number and the young lady says let me try some things. The last thing we want to do is reset your computer. I'm aware of that. This has been going on for three weeks. She shares my screen and does all the things I did and one more and she gets sound. I tell her this is now my fourth call and what she did will last me about a day. We need to reset the computer. I have spent the last week taking everything I can think of off this computer. Finally, she tells me what has to be done and that the computer will reset and shutdown several times before everything is complete.

It takes about 45 minutes to wipe it clean and another hour for it to stop shutting down and restarting it restarts and I have to reset everything. I do everything I have to to get my computer operating. Now I need to get my Office 365 reinstalled as it is for small business not for home and family and not the free one that comes with a new computer which mine now thinks it is.

Yesterday after 2 hours and 24 minutes that was not accomplished. First, because the person I connected with the first time put me on hold for a hour and eight minutes then hung up. No explanation, nothing. So, I fill out the stupid form again and get a call back. No, idea the name of guy #2, but he was helpful. Took 9 minutes for this guy to tell me I needed to go back and fill out another request and when the tech answered I needed to tell them I needed Commercial Teams. Good grief. He has no number for commercial teams and his phone is not working properly and will not let him transfer the call. Once again, I go back and fill out stupid forms and request a call back. I get a gentleman, tell him I need commercial teams and he quickly transfers me. A young lady answers the phone at commercial teams, asks me what the issues is. She transfers me to a gentleman who was not born in the US. This guy speaks 90 miles per second, yes per second. Everything is jumbled together. I cannot understand a word he says. I ask him to speak slower as I cannot understand what he wants from me. Finally, he says Quick Assist. Quick Assist and I have become close friends. I can get it up on the computer and I do. Then I mistakenly tell him I need the six letter/digit code. He has to provide this. It comes so fast and so garbled, I don't even get the first letter. He tries again at his rate of speed and I get H, G. No, that's not it. Next try if get H, J, 3. No, not it. I say speak very very slowly one letter or number at a time. It's H C 8 B and another letter and a number. I type it in and hit the allow button that comes up. The next allow button does not arrive. I know from experience he has to push something on his end to make the second allow button appear for me. Instead, he directs me to Google. Then tells me to hit the three buttons in the upper right corner and click on incognito. This is a feature I didn't even know I had. Cool little device. Then he has me go to Microsoft and type in my log-in and password for my 365 program. It tells me to change the password. So, I do. Then I have to re-sign in. I do that and it takes me to two factor identification. Can they call or text my cell phone. I tell him we have a problem. I got a new phone a month ago and the number is not in there, the old one is because they have had me locked out. He asks if there is another phone associated with the account. I tell him yes, and rattle off the number on the phone I am currently using. I tell him this and that it is not a cell phone you cannot text it. I ask can he send the code to my alternate email, which has been on the account since I opened it. In fact, all email sent to the microsoft account is forwarded to my gmail account. No, he can't use that he has to use a phone. I asked do we hang up and you call me back? No, he has to fill out a case number and send it up the chain and someone will call me back. I tell him to please note that they will have to wait a while. This phone is beeping in my ear telling me it has to be recharged. It had recharged all night before I called the first time.

Later I get an email with an apology that they couldn't call me back. The will call within 24 hours. That call came today at 1:58pm. This gentleman tells me he has to contact all numbers on the account and then he will call me in fifteen minutes to begin the two factor identification. That was 49 minutes ago. He cannot get me on the phone because I don't have it. He has to call this one back. I am so frustrated.

I am still locked out of two businesses because of Verizon. Who has locked me out when I asked them to register my phone in MY name. They left the previous owner of the cell number as the owner of the phone. I've been fielding his and his families calls for a month.

Business if you are using AI Bots for customer service please rethink this. The line needs a human. AI cannot replace them on chat for online or by phone. Do not give me articles to read. I run a business, I don't have time for that. I am tired of arguing with AI bots who hang up on me or close chats because they cannot answer the questions. I leave feedback every time telling you to lose the bot. I'm going one step further, I'm going to stop doing business with you because your customer service STINKS. Look at Toyota, they have it right. They have a separate call center with all their people in the same building. Humans answer the phones and direct calls. Humans solve issues. Humans are rated on customer satisfaction. They have excellent ratings on their customer service call center. Those not working up to speed are given retraining. If that doesn't work, they are let go and someone else is hired. Those in training make less. Once they are out of training they make a higher wage with wage reviews at six month and a year. If they have made it to the six month review with outstanding ratings, they are eligible to apply for any opening internally above their current pay level. I know all this because I know someone who has been working for them since 2018. She now has a job she works at home Monday-Friday on second shift and once a month she has to go in on a Saturday or Sunday to actually work in the call center. It's a great plan and it works. Those who work their way up in the company love where they work. #AIorNO #Customerservice #BestPractice

Dr Annelize Booysen MOIRA BASSINGTHWAIGHTE. Dr Michélle Booysen Susan Ritter ?? Manuela Gil de Tober Eva Dalgety Kary Oberbrunner MJ Fick, PMP Patricia Love?? Woon Tan ?? ??