Social media helps bring the world closer and helps you reconnect with friends and family, goes the spiel. Recently, I did find an old friend on X, one whose smarts I held in great esteem. So, with great anticipation, I followed the person and went to her profile to find insights on profound topics. Instead, all I got was “@Swiggy, I ordered Chicken Biryani last night and instead the restaurant sent Veg Biryani! What an atrocity” and “@AirIndia your flight is late again!” and so on. Tweet after tweet, whining and complaining to get the attention of customer support from our great corporate institutions.
X has become a glorified 1-800 number (formerly claiming to be a public town square), Instagram has largely become an advertising platform, WhatsApp is essentially spam central, and Facebook is where your uncle and aunt share posts about how Unesco has awarded India for the best national anthem in the world.
The Indian customer is queen only until the sale is done, after which the poor chump has to pray that the product or service does not require any additional attention from the company. If, heavens forbid, she needs support, she has a choice between automated IVR phone calls that never seem to have the option she wants or a chatbot that has an IQ of 50 on its good day. In either case, her problem being solved has the same probability as finding an auto driver in Bangalore or Chennai who is willing to run by the meter.
Surveys show that more than 80% of customers say their frustration levels increase after talking to a chatbot and it was a complete waste of time. The only votary of the chatbot system, apart from penny-pinching companies, is probably the hair transplant industry that stands to gain from servicing frustrated, hair-pulling customers.
They resort to social media to get the attention of a human, any human. The hope is that companies that care about their reputation online will want to resolve their queries, which worked quite well in the beginning. Unfortunately, now, when a customer raises a complaint, it is swiftly addressed by a bot that most sincerely and openly regrets the inconvenience caused and directs them to a DM, which in turn provides a link to an automated IVR number or a chatbot. Alas, the hair-pulling continues.
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Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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