Ok so we don’t have a chatbot on this site and its a decision that for now I have taken out of sheer frustration at the number of businesses that do the chatbot thing badly.
There is nothing more frustrating than looking for help, typing in your question and being directed to irrelevant resource or get yourself caught in a loop of never ending questions. Maybe its me? Maybe I can’t articulate the problem that I need help with clearly enough to the AI driving the bot?
So I give up and try to contact a human using the chatbot – that’s it, that’s what I want or so I think. I type speak to an agent or click this option.
Then the message comes back and my heart sinks – “Thank you for your message, we usually respond with 24 hrs” ! When I need help now and will on to something else by then.
Am I being unreasonable? Afterall when I signed the contract they did say 24/7 support. Somehow I feel frustrated and cheated and fundamentally that’s why we don’t have a chatbot.
If you want human support then its at Park Lane or Monies where people deal with people – It could be an in person meeting or teams meeting, it could be a telephone call or e-mail but its humans helping humans with no barriers or false claims.
Rant Over – If you want a human touch just pick up the phone / email / book a call or if local pop in. The kettle is on !
Here is 5 more reasons other than my frustration as to why we don’t use a chatbot
1. Lack of Human Touch
- Impersonal interactions: Chatbots can feel robotic and fail to convey empathy or emotional understanding.
- Frustration with scripted responses: Users often get annoyed when bots stick to rigid scripts and don’t understand nuanced queries.
2. Limited Understanding
- Poor natural language processing: Many bots struggle with slang, typos, or complex sentence structures.
- Context loss: Some bots can’t remember previous parts of a conversation, leading to repetitive or irrelevant answers.
3. Inadequate Problem Solving
- Can’t handle complex issues: Bots are often only good for basic FAQs or simple tasks.
- No escalation path: Users may get stuck in loops without an easy way to reach a human agent.
4. Privacy and Security Concerns
- Data collection: Users may not be aware of what data is being collected or how it’s used.
- Vulnerability to breaches: Poorly secured bots can be exploited to access sensitive information.
5. Overuse and Intrusiveness
- Pop-ups and interruptions: Bots that auto-launch or interrupt browsing can be annoying.
- Over-reliance by companies: Some businesses use bots to cut costs, reducing access to real human support.