A Bridge That Will Be Burnt, Or ...
Those of you, who are following my blog most likely know, I had my fair share of dealing with customer support lately and my experience in these months (three or for to be precise), made me think of what the future will be like in this regard.
Most likely you remember I have done a post about selling what I don't need, on an online platform operating in Europe. It has become my playground, so to speak, because so far it's the best for my needs. I really need to get rid of the things I don't need and make room for new things, or just make my wardrobes and cupboards lighter and this place is ideal.
Yesterday I was scrolling through the feed, to have a look at what people are selling, which is a waste of time if you don't have any intention of buying, but a must if you want to know about supply and demand. Demand only figuratively speaking as you only see the supply, but you know at what price people are selling similar stuff.
While surfing through the items listed, I came across a bunch of professional photos I knew those users plagiarized from other platforms and screenshots also taken from other platforms. Now, the rule is to take a photo of YOUR ITEM and upload it, after all you're selling your item, not a big pile of items of different sizes. Some people are lazy to take a photo and think why not borrow the photo of the seller, but we all know this action is subject to copyright issues, plus the chances to sell the same size as the model in the photos are slim to none. We all know these models all have perfect bodies, are wearing the smallest size and in most cases photoshop is used to make them slimmer and so on. So in other words, the there's a chance the clothes you're listing look totally different in reality, not to mention if those are not new, the chance is 100%.
They have a policy according to which, users can report lawbreakers. I appreciate this initiative as the more people report abuse, the cleanest the platform can be. So far I can say they act immediately, withing working hours, which means from morning till late evening, maybe during the night too, but I haven't tested them during the night.
Yesterday, however, after sending like 30 - 40 reports one after the other (yeah, I've never seen so many abusers till yesterday), I noticed the reporting feature is inactive. It was a huge shock, I won't deny, because after analyzing the report, you get a feedback none of my reports got rejected, so why was I blocked (?), or why the feature is inactive for me.
This whole case made me think how this bridge between businesses and customers can be burnt pretty soon, due to implementing AI features and what not and how some businesses understand the need to be in contact with customers and treat web2.
Turns out my concerns were not funded as they had maintenance in this regard, after a few hours the feature was available again, but the structure of reporting changed. It is now more complex, which is a sign of taking this side of the business seriously.
To add more to it, I contacted them last night via email, asked a specific question, to see if they can confirm they are handling these cases in an adequate manner. I got a reply soon and although it was signed by a human, it was a generic reply and not the answer to my question. The only thing I could do is tell them this is not what I asked and ask them again to reply to my question, to which I got another generic reply, so I rephrased my question and asked them again. This time I got the answer I needed.
All I can say about them that they take their clients and userbase seriously and unlike other similar platforms, they value help and feedback.
Would be nice to know most of the online platforms are at this level, but that would be a huge lie. Almost 10 days ago, I was in pursuit of looking for air conditioning, which I needed to order fast as the season of these items is coming and I need it installed asap. I posted a question on a platform that you can call the Romanian eBay if you like, hoping to get a fast answer from the seller. Me, the naive, thinking things are working like in an ideal world. Then after 2 minutes I had to realize the ideal world I was thinking of exists only in my head as my question was subject to moderation, in other words, needed to be approved. It took them 7 days, or a week (whichever looks better to you), to post it. The joke here is that after one week, I got an email from the platform, letting me know that my question has already been posted. One fooking week to post a question and they notified me like this was such a huge achievement. This is the process for product reviews as well, not to mention the censoring they apply. So you can imagine how trustworthy these reviews are.
What's next?
It's a known fact that the covid lockdown speeded up online shopping with 8 years. It was a necessity, but it is also convenient for so many reason. In this rush, ordering what you need and getting it delivered to your doorsteps is the future.
Customers' interests are protected by law, you have 14 - 30 days or so, to send the product back and get a refund, but sometimes technical support is needed and this is where (in my very humble opinion) the battle is going to be. Some businesses are going to gain ground, while others are going to go out of business. The question is, which one is going to be the majority?
A Bridge That Will Be Burnt, Or ...
With AI evolving like the plague, my biggest concern is that most of the human agents will be replaced by AI and we're going to be talking to the walls soon. Is the bridge between customers and support going to be burnt?
Not long ago I checked out a website, I think it was the XP PEN (but I'm not sure and now I regret not bookmarking it), and saw they are offering human assistance. It is written nicely on their offer. I'm not browsing the web to see what the majority of the product and service providers are offering, but I hope this is a process and the end game is to have the best support of all. This includes not censoring reviews that are not of their likes and assisting customers the best way possible.
I'm just hoping this will be the key to getting more market shares and those who don't understand the need, will be left behind.
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Yes, you are right that the ideal world exists only in our heads. You have a heightened sense of justice, and they have a business and they don't care about copyright and other similar things. AI will not kill the system, it will modify it, but how? It is still unknown.
!PIZZA
I'm curious to see where this leads, but in the same time, maybe I don't want to know, if it's bad. This is a huge issue and it's going to make our life either easier, or more difficult. So I hope they are going to handle it the right way. Fingers crossed.
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"Really thoughtful post! Do you think platforms will ever balance automation and real human support effectively?"
Why are you dropping me this quote?
I'm afraid that will be the way of all customer service, support, help desk dealings in the near future. Like the website that offered human assistance, the businesses that offer real live people to help will prosper.
We've had a flood of self checkout kiosks in stores of all kinds, with no live help at the cash registers. This has been going on for years now, but recently some of the stores have been removing them in favor of real people manning the checkout lanes again. I wish more places would recognize and value the human to human connection.
This is my hope too as I don't see any other efficient way. AI is good but only till one point, where human assistance is needed and those who recognize the importance, are going to prosper.
I can't even begin to imagine what it means to have no help at checkout. We have these self checkouts in most of the big stores, but there's always someone there to help, mostly because, unfortunately, a good part of the buyers have no clue how to do it. The other reason is, some products need confirmation you're over 18, others are giving error message when you place them on the scale and there's always something.
I think this process is going to take some time.
I think you're right in that it will take time. What I don't understand is what they expect people to do when there is no need for human intervention to complete tasks. I guess that's what the UBI is intended to do...keep people on the couch, isolated from the rest of society. Strange times we are living in.
We ran a small business that depended on internet sales. To get orders on some of the big platforms, you had to quickly handle complaints which sounds great but basically you had to refund anyone that complained for any reason. We weren't on Amazon but Amazon is that way now. If you sell on Amazon and get a complaint, if you don't refund Amazon will step in and refund. Refunds with no questions asked is really hard on small businesses. Often times the buyer would just have regrets - we did everything right and delivered what they ordered but they could still complain and get their money back. Just putting a different perspective out there. This is a problem from both sides - buyer and seller.
eBay has been favoring buyers over sellers for years. I've never had problems with them as a seller, but I know people that have and basically you have no case, whatever happens, the buyer is always right.
Some people have lost a lot.
This is not good either. There should be a healthy balance.
Sadly businesses will be what they are and will try to cut every cost imaginable. Hopefully there will be places that push back on the reliance on AI in favor of human interaction!
It's not about pushing back as no one is forcing anyone to use AI. It's a choice.
I think there’s a society push to use AI, at least in America, driven by the massive companies and their precious boards who push for more and more profit regardless of the cost and it’s disgusting. They want to get rid of workers more and more but it’s going to be the downfall of society in the short term.
Yes AI is good at some things but it does not replace human interaction!
In my opinion no one can push anyone to do anything unless they are forced by low. Any normal and responsible business owner should be able to see what's good for their business and what can hurt them, and to what degree to use AI and how.
We agree to disagree on this but it's ok.