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The following is a verbatim transcription of two calls to Xfinity customer support. Both calls were “answered” by automated IVR (interactive voice response).
After the rain and wind shook the cable wire, the internet was slow, sometimes interrupted. I wanted to talk to an Xfinity live agent, to find out if the situation was temporary or needs fixing.
Dialing: “1-800-…..”
“Hi. Thank you for calling Xfinity. This call may be monitored or recorded. For more information on our privacy practices, visit us at Xfinity.com/privacy. I have the number of your street address, as ________. Is this the account you are calling about?” The mechanical voice asked.
“Yes”. I replied.
“OK, give me a few seconds to review your account.” (six seconds later, after artificial typing sound on a fake computer keyboard:) “Our Xfinity assistant can answer most common questions and will connect you to a live, voice, or chat agent if you need help. Can I text you now?”
“No.” I replied. (I don’t need to go through the loop of texting, since I wanted to talk to a live agent.)
“There is usually a wait time for a live agent, so let’s see if your virtual assistant can help you right away. Not to worry, we can connect you with a live agent, any time! But first, can I text you a link, to chat with our virtual assistant?” She insisted.
“No.” I replied.
(9 seconds later, after the artificial typing sound on a fake computer keyboard,) she asked: “In a few words, what’s the issue you are calling about?”
“Agent.” I said.
“OK, I can help you reach an agent, what are you calling about?”
“Agent.” I said again.
“In order to connect you to an agent, I need to know why you are calling. You can say technical support, billing and payments, or more options.”
“Speak to an agent.” I said.
“To proceed, please identify why you are calling. For trouble with your service, say service, or press 1; for billing and payments, say billing, or press 2; to add or modify your service, say modify, or press 3; to move your services, say move, or press 4; to downgrade or discontinue your service, say downgrade, or press 5.”
“None of the above.” I said.
“Again, you need to identify why you are calling, or the call will end. You can say: trouble with my service, billing and payments, add or change service, move service, or downgrade or cancel service. For trouble with your service, say: service or press 1; for billing and payments, say billing, or press 2; to add or modify your service, say modify, or press 3; to move your services, say move, or press 4; to downgrade or discontinue your service, say downgrade, or press 5.”
“Unstable cable from weather.” I said.
“We won’t be able to identify the reason for your call. Thank you. Goodbye.”
WOW! She hung up on me, but she said earlier that “not to worry, we can connect you with a live agent, any time.”
(First, there was a male voice:) “This call is being recorded.” (They identified with their software that the same phone number of mine was calling again, and the greeting message was different this time.)
(The same pre-recorded, automated, female robotic voice:) “Hi, thank you for calling Xfinity. This call may be monitored or recorded. For more information about our privacy practices, visit us at Xfinity.com/privacy. “
(After a few seconds of faked typing sound on a fake computer keyboard) she said: “In a few words, what’s the issue you are calling about?”
She continued: “Main menu. You can say, technical support, billing and payments, add services or products, remove services or products, or appointments.”
I said: “Representative.”
She said: “I understand you’d like to speak to an agent, but I need a little more specific information to route your call properly. Again, you can say technical support, billing and payments, add services or products, remove services or products, or appointments.”
I said: “None of the above.”
She answered: “Sorry, you can say technical support, billing and payments, add services or products, remove services or products, or appointments.”
I said: “Unstable internet.”
She responded: “In order to continue to an agent, I need to know why you are calling. you can say technical support, billing and payments, more options.”
Unable to get a live agent after repeating my request, I had to comply: “Technical support.”
(After about 10 seconds of faked typing sound on a fake computer keyboard) she then said: “Are you experiencing internet issues such as slow speed or no internet signal?”
I answered: “Yes.”
She said: “Give me a few seconds to run a modem health check.” “Your modem is online and is receiving a signal. A quick restart fixes most issues. But you will lose your internet connection for a few minutes during the process. Are you ready for me to restart your modem now?”
I answered: “No.” (Since I knew the issue was caused by the wind and rain that was shaking the cable line. But this AI voice did not relent:)
She said nonetheless: “Based on the health check I just ran, and the errors on your modem, the first troubleshooting step is to perform a restart. Once the restart is complete, we can follow up with you to ensure the issue is resolved. If the restart doesn’t work, we will pass the information…”
I interrupted her: “Agent!”
But she continued: “… to the agent, so you won’t have to repeat it. Do you want to restart?”
I shouted: “Agent!”
She then said: “Instead of waiting on the line, you can get help from one of the Xfinity agents through text messaging. I can send you a message with a link to connect with an agent now, would you like to give it a try? Message and data rate may apply.”
I answered: “No.” (Since I wanted to talk to a live agent, I don’t want the extra step of texting to an “agent”, real or not.)
(After about 10 seconds of faked typing sound on a fake computer keyboard) she then said: “Before we continue, I need to authenticate your account. Tell me your last four digits of your card on file, or say, I don’t know it. If you need a moment to get that information, press star.”
After making two calls and about eight minutes “talking” to this AI voice, I still could not get a live agent to answer the call. So I gave up.
Is this the best AI can get? Or is it the worst?
All over the United States and beyond, everyone is experiencing the same frustration and helplessness with this ubiquitous IVR.
How much longer can we endure this type of AI voice without getting anywhere? Is this the quality of life we want?
What are the alternatives? What can be done? Actually, it is fairly easy to change this contact center nightmare: redesign the way AI answers the calls in a customer-centric way.
The invisible “hand” and the hidden mind behind the design of this AI customer experience is “either-customers-fit-into-my-categories-or-goodbye”.
The problem is: Whose priority governs the AI experience design (“AIXD”)? Xfinity’s current design is all from the point of Xfinity’s convenience, not customers’. There are issues not so cut and dried, squarely fitting into the four categories the AI voice keeps repeating to the callers. Why can’t they simply add a “none of the above” category? And why didn’t Xfinity honor its promise of “connecting to a live agent, any time”, but instead forcing texting or other virtual choices onto a customer who repeatedly asked for a live agent?
Xfinity AI imposes its over-simplified choices onto customers, at the expense of their various and nuanced needs.
It is not human centered, not user friendly, not customer centric.
But it saves Xfinity operational expenses, … or not!
Saving cost at the expense of customer frustration is a losing game, even for an iconic brand
When customers pay more but get poor services, they will call it quits: After going through the above real, painful experience, I switched my cable TV from Xfinity to another service, after being Comcast’s cable TV customer for 28 years. Reasons? Xfinity charges too much for cable TV, and I’m not happy with their AI voices for all areas of their contact center support. Many people I know have done the same: leaving Xfinity for other service providers.
It doesn’t matter what an iconic brand Xfinity is. Brand loyalty is based on consistently delivering value and services focused on the customers, not on saving company money at the expense of customer frustrations.
Changing AI experience design (AIXD) has immediate and long term benefits
In the above example, the consumer frustration can be easily avoided, if the IVR is designed differently, so that it will immediately alleviate customers’ pain points (which are the same as “customer journey fiction points” to Xfinity). Xfinity will be more profitable in the long run, by retaining customer loyalty, which strengthens its brand reputation and stature.
AI experience design (AIXD) is often associated with UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) designs for apps. In designing IVR or other customer-facing AI processes, similar to designing a good website or a good app, the priority is making the customer journey as easy, pleasant, and value-packed as possible.
If leadership thinks experience design is merely a matter of technicality, like UX and UI, you are really missing the point.
Your AI experience design can lose your customers, if you don’t put your customer experience first. Do you understand every detail about your customers’ pain points, desires, preferences, etc? You may need to let experts help you do the deep diving and heavy lifting with research, analysis, and sound advice (from market strategists at 10 Plus Brand. ) You are likely to be surprised that what THEY want is not what YOU want, or what you THINK they want.
We at 10 Plus Brand are on your side, elevating brand power, influence, and stature for corporate brands and personal brands. We are recognized as a global leader in brand DNA decoding, and brand strategies designing, structures, positioning, and storytelling. Our teams of experts amplify brand messages with cutting edge digital marketing, as a full service, award winning digital agency. Please contact us for more information.
Want to make an appointment to discuss how to improve your AI experience design? Click here.
© Joanne Z. Tan All rights reserved.
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