As AI agents increasingly handle customer service interactions, it's natural to ask: How do users respond when a service failure is caused by an AI agent versus a human one? A study by Yibo Xie, Zelin Tong, and Zhuorong Wu explored just that. Through a series of experiments, where participants were asked to imagine that … Continue reading When things go wrong we forgive AI more easily than humans; but empathy saves the day
Tag: Service failure
The problem with CrowdStrike’s $10 apology voucher
CrowdStrike is not having a good month. First, the darling of cybersecurity caused an IT outage that affected companies all over the world: something like 8.5 million computers. Then, CrowdStrike caused outrage when it offered a $10 UberEats voucher to staff that had supported customers during the crisis. Comments on social media complained that the … Continue reading The problem with CrowdStrike’s $10 apology voucher
Offering rebates as a form of service recovery can actually backfire
It happened, again. You know the script: the internet is down; you try all the tricks in the book; they don’t work; you call the provider; they tell you that “we are experiencing some technical problems in the area”; they apologise; eventually, they offer you a rebate on your monthly fee which hardly makes up … Continue reading Offering rebates as a form of service recovery can actually backfire
Small service failures, customer dissatisfaction and defection
Big service failures are bad news for business. They make for unhappy customers; they tend to result in complaints; and they may represent additional cost. If the company has really messed up and/or if the customers are very vocal, big failures may even get media’s attention, and lead to public embarrassment. But what about the … Continue reading Small service failures, customer dissatisfaction and defection
How service failures impact on what matters for customers
I came across an interesting paper that explored how the drivers of customer satisfaction changed in the event of a service failure vs. normal service, and how different types of failure influenced what factors were most important in driving customer satisfaction. The paper is entitled “The Impact of Service Operations Failures on Customer Satisfaction: … Continue reading How service failures impact on what matters for customers
Ana Canhoto 