I used to do it without thinking.
It always works perfectly.
If I have to travel abroadI will go to the AT&T website.
Then I will buy an international data plan and trust that I will not use more than the specified number of GB.
Your device is not eligible. Go away
Why did I expect it to be different this time? However, suddenly AT&T decided that I was going to be worse.
It tells me that my device is not eligible for the international package. Any international plan, that is.
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I am a throw touch. I have one iPhone 12″. No, it’s not the absolute newest, but it’s not the oldest either. It served me perfectly well. Why suddenly can’t cope with being in Europe?
Surely this could be easily solved, so while on the site I clicked on the chat service. Maybe, some nice people will jump in to chat with me and sort the whole thing out.
Oh, what was I thinking?
Chat is a robot. It immediately identified that I wanted to buy an international package and provided me with a link to, oh, the very website I just visited. The person who told me my device is not eligible.
This has become a bit annoying. I cannot determine the logic of this apparent absurdity.
Your device is still not eligible. Go go again
So I decided to escalate.
I called AT&T customer service. There, some nice people would jump in to chat with me and sort this whole thing out.
Oh, what was I thinking?
The customer service line serves another robot. You’ll be happy to hear that sent me a link to the site with international plans. The page tells me my device is not eligible.
Snake Day? More like My Grinding Day.
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I tried to make the robot disappear by repeating the word “representative”. It doesn’t work. Robot asks for my passcode.
When I answered completely in human language, the robot declared that it did not understand me. I aim for anger.
“Please go away, dear robot,” I howled. “You’ve been promoted beyond your means. If I may boldly suggest so, you’re a completely pointless half-baker created by bean sellers to encourage customers to come to Verizon. “
Look, I paraphrase that quote. This has caused me to have constant seizures.
Humans say, hello, has nothing to do with your device
Suddenly, it was as if the robot recognized my scream. Or rather, I understood that it made me such an apopletical volcano that I had to be transformed into a human.
This turned out to be no ordinary human. This turns out to be Frank.
I began praising Frank’s existence and explaining the frustrations I had just experienced. Frank seemed to understand. “Yes, our barrier is not fun,” he said.
I continued to describe my situation and wondered how I could iPhone 12″ suddenly ineligible for an international plan.
Frank said: “An iPhone 12? As far as I know, it’s a brand new one.”
Then he tried to check what happened.
“It sounds like you’re on an older plan,” he said. “That’s why it won’t let you plan international dates.”
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Of course I still don’t understand. Why does my current use of an old program affect my ability to have an international program?
Frank wasn’t sure either. But then he came up with pretty magical words: “Let me help you with a better plan and save you some money.”
What? I’m going to give you more money, Frank. Just to be able to use my phone whenever and wherever I need it in Europe.
Frank did what only people like Frank could do. Not only did he save me about $20 a month, he also gave me an international package that was cheaper than on my previous trips. I used to pay $120. This package is up to $100.
I thanked Frank profusely. He saved me a lot of emotions, quite a bit of time, and threw in a little money.
“When you make customer service calls, they don’t always turn out like this one,” says Frank. “This is perfect.”
I’m sure one day there will be an AT&T robot programmed to say so. But the gap between what Frank can do quickly and what the robot does over and over is huge.
I understand that robots can do many things. I still don’t believe customer service is one of them. There are nuances that robots can’t — and may never — capture. There are problems that the robot doesn’t seem to be able to identify.
Their world is a reasonable box, a reasonable little box.
“By the way,” Frank said. “The code word for removing the robot is the agent, not the agent.”
Of course.
