The Eddie Show 📷🎧❤️
brought low by the painful stupidity of a tech support person who wanted to argue with me that it was megawatts and not megabits.
Feb 1 at 1:40amWeb
Show threadThe Eddie Show 📷🎧❤️Feb 1

2/2 "My Internet Provider and the Enshittification of Tech Support by AI!"

The tech support person who insisted the word was "megawatts" and not "megabits" and sounded like a bot (no affect in their voice) was the AI-enhanced (in real time) voice of a person in India whose accent was "Americanized" for "ease of understanding to our customers."

I shit you not. Learned this from a Stateside call center supervisor I received a requested callback from.

FML.

@paul

Show threadJohnWFeb 1

@TheEddieShow @paul

Namecheap uses "Susie Q" for their AI support. Anyone with any technical knowledge wastes about 5-7 minutes before getting to speak with a person. It's only useful for pre-sales, well, occasionally useful.

Show threadLAURENFeb 1

@TheEddieShow @paul

#AIGarbage

Show threadPaul Chambers🚧Feb 1

@noondlyt I talk gobbledygook every time I suspect I am talking to AI. Most times, I get passed on to a human. Once, one politely told me off and hung up. At least, I think it was AI.

@TheEddieShow

Show threadThe Eddie Show 📷🎧❤️Feb 1

@paul @noondlyt

Me: "Human being, please...human being, please" until I get a person on the line.

Show threadPaul Chambers🚧Feb 1

@TheEddieShow I knew I had a post about my experience with the Liberty Mutual insurance AI agent.

https://oldfriends.live/@paul/114950889554715183

@noondlyt

Show threadThe Eddie Show 📷🎧❤️Feb 1
@paul @noondlyt ✊
Show threadMaria Langer | 📝🛥️💎Feb 1

@TheEddieShow @NoRomBasic @paul No surprise here. We all know how frustrating it is to need help and have our call received by an overseas operator reading off a script in an accent so thick we can't understand what he's saying. But this is not the solution. The solution is better technical support, better documentation, and localized telephone support.

While I realize that that costs money, I have to wonder how many customers are lost when they can't get good support.

Show threadRealGene ☣️Feb 1
@TheEddieShow @paul
I had an unmodified human on the phone from Charter/Spectrum, and they kept saying "megabytes per second" for the contracted speed. When I finally corrected them, the response was "whatever".
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Feb 1
@TheEddieShow Not wishing to enrage you further, but how can anyone think they're comparable, mega-aside?
Show threadLevel 98 🇺🇦Feb 1

@_thegeoff @TheEddieShow Mega-asides would be a good description for what I do when teaching... I'm easily distracted by interesting "asides".

And now I've down the same with this discussion... sorry!

Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Feb 1
@TheEddieShow Watt?
Show threadThe Eddie Show 📷🎧❤️Feb 1
@anne_twain ikr
Show threadJames A NielsenFeb 1
@TheEddieShow I get good results connecting to a fairly intelligent human by saying I want to cancel my service. And, if you are unable to understand the individual's accent you can ask to talk to someone who speaks American English.
Yeah, enshittification is a synonym for maximizing profits at customer's expense.
Show threadThe Eddie Show 📷🎧❤️Feb 1

@JamesNielsen

Haven't yet had a non-US tech support person I couldn't understand. It wasn't my complaint that triggered the bot. Evidently, the company assumes US-based customers can't understand a person with a South Asian accent *whilst speaking English. That's being xenophobic on my behalf and twisted.