Consumer complaints rise over AI customer service failures

While more businesses have adopted intelligent customer service systems to improve efficiency, consumer complaints are mounting over chatbots' inability to understand or resolve problems, with reaching a human agent increasingly likened to "navigating a labyrinth".

"AI-powered customer service chatbots are driving me crazy," a netizen from Anhui province complained on the social media platform Xiaohongshu (RedNote). "They keep repeating the same things over and over and never understand what I'm saying."

The user recounted her experience with a telecom company's AI chatbot while trying to transfer her broadband service to a new residence. The chatbot failed to grasp her request, repeatedly issued preset replies and avoided transferring her to a human agent.

"After rounds of repetitive conversation, I lost my patience and shouted, 'Human agent, don't you understand? Transfer me to a human agent!'" she wrote. "I finally got through to a human, and the issue was resolved in three minutes. Something that could have been solved within minutes wasted my energy, drained my patience and took up my time."

Another netizen from Jiangsu province said users of an app often have to queue to speak with a human customer service agent. "The interface showed how many people were ahead of me, but when I checked again later, the human agent was no longer available because I was inactive when it was my turn," she said.

It has become standard practice for online customer service platforms and hotlines operated by telecom carriers, banks and e-commerce companies to deploy intelligent chatbots as the first point of contact. However, when users face complex or personalized issues, the systems often fail to provide effective solutions, offering only preset responses that do little to resolve the problem. In many cases, the option to switch to a human agent is hard to find or requires navigating multiple prompts.

Data from the State Administration for Market Regulation showed that in 2024, consumers filed 6,969 complaints related to intelligent customer service in the e-commerce after-sales sector, an increase of 56.3 percent year-on-year.

Consumers reported that chatbots frequently provided irrelevant responses and that human agents were difficult to reach, resulting in inefficient communication and a diminished consumer experience.

At the same time, companies are increasingly replacing human customer service staff with intelligent systems to cut costs, leaving remaining employees overwhelmed by large volumes of inquiries.

"The number of customer service agents is decreasing. They are poorly paid and face numerous KPI assessments, while the rise of intelligent chatbots has prompted companies to cut staff," said a telecom customer service agent surnamed Jiang. She said she typically handles five users at the same time, and service hotlines are often overloaded.

Intelligent customer service systems should complement rather than replace human agents, according to People's Daily and Xinhua, which stressed that such technologies should not be used as an excuse to avoid providing adequate service.

According to the telecommunications service quality report for the third quarter released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in October, some internet companies — including browser services, ride-hailing platforms and video apps — failed to provide accessible human customer service agents or had hotlines that could not be reached. The ministry has urged the companies to rectify the problems and improve their service capabilities.

"Technology-empowered customer service should be people-oriented," Zhao Jingwu, an associate professor at the Law School of Beihang University, told China Media Group.

Companies should simplify the process of transferring to a human agent, such as by introducing a "one-click access to human service" option, Zhao said, adding that elderly and disabled users in particular should not be blocked from assistance by overly complex procedures. He also stressed that human agents must be available when consumers genuinely need help.