Consumers are not pleased with the use of chatbots as helpdesk employees. This is according to a survey by the Dutch Consumers' Association among more than 10.000 panelists. No less than 78% of the respondents who sometimes had to deal with such a robot assistant did not receive a complete answer to their question, according to the Consumers' Association.

More than 40% of the respondents have had to deal with a chatbot. Two-thirds of them are not satisfied with that contact. For example, because the robot did not answer the question (52%) or only partially answered it (26%). The chatbot often does not recognize questions or does not recognize them quickly enough. Or consumers keep going around in the same circles. It also often takes too long before they get to speak to a real employee. They are also annoyed that the chatbots often provide answers that they have already found on the website.

Also check the customer contact.nl dossier on chatbots

Besides the fact that the chatbots often do not know the answer to the question asked, consumers also experience the contact as impersonal. Only 15% of the respondents find chatting with a robot no problem. Most people (71%) prefer to have contact by telephone. Email is also fine by many respondents (53%). This is followed by chatting with a real employee (15%).

Getting in touch with a company by telephone is becoming increasingly difficult, according to 80% of the panel members. For example, because the telephone numbers are hidden on the website.

 The chatbots of large companies such as Albert Heijn, Bol.com, DHL, Eneco, ING and Ziggo, among others, are often mentioned by panelists. When asked, most companies say that the virtual employees receive a large part of the questions. They also mention accessibility outside office hours as a major advantage. They do acknowledge that the robots need to be 'trained' even better.

Technology