And it’s quite possible that it’s cheaper for them to give those discounts since they’re not employing as many humans. Humans are expensive.
Comment on Most consumers hate the idea of AI-generated customer service
MeatsOfRage@lemmy.world 2 months agoI get one of those meal kit delivery services. Every few weeks I’ll go to their AI customer support and ask for cancellation and it’ll give me discounts on upcoming orders. I keep the service at about 40% off at all times. Also when there’s a problem with the order the chat bot just tosses me a discount. Cases like this are perfect for AI customer service.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
KevonLooney@lemm.ee 2 months ago
It’s more likely that the food is so cheap that the company still makes money at 40% off. Like how mattresses are always discounted 30% to 70% .
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
They certainly do, but they won’t give up that extra margin if they don’t have to. If customers hate dealing with the AI service, it may be cheaper to compensate them with more discounts than put humans back on the phone.
UltraGiGaGigantic@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Thanks for the massive bill mom and dad. They got their serotonin and I got exploitation every waking moment of my life.
snooggums@midwest.social 2 months ago
Dropping pricing down to a reasonable amount by making you jump through hoops instead of pricing it fairly in the first place?
That is like praising someone for stabbing you instead of shooting you.
MeatsOfRage@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I mean, I’m choosing to use this service. If it felt unfair I’d just buy the groceries myself. They’re not a charity, you’re getting a premium service and there are costs associated with this. I don’t think it’s priced unfairly to begin with, it falls somewhere between buying your own groceries and getting takeout. The value is saving me time figuring out recipes, gathering the ingredients and getting a different meal every night, this is the value you pay for. I don’t know why people expect these companies to just give this service away.
unconfirmedsourcesDOTgov@lemmy.sdf.org 2 months ago
I don’t know why people expect these companies to just give this service away.
Idk if you’ve noticed but there seem to be a lot of people on Lemmy who are opposed to the theory underlying the profit motive. If your product or service is priced above cost then it is automatically bad. 🤷♂️
snooggums@midwest.social 2 months ago
Pricing something fairly is not just giving it away.
FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Smart.
Those of you getting Netflix, Peacock, NFL or other TV subs, note that the cancel button will likely give you long-term discounts too.
USE THEM
DessertStorms@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Except they’re selling you the kit at waaaay over cost in the first place, so they’re still making money off of you. I promise you they are aware of the “glitch”, and are not ignoring it out of the kindness of their hearts.
(not criticising you for using the service, if it works for you go for it and get those discounts, but don’t let them manipulate you in to thinking you’ve got one over on them, they 100% account for this kind of thing and are still making money)
snooggums@midwest.social 2 months ago
If X number of people pay full price and only Y number people go through the hoops of getting a discount the company comes out ahead!
TeddE@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s worse then that. They’re actively profiting from that discount rate, meaning they’re ludicrously profiting from everyone who doesn’t spend half their life getting discount codes (the cost of convenience)
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
I mean most products you’d sell you’re hopefully making at least 40% profit margin so everyone would still be making money. They’re just banking on you sticking around and not canceling. lots of money > some money > no money
MeatsOfRage@lemmy.world 2 months ago
How is 2 minutes with a chat bot half of someone’s life?
MeatsOfRage@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yea but it works out to $87 (Canadian) for 6 different nights of meals for 2 people. Delivered to my door. I suspect their angle is using this to just keep you from churning at a loss in hopes of just keeping you around in case you go back to paying regular price. The amount of meat, vegetables and dairy in the box along with cost of shipping and paying people to assemble this order, the cost has to be damn near $87 if not a little over.
DessertStorms@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Like I said, I don’t criticise anyone for using the service, and the more affordable it is, the better, but trust that they are definitely not working at a loss, in the same way supermarkets, that would probably still charge less for the same items, do - by making you believe they’re selling to you at just about what it costs them to get by, when they are selling it to you for significantly more.