Speaking with Melody
by Ed Sawicki
The email from Bose announcing a 45% discount Mother's Day promotion caught my eye. The photo of the pink headset seemed attractive. I've been telling my wife she should get one for herself for about two years, but she didn't want to spend the money. The discount made the choice easier for her, so I went to the Bose website and ordered it.
We were in Hawaiii and needed the Ship To: address changed to my son's address. I didn't see a place on the webpage to change the shipping address, so I tapped the PayPal button, thinking that I'd get a chance to adjust the address after I paid.
Nope. I had submitted a completed order with the shipping address my home address. I wouldn't be home before Bose expected to deliver it. This started an hour-long battle with Bose tech support during which I had the pleasure of dealing with Melody, the Bose AI bot. Melody asked me to enter various pieces of information, but when I did, she would repeat her previous message modified just a little to make me think we were progressing. We weren't. Here's what happened after I had tried to get Melody to help me after many attempts. My comments are in blue:
I’m sorry about the wrong address. You can view your order details by entering your order number
and the email used at checkout on our order tracking page. If the order ships to the wrong
address, you can also start a return after delivery using https://www.Bose.com/start-a-return.
Could you describe what you see on the order tracking page for order XXX1294715, including
whether it shows a shipping address and whether it has shipped yet?
Melody • AI Agent
You're not helping me.
I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling this way. Could you please share more details about the
address issue or any other concerns you have? I'm here to help you as best as I can.
Melody • AI
Agent
I want to communicate with a human.
You’re now being connected to a service agent. Thanks for your patience, they’ll be with you
shortly.
Melody • AI Agent.
I waited for the human for several minutes before I had to go to the rest room, and afterward fill my coffee cup. When I got back to the computer (my notebook) about three minutes later, a message from John asked me to supply numerous pieces of information. I entered the information and waited for John's reply. It never came. I entered more comments trying to get "John" to reply. He didn't.
I managed to find a toll-free number for Bose Technical Support on their webpage. When I called it, there was an announcement that suddenly stopped, but the call was still active. My phone was ticking away the minutes. I hung up and called back. Same thing. This time I turned on the phone's speaker and did other things while waiting for some - any - sound. None came.
We had to arrange for someone to pick up the package at our home. Bose AI and human technical support are terrible. If it weren't for the discount, it would be far better to buy from a retailer that has responsive support.