Jake Moffatt was booking a flight to Toronto and asked the bot about the airline’s bereavement rates – reduced fares provided in the event someone needs to travel due to the death of an immediate family member.
Moffatt said he was told that these fares could be claimed retroactively by completing a refund application within 90 days of the date the ticket was issued, and submitted a screenshot of his conversation with the bot as evidence supporting this claim.
The airline refused the refund because it said its policy was that bereavement fare could not, in fact, be claimed retroactively.
Air Canada argued that it could not be held liable for information provided by the bot.
Well, you’re just wrong about that. I worked for a company that employed front of the line customer service in Toronto that paid $80k…in 2017! I’m not saying Air Canada does (I have no idea what AC wages are), but if their agents are part of a union, it’s definitely possible.
But my point stands - if anyone thinks these companies are going to ‘do the right thing’ and hire real people when these AI chatbots exist and are so cheap, it’s just not going to happen.