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General discussionCustomer Experience Update: What we’ve done so far and next steps(163 posts)(163 posts)
(163 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted January 19, 2022
Some straightforward procedures should be tackled with no hassle involved. We know that, you know that. That’s why we’ve been thinking of ways to improve your user experience in different areas and implementing changes, paying attention to the needs you expressed. Actions speak louder than words – you can expect further updates.

We’ve already automated the username change process in mid-2020, streamlined the refund process by implementing a dedicated refund form, making it easier for our staff to process the requests in April last year. And now, we’re working on a solution to make your general experience smoother!

In September last year, we started testing a modern, autonomous chatbot system called Zowie, in hopes of improving your Customer Support experience. Since we’re currently in an advanced stage of evaluating the software, let us shed more light on the reasoning behind its implementation and our next steps.
We’re continuously checking your feedback, and know the bot is sometimes off the mark - we’re aware of that and regularly work on bettering the software. As an AI-based system, it’s constantly learning and its accuracy will improve over time - we hope you will see the results of that soon.

The idea behind supplementing our Support Team with a chatbot stemmed from two main considerations:

Providing you with shorter wait times. This of course refers to problem types that don't require involving a Staff member (for example redirecting to the refund form, relevant settings on the website and offering useful guidelines). Since a bot works at full capacity 24/7, 365 days a year, and never works off a backlog of tickets, it’s an immense help for our Support Staff and allows us to focus on more complex queries. Furthermore, it helps to significantly improve delays in replies during high-traffic events such as promos.

Improving indirect communication. The chatbot collects all the necessary details required for our Support Representatives to accurately address your inquiries and potential issues, improving their ticket-solving effectiveness by proxy.


Our chatbot evaluating process should last until mid-2022 and your input is a vital part of it.

Zowie’s chatbot is yet another step towards upgrading GOG’s self-service features in our continuous efforts of improving your Customer Support experience, and we already have preliminary data to prove it - depending on the spread of problem types at the time, out of all the requests we receive from you, roughly 40% are successfully addressed by the chatbot, whereas the remaining inquiries are automatically directed to one of our Support Staff by creating a ticket.

While there’s still plenty of time left until the end of the evaluation stage, rest assured that you - our community - will remain an important part of the decision-making process. After all, the Customer Support features we’re implementing are designed with you in mind, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Therefore, we welcome your constructive feedback, and at the same time would like to ask you to give our new bot a chance.

FAQ

Does the chatbot implementation mean you will no longer provide Customer Support by your Staff?
No, the bot is intended to supplement, not replace our Support Team.
Our goal is for the bot to swiftly assist you with easier topics, saving you the wait time before a human could respond. Thanks to that, our Staff will be able to direct their focus on more complex inquiries (or any that don't have self-service features implemented yet), and not be as swamped during big events like promos.

The chatbot completely missed the mark and didn’t answer my question.
We are aware the bot may sometimes be off the mark, which is why we continuously work on improving the software. Our Support Team is regularly using the bot’s backend systems to actively help it learn, as well as regularly adding new automations and improving existing ones.
As an AI-based system, it’s constantly learning and its accuracy will improve over time – we hope you will see the results of that soon! If the bot is unable to help you, it will create a support ticket so that our Support Team can offer you further assistance. We will also be able to review what went wrong and incorporate necessary improvements into the bot's software.

I don’t want to jump through hoops in order to have my request resolved. I feel like the chatbot unnecessarily extends the process.
The chatbot was implemented to actually speed up this process, as it allows for indirect communication improvements. It collects all the necessary details required (e.g. order ID, payment details, operating system information etc.) for our Support Representatives to later accurately address your query in a timely manner.

You mention that the evaluation process will last until mid-2022, what then?
We will either continue using the bot and invest more time in its further development, or close the project and look for other ways to provide you with better customer service.

Do you consider a scenario in which the chatbot implementation is unsuccessful?
Yes, we are regularly looking at the numbers and performance statistics, as well as your feedback, and are taking such a scenario into consideration (see above).

How is my data handled by the chatbot?
All information regarding processing of your personal data is provided in our Privacy Policy. Zowie and its chatbot have been checked cybersecurity-wise and legally – this also applies to every external tool and software we use.
You may object to processing of your personal data by our chatbot by sending us a message at privacy@gog.com. You may also use the same address to ask anything about processing your personal data by GOG and exercising your rights.

How can I provide feedback about the chatbot?
You can share your feedback by filling out this form.
Posted January 19, 2022
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SmollestLight: You can always use the report button, or in general, report a possible spam bot in this Forum thread or to a moderator.
If I am not completely mistaken the "report" button only counts the number of reports and then deletes the post in question if enough people clicked the "report" button - without GOG staff seeing the post. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong but if that really is te case the "report" button won't help at all in cases of harassment or insults. It also won't help in case of people/bots abusing of the voting system ( I have been downrated on a weekly basis since a year or so at least and told GOG a few times - look at my new signature to take a better guess if GOG did anything here to help me).

Also, how much use is a forum moderator if they are ignoring my questions after promising me to answer them?
Post edited January 19, 2022 by MarkoH01
Posted January 19, 2022
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SmollestLight: The bot isn't there to discourage users, but to speed up the process and help them faster. It collects all the necessary details required (e.g. order ID, payment details, operating system information etc.) for our Support Representatives to later accurately address your query in a timely manner. As an example, before, if those things were missing, Support would have to reach out to the user once again.
But, if those things were not missing, then the bot is slower than the old method, no?
Posted January 19, 2022
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Chasmancer: That is why I said "most of that". :D I don't agree with the games and some stuff you liked, but good it's good for you. :) At least someone is happy... :D

I didn't refer to the bot specifically, but more like to the whole direction of this platform... It's just bizzare to me.
I just guess I will not be here and care to see how it will turn out... I don't even believe they are able to protect my data (or to offer some better privacy) at this point and for me it's a big deal. It was a reason why I am here and here only. And I guess lots of people coming for "DRM-free" games could relate to that, in a way.
Well, **** happens...

EDIT_1: Btw, aren't they using Zendesk for a support? Isn't that like an external company? How they lay people off that? Well, I don't know how they actually operate. Well, whatever.

That is also the reason why it bothers me, since the bot is in an early testing phase, centralizing personal data and sharing it with 3d party company. I am not sure if they have any security experts or privacy officers. I can't say, but I guess they would say that this is a huge security risk and it wouldn't fly with them. At all.
Which makes me feel like they don't have any...

Well and there is also the issue that my profile picture supposted to be deleted ages ago. It was a hell to go through 'by' support to get that done (?). And when I contacted support some time after, I got a reply from the bot with that profile picture attached. Plus some other shady stuff.
So.. no trust.

EDIT_2: Ah, seems like Zendesk is just a software. I was always thinking it's a company with actual employees to outsource support to. :D Was always wondering how they train them. :D Well, still.. it doesn't change that much.
Post edited January 19, 2022 by Ramor_
Posted January 19, 2022
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chandra: To be fair, this is a newspost on the chatbot and Customer Support implementations, so we do prioritise answering to posts in regards to this thread's topic :)

We did make a statement regarding the Hitman GOTY release on October 8th last year and removed the game from the GOG catalogue on the same day. We admitted that we shouldn't have released it in its current form and apologised for letting you all down and for the anger generated by this situation. Once we have any updates about this release, we will let you know.
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zakius: this is about customer experience

and we are making sure you know that we still remember about the issue and are not going to forget, if the official statement is "there is still more to come" that's ... kinda fine I guess? though it's a pretty long time to explain what are you going to assure your customers have nothing to worry about

game being pulled back and stuck in the void of "we don't know if we can release it" is a separate matter, my concern is the breach of trust
This. The broader issue is customer experience and dialogue with the community here, which includes the chatbot but is not limited to it of course. Obviously any of us can see the online-service(er...game-)-in-question was removed from the store and can view the previous statement which was widely criticized at the time due to it lacking information and lacking meaningful response to other concerns which had been brought up. What is still missing and has been asked for months repeatedly, however, is the explanation on how such a release came to be in the first place.

Also still missing: assurances that even if new releases come in such condition of requiring online connection to access content, that our existing games already here will at least remain free from such "improved and modern design" in future updates. Most of us are not as worried about when (or indeed, if) the game is able to return here without the online requirements, but why any game on the DRM-free store has online requirements locking out content. And this is an issue that the chatbot cannot resolve either, heh :) But enough about this for now.
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Chasmancer: But I wouldn't call the chatbot a product of some grand vision, it feels like they're throwing things at the wall to deal with this crisis caused by pulling people off support (to do hell I know what) at the time it's already overburdened by Galaxy issues, and allocate the resources in all the wrong directions. But we'll just keep telling them if something doesn't work at all, and if we have any ideas, how to fix or improve on that. I reckon it's too early to doomsay yet.
This is a good point to which you allude: that if it weren't for the absolute resource sink that is Galaxy, there probably wouldn't be a need to try and create workarounds like chatbots.

Additional advice: get whoever programs the downvoting bots on these forums, to program the chatbot. Since I dared to be critical of GOG, I am getting downvoted at warp speed today, even faster than usual. Therefore they obviously have developed an efficient bot which works at arguably a more successful rate than the current chatbot :)
Post edited January 19, 2022 by rjbuffchix
Posted January 19, 2022
The actual human support staff is great, they are helpful and reactive. But the waiting time before one of them humans can dedicate time to a given support request is crazily long.

What we need is not some chatbot, but more people in the support team so that they reach a size allowing them to handle the current rate of support requests.

GOG could have a great support experience, but at the end of the day we only remember the months-long waiting time for any support request. The fix is very simple: hire more people! Nothing else will work.
Posted January 19, 2022
Thank you for your openness about the chatbot issue. I don't mind using a chatbot if I know that it will eventually admit that it cannot solve my problem and connect me with a real person. However, typically when I start using a chatbot I don't know if it's going to be a dead end or not so I try to avoid them at all costs in hopes of finding the phone number on the website. But if I'm understanding your post correctly, you are saying that the chatbot does not replace real people and I presume the chatbot will eventually present me with the phone number to call for help.
Posted January 19, 2022
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SmollestLight: The bot isn't there to discourage users, but to speed up the process and help them faster. It collects all the necessary details required (e.g. order ID, payment details, operating system information etc.) for our Support Representatives to later accurately address your query in a timely manner. As an example, before, if those things were missing, Support would have to reach out to the user once again.
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rjbuffchix: But, if those things were not missing, then the bot is slower than the old method, no?
Not necessarily. If yours is the only support email they have, then yes, by all means. But that is obviously not the case here. If the bot is capable of handling, say, 40% of the total number of support emails autonomously, then the staff will be more available to handle the more complex cases, thus reducing the overall delay.

Seriously, it's not that hard to understand. But I guess it is always the same individuals that like to complain about every single thing on this site.
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Corgan0: Thank you for your openness about the chatbot issue. I don't mind using a chatbot if I know that it will eventually admit that it cannot solve my problem and connect me with a real person. However, typically when I start using a chatbot I don't know if it's going to be a dead end or not so I try to avoid them at all costs in hopes of finding the phone number on the website. But if I'm understanding your post correctly, you are saying that the chatbot does not replace real people and I presume the chatbot will eventually present me with the phone number to call for help.
I like to think of the chatbot as the first line of defense, but I don't think it is sensible to replace the human interaction altogether, and that is not what GOG is claiming.

For me, the most important aspect would be the ability to get redirected to the staff if it's clear that the chatbot cannot solve the problem as one would expect.
Post edited January 19, 2022 by jjen1987
Posted January 19, 2022
Here's my experience with the chatbot from last year, Nov. 2021.

I had made a request for a refund for the first time in a long while, so this was my first experience I think (maybe 2nd, can't recall now) of interacting with the chatbot Zowie.

While trying to explain things, sometimes Zowie would repeat the same suggestion again and it left me rather confused, since all I wanted was to open a ticket. Based on this news post, I understand this is still in the test stage. I do hope that it's learning algorithm is improved as in its current state it repeats itself no matter how you try to explain your request for a refund.

Also, this was the first time since I joined GOG that I had to wait over one month for my ticket to be resolved. Though a kind "blue" rep did pass along my issue and it was resolved very quickly after that. I've had nothing but friendly interactions with the GOG support team in the past and I hope that continues well into the future.

So, my feedback for the current state of the chatbot Zowie, is that the process of requesting a refund is both confusing and lengthy. If this becomes a permanent feature, I do hope it's much improved in the final version.

I also want to add my thanks for taking the time to explain all this. Though I hope in the future this type of news post is released before the actual testing starts and the basics of how the feature works. I think customers would appreciate this much more than waiting months down the road to learn about it. Just saying. :)
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Posted January 19, 2022
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GOG.com: out of all the requests we receive from you, roughly 40% are successfully addressed by the chatbot
Possibly a lot of the customers who said that are lying, for the sake of being polite or "saving face," and falsely claiming the chatbot helped them when it didn't really.

And out of the 60% that it didn't help, what percentage of them were aggravated into no longer buying games from GOG by the chatbot which caused them to ragequit off of this store?

The chatbot is an inherently horrible idea which therefore must be scrapped entirely, not "improved" or "refined."

The only real refinement that would be worthwhile is to delete it 100% off of the GOG website.
Post edited January 19, 2022 by Ancient-Red-Dragon
Posted January 19, 2022
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vv221: The actual human support staff is great, they are helpful and reactive. But the waiting time before one of them humans can dedicate time to a given support request is crazily long.

What we need is not some chatbot, but more people in the support team so that they reach a size allowing them to handle the current rate of support requests.

GOG could have a great support experience, but at the end of the day we only remember the months-long waiting time for any support request. The fix is very simple: hire more people! Nothing else will work.
A reminder that GOG is, after all, a company. If they manage to get a chatbot that actually works, then that solution is going to be much more cost-efficient than hiring twice as many people.
Posted January 19, 2022
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jjen1987: A reminder that GOG is, after all, a company.
And I am a customer, meaning that I don’t care in the slightest way about their costs, all I want is a better customer experience ;)

Since it is obvious that GOG support team is understaffed, and has been for years already, the obvious fix is to hire more people. Hoping that some half-broken "self-learning" bot could compensate for that is a rookie mistake that I did not expect from a company like GOG.
Posted January 19, 2022
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Ramor_: Maybe it would be also easier to like.. say it to people on public? In this case?

The bot of yours doesn't have any data on which data it gathers? :D Good one.
Obviously there is some behavioural data collection to evaluate it's uselessness, too. Will be people able to opt-out?
That's fair. We definitely take privacy topics very seriously, so a public answer is a good solution. Let me discuss this topic a bit further with our Team internally before I get back to you with an answer tomorrow, as well as add a privacy question to the FAQ in the main post.


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vv221: The actual human support staff is great, they are helpful and reactive. But the waiting time before one of them humans can dedicate time to a given support request is crazily long.

What we need is not some chatbot, but more people in the support team so that they reach a size allowing them to handle the current rate of support requests.

GOG could have a great support experience, but at the end of the day we only remember the months-long waiting time for any support request. The fix is very simple: hire more people! Nothing else will work.
Instead of hiring more Support Staff members, our focus is on further investing into tools that speed up the resolution process of different inquiries 24/7 365 days a year, so that the waiting time isn't as long as it is now. Support used to answer all username change requests as well before we automated that feature, same with submitting wallet funds conversions requests.
The chatbot serves as a supplement, and covers around 40% of all current user requests. This in turn allows for our Support Stuff to get back to you with more complex inquiries much faster.
Posted January 19, 2022
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rjbuffchix: But, if those things were not missing, then the bot is slower than the old method, no?
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jjen1987: Not necessarily. If yours is the only support email they have, then yes, by all means. But that is obviously not the case here. If the bot is capable of handling, say, 40% of the total number of support emails autonomously, then the staff will be more available to handle the more complex cases, thus reducing the overall delay.

Seriously, it's not that hard to understand. But I guess it is always the same individuals that like to complain about every single thing on this site.
It may have been unclear, but I was directly addressing the time taken by the user's input.

Option A (old method): user enters information and ticket is submitted.
Option B (chatbot): chatbot collects user information and ticket is submitted.

Staff claims chatbot is faster at helping users since it collects information that might otherwise be entered incorrectly by the user; I am contending that Option A (not chatbot) is faster at getting the ticket submitted if the user enters their information correctly, or that at least this is a reasonable possibility to infer. Obviously the user has to wait for support response either way; I am saying the time to "close the loop" for the time being on the user's end of things is conceivably faster the old way versus using the chatbot.

I am actually not sure we can make the same conclusion you propose that staff will be more available due to chatbot. To me, one could as easily argue that staff is totally overwhelmed if we are getting a chatbot in the first place, so it is not clear that the chatbot will make it any faster than what we were used to prior to them being overwhelmed. Also, we don't know the number of staff; if there are less staff members now, this could mean we are waiting just as long for help since the chatbot would just be cancelling out the difference rather than improving upon the state of things.

Nice irrelevant personal attacks at the end there, irrelevant as my points stand or fall based on reality rather than whether I or anyone else is popular here. If you choose to continue this discussion with me, please try to leave the personal attacks out.
Posted January 19, 2022
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chandra: Instead of hiring more Support Staff members, our focus is on further investing into tools that speed up the resolution process of different inquiries 24/7 365 days a year, so that the waiting time isn't as long as it is now.
I think this is a mistake: the R&D process should be done in addition to the hiring of more people, not instead of it. Now the quality of the user experience is fully relying on some prospective tools that are not guaranteed to work, while the hiring of more people for the support team is a reliable way to improve the experience of all customers.

I know you are not the one calling the shots, so I won’t bother you much further with this topic. But from my customer point of view, I only had good experience with the humans on your teams and bad experience with the automated processes, so it seems to me that the focus is set exclusively on the wrong track.

I hope I’m wrong and that some bots will enable the understaffed support team to handle all support requests swiftly, but I think it is much more probable that the quality of customer support is going to keep degrading despite the best efforts of everyone involved if GOG relies to much on the hope of some magical all-fixing tool that does not exist yet…
Posted January 19, 2022
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chandra: To be fair, this is a newspost on the chatbot and Customer Support implementations, so we do prioritise answering to posts in regards to this thread's topic :)
I can understand GOG wanting to keep this thread about the topic of the chatbot.

However, there is a contradiction presented by GOG, between that goal...

---- versus ----

....the rosy words in the blurb about this announcement, which says things like:

Actions speak louder than words – you can expect further updates."
...and likewise, the overall gist of this chatbot-related communication announcement contains a connotation that GOG is finally going to start explaining their decisions better and communicating more with their customers about what is really going on with GOG.

So, that creates a conflict between:

a) GOG only wanting to talk about the chatbot and not other problems going on with GOG (although I do acknowledge that GOG has also discussed other matters in this thread to some extent, but the gist of the point remains the same nevertheless)

b) GOG's shiny promise to start being more upfront with their customers at long last about all the problems they have with GOG, and not just the chatbot only.

What to do about that dilemma?

I suggest:

In keeping with the warm rosy spirit of today's announcement promising a new Golden Age era of transparency and communication, how about a GOG staff member starts a new AMA thread on this board, and they make the promise to do their best to answer all sincere questions about any problem that any customer might have with GOG...even the hardball questions where GOG's answers to them haven't already been discussed and pre-approved by GOG's PR department before GOG will utter a word about those matters.

Otherwise, if no such AMA thread from a GOG staff member will be forthcoming on this board, then it raises questions about how sincere the promises in this announcement actually are.

If GOG is only going to start to communicate about certain matters but not others, and only after the certain topics have first been cherrypicked by GOG and then pre-approved in a GOG boardroom to be discussed with the customers...then that's not real transparency.
Post edited January 19, 2022 by Ancient-Red-Dragon
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionCustomer Experience Update: What we’ve done so far and next steps(163 posts)(163 posts)
(163 posts)