I'll gladly take a 20min hold after having to resort to screaming "give me a fucking human" or driving the the pharmacy JUST TO TALK TO a human in the exceptions, which seem to be about 75% of my interactions with CVS/Walgreens AI agents.
It’s nice that this remains an option. It’s a dying one. So much is better handled and more easily handled in person than over the phone/mail/web/fax/email/blah, even if they’re 1:1 with a human.
It’s why I stick with my credit union instead of moving everything over to an online bank even tho I’ve managed to get 99% of everything done with the CU without going to a branch.
Just as you said, I spent 20 minutes YELLING at the AI before it would transfer me to a human. Oh, and the entire time it was spewing ads for their programming. When I got to the human she, once again, confirmed it WAS a feature and it re-activated during 'free weekends'.
My father had cancer. After he was diagnosed he retired. His full time job became managing his health: medicare, state benefits, doctors appointments, medications, talking with billing people. He was on firstname basis with multiple providers. He invited some nurses and their families to the first 4th of july when he was cancer-free (they politely declined to keep the relationship professional).
I just imagine my father, or my 75yr old mother (whose health is beginning to decline) trying to navigate this new AI world. It must be an absolute nightmare. I can imagine how frustrated and disempowered they'd feel after a lifetime of reasoning with other humans.