I pre-ordered a pair of Jennen shoes (elevator shoes, so I can be a big boy) from their online site (they no longer have the shopfront on Johnstone street) and got asked for a tip at the end. For basically changing a stock allocation assignment. I had a whinge on their contact forms, and they replied "the tip function is optional".
2 years later I emailed again, saying "I haven't bought a replacement pair of shoes, all because of the audacity to ask for a tip. I get that it's optional, but so is a cashier going 'hey give me that twenty from your wallet', and when the customer goes 'wtf??' the cashier replies 'oh lol it's optional'. You may have thought 'you know, a tip screen could give us free money! What's the harm?', and I guess this follow up email is proof of that harm. Don't bring tipping culture here please!"
I get this reply a day later, and can confirm the tip function is now gone. Loverly! Whinging may be one thing, but persistent whinging made the difference.
You mean chat with a robot?
I've had varied experiences with robots, sometimes they give you the refund, othertimes it's not refundable, even if they broke it.
Hopefully it’s a chatbot, which can bring interesting opportunities for consumers. If you can trick a chatbot to make a favorable statement, it can be legally binding.
Nope never had a chat bot. Literally always a human.
Weird, lucky you.
It might work differently in America but for years the only automated part of it was to route you to the right rep