A few brands that I previously loved have replaced all their humans in the customer service function—and have lost me as a customer. Here are a couple examples.

I am a frequent guest in a particular hotel chain. They have removed all customer-facing telephone numbers and email addresses from the website of every hotel. The only way to contact them is through their AI-enabled website. Your only choice is ‘chatting’ with an AI bot. Great for looking up a hotel rate or checking on restaurant hours. Not great when you have a problem. I am not staying there again.

Another example. I am a frequent purchaser of pricey cosmetics from a specialty company. On my last order, the product I received was broken, likely…