Slashdot Mirror
Bots That Collect Airline Compensation For Passengers (venturebeat.com)
You have read about bots that fight parking tickets. But what about all those flights that get delayed, canceled or overbooked? Could a bot look into that? From a report: AirHelp, a Europe-based company that assists people in pursuing such claims, today announced two new bots to further automate its operations and sift through the monumental number of requests it receives. AirHelp provides a free website people can use to determine if they are eligible for a refund from their airline. Founded in 2013 as a Y Combinator-backed startup, AirHelp claims to have aided more than 7 million people in processing airline compensation worth almost $930 million in total. The company, which operates in 30 countries, including the U.S., only takes a cut when a customer has been successfully reimbursed by the airline.
Naturally, it receives a high volume of claims. To sift through these, in 2016 it began working on bots to automate parts of its screening and analysis. The company launched two bots -- Herman and Lara -- and today it is adding AgA and Docky to the mix. AgA (short for Agent's Assistant) and Docky will help the company with customer service and automatic assessment of claims. AirHelp says it has been testing these bots internally since last year and that they have already assessed 30 percent of claims it receives with 95 percent accuracy. [...] AirHelp's new bots would complement Herman, which mimics the work of a legal agent and looks after 100 percent of cases requiring legal actions, and Lara, which assesses 60 percent of all cases that get past Herman's virtual desk.
Naturally, it receives a high volume of claims. To sift through these, in 2016 it began working on bots to automate parts of its screening and analysis. The company launched two bots -- Herman and Lara -- and today it is adding AgA and Docky to the mix. AgA (short for Agent's Assistant) and Docky will help the company with customer service and automatic assessment of claims. AirHelp says it has been testing these bots internally since last year and that they have already assessed 30 percent of claims it receives with 95 percent accuracy. [...] AirHelp's new bots would complement Herman, which mimics the work of a legal agent and looks after 100 percent of cases requiring legal actions, and Lara, which assesses 60 percent of all cases that get past Herman's virtual desk.
How much longer before these sorts of things get the short end of the legal stick for helping people? I can't imagine that the airlines or any industry in general being happy that some third party is helping people cut in on their profit margins.
Now can somebody write a bot to help manage my Tinder account? Just kidding, I'm a guy, nobody swipes right on me! (Please don't suggest I use Grindr instead!)
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
EU261 forces the airlines to pay out!
If the airlines bothered to spend any time or effort in "Customer Satisfaction" this would have never been needed.
As a self funding solution, it seems like a good business. Until the airlines start deploying bots to ignore requests.
60% of the Time, It Works Every Time!
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
We used to call these programs, application software, scripts...
Can we have a definition that it's not really a robot if it doesn't have moving parts?
It's kind of like the difference between (most) plants and (most) animals... They are all alive but only animals move around.
the service already exists but you can get for free.
their employees are doing basically bot work already only.
Look, here's a guide how to get it free without paying them shitloads of money+vat. you don't need these helper companies.
Find the customer support email address. you might need to ask a facebook bot or whatever to get it. just get it. then send them the information about your flight that was late and say that you want compensation. they will say "no we won't pay it was a technical issue" - then you reply that "It doesn't matter, you're still liable to pay for it and if you don't pay me I will either use the family laywer or give it to a company such as airhelp and you will pay anyways" - and then they will ask your bank information, a photo copy of passport used on the flight and then they wil then pay you.
many people are too lazy or frustrated to do this so they give it to airhelp etc. there's dozens of companies like that. but just threatening to give it to them after the company says that they don't want to pay is enough to get them to pay. saves you 100-200 euros and months of time.
I did a request from qatar airways like this. it does not matter if they gave you a hotel room or whatever to stay in during the delay. they still have to pay. if the delay was due to a technical reason they need to pay too.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
...give out a fax number only for compensation claims. I had to get a claim made by one of their staff at an airport check in desk. Customers simply need to know & be able to make claims. Something like a law requiring airlines to include claims info on all paperwork & every page of their website would probably work best. Also, each claim should be acknowledged in writing (immediately by email & by post) when received & the airline charged a high rate of compound interest on the compensation every day after that. Does that sound like it'd work?