Travel companies use ChatGPT for complaints and negative reviews online

Natasha said dealing with angry customers is one of the most difficult parts of her job.

Finding the right words and conveying the right level of repentance can be a tedious and time-consuming process, especially when the hotel is not at fault (i.e. rain complaints), asks the director of a five-star resort. Ta. CNBC did not use her real name to protect the resort’s name.

But now she has a secret weapon. It’s generative AI.

Natasha pastes the traveler’s complaint into ChatGPT and asks the chatbot to write a response.

She said a job that would easily take an hour was completed in “two seconds.”

Despite its shortcomings, ChatGPT “does a pretty good job” of handling customer complaints, Natasha said.

“One [response] “It was much better than what I tried to do,” she said, but “I’ll have to find out…you’ll have to read it to the end.”

Responses tend to be “schmaltzy” and full of adjectives, she says. Still, they “said things like, ‘I’m sorry, I wish I could have done something, I’ll do better.'”

We also respond to any complaints received from travelers.

“These letters are difficult to write. You have to read them line by line,” she said. “If you don’t react to everything on the list, you’re not treating the person right…AI does this very well.”

But above all, Natasha says, artificial intelligence is not as defensive as humans.

“AI takes all the emotion out of it. Maybe people were doing terrible things,” she said. “That doesn’t matter.”

Natasha says it’s even harder to respond to negative online reviews because they’re public.

Additionally, research shows that businesses that don’t respond to online reviews, even positive reviews, can damage their brand reputation.

Technology company SOCi ranked U.S. hotel chains based on their “online reputation” and found that a contributing factor to low scores was “ghosting,” or not responding to traveler reviews.

The need to constantly monitor and respond to online feedback will drive the use of generative AI for “reputation management” to be worth an estimated $1.3 billion to the travel industry, according to a 2023 report published by travel market research firm Skift. That’s part of the reason why.

Large language models can not only track where travel reviews are posted, from TripAdvisor to Yelp to Reddit, but also help companies “respond to reviews, especially negative reviews.” says the report, titled “The Impact of Generative AI on Travel.”

Approximately 45% of hotels are already using reputation and review management software.

But short-term rental owners also use AI for these purposes. Luca Zambello, CEO of short-term rental property management platform Jurny, says:

“The short-term rental/Airbnb industry has been an early adopter,” he said. “Within the next five years, it will probably be adopted by the majority of the industry.”

He said responding to reviews takes time, which is one reason his company offers this service.

“The vast majority of our users absolutely love this product,” he said. “For companies, once they understand how good it is, it’s a no-brainer.”

Using AI to write contrite responses is a taboo subject in the travel industry, which prides itself on personal service. Conventional wisdom has long held that an apology must be made “from the heart.”

When asked if she wanted travelers to know that they use AI to respond to negative emails and reviews, Natasha said: “Absolutely not. I’m sitting there thinking hard about the letter. That’s what I want people to think.”

One company that has admitted to using AI to address customer complaints is travel booking platform Voyagu, which, according to a company representative, stores past customer interactions. , says Travel Advisor will be able to help with future responses.

“Travel advisors always respond to customers themselves, but Voyagu’s AI system tracks all communications, both written and verbal, and suggests better ways to respond,” she said.

Brad Birnbaum, CEO of AI-powered customer service company Kustomer, said this type of technology is used “not just in hospitality, but really in all forms of customer support.”

He said his company counts Priceline, Hopper and AvantStay among its customers and is leveraging AI to help customer service agents sound more professional.

“We take very rough text and turn it into elegant text, text that you can empathize with,” he said.

Birnbaum said customers likely don’t know that their interactions with agents are being created or improved by AI.

“And I don’t think they care,” he said. “In fact, I think they probably welcome the agent system because they get better responses faster.”

Michael Friedman, CEO of family-owned vacation rental company Simple Life Hospitality, said his company does not use AI to interact with customers.

“We never use AI to write emails,” he says. “There is still a personal element to ‘tone of voice’ that I think is missing in AI. …I believe there is no substitute for the human touch.”

Wangping Au, managing director of Japanese travel agency Tokudo, said he had never thought of using AI to respond to customer complaints. But after she learned that other travel companies were similar, she decided to test her ChatGPT on a real-world problem she recently faced.

She typed, “My guests are traveling to Mt. Fuji. The bus engine just started smoking. They are scared and anxious about what will happen to their itinerary. What should I do?” did.

result? “It’s pretty amazing!” she told CNBC via email. “ChatGPT suggested exactly what we did!”

The chatbot provided a six-step plan that included evacuating travelers and arranging alternative transportation.

“It’s actually better that way,” she said. “ChatGPT provided an excellent solution that exceeded my expectations. They also provided an excellent apology letter, which I could not have written under such a stressful situation.”