What happens when the AI gets it wrong

It will get something wrong. Any honest provider will tell you that. If yours promises otherwise, ask what they do on the day it happens.

Wrong answers are most likely in the first weeks, while the agent is still working from what you remembered to tell it. So the useful question isn’t whether it makes mistakes. It’s what happens next.

Most mistakes are missing information

The agent says you close at eleven because nobody told it Thursdays are different. It quotes last month’s price because the menu wasn’t updated. In the early weeks, a wrong answer usually points at a gap in what the agent was given.

That is good news, because a gap can be closed. It is also why the agent should answer only from your own menu, prices and policies. An agent that fills gaps by guessing makes mistakes you can’t trace.

The customer needs a way out

Someone who asks for a person should get a person. No menus, no “did you mean,” no third attempt at the same answer. The same goes for someone who is clearly annoyed.

On Lazga, when a customer asks for a person or gets frustrated, the chat is flagged “Needs a person” and comes straight to you. Your phone gets the alert, with a button that says “I’ve got it,” and the customer is told someone is on it.

A person should step into the same chat

The worst handover is the one that starts over: a new number, a new agent, “can you explain the issue again?” The customer has already explained it.

Jump into a chat in your Lazga inbox and start typing. The AI pauses in that chat only, and every other chat carries on. The customer sees the same thread, with the whole conversation still there. When you’re done, one tap on “Hand back to agent” gives it back.

Plan for nobody answering

Handovers usually fail in a duller way than a wrong answer. The chat reaches a person, and the person is in the middle of dinner service with their phone in a pocket.

So decide in advance. In Lazga, a chat that was handed over and is still unanswered reminds the owner’s phone again, then reassures the customer, then returns to the assistant. You can change the waits, or switch it off.

Fix the answer, not just the chat

Apologising to one customer fixes one chat. Tomorrow the next customer asks the same thing and gets the same wrong answer, unless someone corrects the source.

Every wrong answer should end in one of three changes:

• A fact changed: update the hours, the menu or the price.
• A question was missing: add it to your common questions, with the answer you want used word for word.
• It said something it shouldn’t: add a rule in plain words, such as “Never promise a delivery time.” On Lazga, every reply is checked against your rules before it goes out.

This is how a wrong answer becomes a permanent fix. It doesn’t happen by itself, though. Someone has to make the change.

A routine for the first two weeks

• Pick one person to own it. If it’s everyone’s job, it’s no one’s.
• Each day, read a handful of real chats, and every chat that was handed to a person.
• Keep a short list of what was wrong, and fix it the same day.
• When the list stops growing, read less often. A check once a week is a reasonable place to settle.

What to say to the customer

Apologise once, correct it, and make it right. Don’t blame the bot. To the customer it’s your business that answered, and they’re right.

Sorry, we gave you the wrong closing time. We’re open until midnight tonight, and we can hold a table for you if you’d still like to come.

Three questions for any provider

Whoever you choose, ask these before you sign up:

• Where does it get its answers, and what does it do when it has none?
• How does a customer reach a person, and how will I know they’re waiting?
• When it’s wrong, where do I fix it, and how soon does the fix apply?

Our answers: your own menu, prices, policies and approved answers. A flag and an alert on your phone. And in your dashboard, where a change to your rules saves at once. If you want to see it for yourself, talk to us on WhatsApp.

Getting this right starts before launch. Here is what to get ready before an AI answers your WhatsApp.