‘They are more likely to help’: Airline won’t let woman change her boyfriend’s non-refundable flight. Then she tells them this

Navigating customer service can be frustrating at the best of times, but TikToker Ashley Bez (@dailybez) has a life hack that can make your experience as a customer a lot easier.

"Customer service reps have a bias that you can totally use to your advantage," she began. "So I discovered it because I was an assistant for so many years. I've had to call customer service on behalf of other people hundreds of times, and they treat you differently based on who you are in relation to the person that you're calling for."

Recently, she explained, she tried to get her boyfriend's non-refundable flight changed. When she initially called the airline's customer service, she identified herself as the customer's girlfriend."

"They wanted nothing to do with me," she said, with the customer service agent reiterating that the flight was non-refundable. Bez then explained how she called back and said she was the customer's wife. While the agents were "way nicer to [her]," they reiterated that the plane ticket was non-refundable.

She then called once more and said she was the customer's assistant. And it is then that Bez yielded results. "Not only did I get the flight changed, they gave him a slightly better seat," she revealed. "And I think that it's a subconscious bias because once you say assistant, they're like, 'Oh, that person's job is on the line,' and they're way more likely to help you."

"Now we're all living this life without assistants," she added. You can always be your own assistant. If you have to get something really big or really important done and you need to call customer service, make up a name, pretend you are your own assistant, and I promise you, they are way more likely to help you."

However, customer service reps in the comments section said that they implement a different kind of bias.

"Hey customer service rep here," one wrote. "The bias is whether or not you are kind to us. Do you treat us like a human person, or do you act like we OWE you something?"

"Working phone jobs, I was also fully biased toward people who were nice to me," another echoed.

"Former rep," a third added. "If you were polite, I had the time, you had the benefits, I would. I found asst. trying to overstep and pressure my team to get the 'works' . Bottom line, it's your approach."

The video amassed 476,300 views. Bez didn't immediately respond to the Daily Dot's request for comment via TikTok comment and email.

Watch on TikTok

What type of bias is this?

According to Forbes, customer service agents are susceptible to three types of unconscious bias: anchor bias, confirmation bias, and similarity bias. Anchor bias refers to biases based on previous interactions.

Confirmation bias is when customer service agents favor information that reinforces their previous beliefs about a customer. And finally, similarity bias is when customer service agents prefer to interact with customers who they think are most like them.

Arguably, the type of customer service bias we're seeing here is similarity bias. This is because the customer service agents might see assistants as similar to them, as they both work demanding roles, thus making them more agreeable towards assistants.

Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘They are more likely to help’: Airline won’t let woman change her boyfriend’s non-refundable flight. Then she tells them this appeared first on The Daily Dot.