Ideally, a customer service chatbot should handle issues without a human having to dial a phone or talk to another of its kind. But ever since Verizon added Gemini integration to its Verizon Assistant, customers have been desperate to deal with real people, as Android Headlines has discovered.
In June, Verizon announced that it added Google’s Gemini to the MyVerizon app to the assistant for “greater transparency and control, giving consumers the ability to easily become a customer, manage upgrades, add new lines, ask billing questions, take advantage of savings, and more.”
The latest issue comes just six months after Verizon reported losing 289,000 subscribers in the first quarter of the year.
Customers unable to get out of SOS mode have been advised to “use Wifi and not use the cellular network.”
And while Verizon touted a feature called Savings Boost, when Reddit user Nextp2w confronted the Verizon Assistant with, “T-Mobile is offering to pay off my phone balance and give me better coverage,” it offered no negotiation or incentives, answering only, “Sorry. I am unable to help you with that.”
One customer who repeatedly answered “Yes” to the chatbot asking them “I see you are frustrated, would you like to be connected to a live agent?” had their account flagged as possible fraud.
When I grew up, I thought science would have advanced to the point where scientists could clone dinosaurs and other extinct species. All we have now is enough scientific advancement to make my uncle yell slurs at an AI-powered customer service chatbot at the Verizon store.
— Alex Hevesy (@venomlance.bsky.social) 2025-07-21T16:56:17.504Z
Complaints about the chatbot have spread across social media, from Bluesky to X. While frustration with customer service is certainly nothing new, adding the contentious element of AI to it is only fueling customer anger and could cost Verizon some cash.
