People are venting their frustration at Telstra’s new customer service bot Codi, which has major trouble understanding even simple requests, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Before Codi was introduced, human customer service agents were available on the online chat module for help, which is operational 24/7.

It’s not clear when Codi picks up the chat rather than a human customer service agent.

When Business Insider attempted to use the chatbot, we were directed to a human customer service agent. We asked if Codi was still in operation, and were told that “he was still available from time to time”.

Other Telstra customers haven’t been so lucky to make contact with a human when they needed help, venting about their frustrating exchanges with the bot on social media.

One the most common complaints is that Codi doesn’t seem to understand the simplest of requests, and gets stuck in a loop.

Twitter user @parisba had to ask to chat to a human 15 times, and still couldn’t get through. He posted a transcript of the frustrating conversation.

A spokesman told the Herald that the bot was introduced as a “a digital self-service channel provided as a further engagement option for customers.”

Human agents have commented on some of the social media posts, directing customers to call the help line.

The SMH has more here.

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