AI chatbots are being adopted by management that wants to spend less money on employees, and employees who want to lighten their workload. But all this assumes that the software can actually correctly perform the tasks assigned to it. A Canadian BMW dealership recently discovered that this may be an expensive assumption.
As reported cbc newsFaced with a huge repair bill, Zack Giacomelli decided to sell his 2021 BMW X3 back to BMW Toronto, the dealership from which he purchased the used 2023 crossover. After contacting the dealership, he received a text from “Quinn” who asked questions about the X3 (which was at the dealership for the aforementioned repair work) and came back with an offer of $27,162.79 CAD. ($19,385.68 USD at current exchange rates).
This was great news for Giacomelli, as the offer was equal to the amount owed on the 31-year-old’s car. But shortly after, he received a call from a genuine seller and was told that the offer was not valid. He explained that “Quinn” was a chatbot – a fact of which Giacomelli was not aware during the conversation – and that she had made an error. The seller said the dealership was actually only willing to offer $20,000 Canadian – about $7,000 ($4,995 US) less than what the chatbot offered.
“I feel embarrassed, and I feel angry that I’m interacting with this bot,” Giacomelli said. cbc news. “If they’re going to replace their employees’ jobs with AI, they have to respect what the AI says.”
this is what the dealership did Contacted after CBC News. The $27,162.79 Canadian offer was reinstated by Giacomelli to “make it right,” sales manager Scott Shadbolt said in a phone interview with the media outlet. Shadbolt explained that, due to a miscommunication by a human employee, the chatbot misinterpreted the amount Giacomelli owed – $27,162.79 Canadian – as the amount the dealership was willing to pay.
In Canada, at least, companies can be held liable for mistakes made by chatbots. In 2024, Air Canada had to honor discounted fares because its chatbot gave a customer incorrect information, CBC News Notes. A lawyer consulted by the publication said that, even though Giacomelli did not accept the offer (he did make a slightly higher counter-offer), It was reasonable to think that an agreement was reached because the chatbot held a physical meeting, in which it was told “let’s close it at 3:30 today.”
Apart from the initial uncertainty about the outcome, it all went very well for Giacomelli. Not having to talk to a car salesman sounds great from a buyer’s perspective, especially when you can get free money from the AI chatbot’s mistakes. But if mistakes like this keep happening, efforts to replace human salespeople at dealerships with AI probably won’t last long.
