I’ve been making my way through an issue accessing my ChatGPT Pro account for the past week. To make this a more pleasant experience for me I’ve copied the support thread into NotebookLM and have unexpectedly (OK, I was hoping this would happen) co-produced an amazing advice podcast on how to provide great customer service. It really is a 10 minute how-to on exceptional customer support practices.
Apologies to OpenAI. I’ve made an example out of you and it’s not fair. It could be almost any large organization’s customer support responding in this way.
I have to say the OpenAI support folks are, I believe, genuinely trying to help. They are just missing the mark in a few areas. The questions they have asked are not helping get to the core of the problem and they are collectively displaying a case of expert bias, more commonly called the “curse of knowledge”. They asked me for a HAR file at one point – actually 2 points in the journey. A HAR file?!
NotebookLM on the other hand has done a great job of capturing the improvable bits of the technical support experience. NotebookLM has generated a timeline, including a cast of characters (I actually changed the support folks names – all 5 – as this isn’t on them so much as it’s on the organization). I won’t share the entire timeline, partly because it is way too long, but here is the Cast of Characters section. I love how well NotebookLM captures the sequence and key details. Below the Cast of Characters is the Briefing Doc which outlines what has been done and possible next steps – which I will share with OpenAI support.
Cast of Characters:
Jamie Billingham:
Bio: A paying ChatGPT Plus customer encountering persistent login issues on her primary computer. She is technically proficient and has taken extensive troubleshooting steps, displaying increasing frustration with OpenAI support’s repetitive and unhelpful responses.
Role: The protagonist of the situation, actively seeking resolution to her technical issue.
OpenAI Support Team:
OpenAI (S0): The initial automated email response, offering generic troubleshooting advice.
S0: Sends a customer satisfaction survey.
S1: The first human support agent Jamie interacts with. Requests screenshots and eventually escalates the case. Struggles to understand Jamie’s issue despite provided details.
S2: Takes over the case and requests a HAR file for investigation.
S3: Covers for Eloise, analyzes the HAR file, and suggests allowing specific domains. Doesn’t seem to fully grasp the nuances of Jamie’s situation.
S4: Confirms the list of domains and provides further instructions for allowlisting.
S5: Misunderstands Jamie’s question about her Google account and offers irrelevant advice. Continues to provide generic troubleshooting despite Jamie’s clear explanations.
Other:
Zapier: A third-party automation tool that Jamie uses to successfully access ChatGPT, highlighting the browser-specific nature of the issue.
Google: Jamie has both a personal and a paid business account, with the latter possibly implicated in the login issues on one of her Chrome browsers.
This cast of characters shows the escalating frustration of a customer interacting with a large company’s support system and the challenges in conveying nuanced technical issues.
Briefing Doc:
Jamie Billingham’s ChatGPT Login Issues
Date: October 20, 2024
Summary: This document outlines the ongoing technical issues experienced by Jamie Billingham, a paid ChatGPT Plus subscriber, regarding accessing her account through a specific Chrome browser on her personal computer.
Key Facts & Timeline:
- October 13, 2024: Jamie reports an “invalid_request” error preventing login to ChatGPT through any browser on her PC, despite successfully accessing the platform via the mobile app and Zapier.
- Troubleshooting: Jamie undertakes extensive troubleshooting steps including clearing cache/cookies, disabling security software, updating browsers, and attempting login from a different computer (successful).
- OpenAI Support Interaction: OpenAI support representatives provide initial troubleshooting advice, request screenshots and HAR files, and eventually escalate the case to a specialized team.
- October 15-19, 2024: OpenAI suggests allowing all ChatGPT-related URLs, which Jamie implements.
New Error: While the original error disappears, Jamie encounters a new error preventing prompt submission in one specific Chrome browser, despite successfully logging in and using another Chrome browser on the same machine. This browser is associated with a paid Google business account. - October 20, 2024: Jamie shares a video demonstrating the new error: successful login and one response followed by an inability to submit further prompts.
Main Themes & Observations:
Persistent and Evolving Issue: Jamie’s login issues have persisted for over a week, evolving from a complete login block to a partial functionality issue. This suggests a complex underlying problem.
Specificity of Error: The fact that ChatGPT works on Jamie’s phone, work computer, through Zapier, and even in a separate Chrome browser on the same PC points to a localized issue within one specific browser configuration.
Potential Google Business Account Conflict: The unique characteristic of the problematic browser is its association with a paid Google business account. Jamie’s question, “Is there something about a paid Google account that would somehow block something with ChatGPT?” remains unanswered.
Communication Challenges: OpenAI support responses have sometimes lacked personalization, repeating previously attempted solutions and failing to fully address Jamie’s evolving situation.
Quotes:
Initial Error Message: “invalid_request: You may have pressed the back button, refreshed during login, opened too many login dialogs, or there is some issue with cookies, since we couldn’t find your session.”
Jamie’s Frustration: “Sorry, your suggestions don’t make any sense or have already been tried and reported to you many times. Can you please escalate this?”
Jamie’s Key Question: “Is there something about a paid Google account that would somehow block something with ChatGPT?”
Next Steps:
- OpenAI needs to investigate the potential conflict between the Google business account and ChatGPT functionality within the affected browser.
- OpenAI support should demonstrate a deeper understanding of Jamie’s specific case, tailoring advice and solutions accordingly.
- Jamie should explore changing browser settings related to her Google business account, focusing on cookie handling and security configurations.
Conclusion:
Resolving Jamie’s issue requires OpenAI to delve into the unique browser environment and potential Google business account interactions to identify the root cause and implement a tailored solution. Clearer communication and more personalized support are crucial to addressing Jamie’s frustration and providing a satisfactory customer experience.
There are of course more questions I can ask in NotebookLM but I doubt it will solve the issue. And this is more about the state of technical support especially in an age when chatbots are about to take over much of this kind of work work. I really hope organizations seize the opportunity to shift the workload and in doing so allow their support humans to exercise their abilities to connect on a human level, show empathy and ask better questions.
Update:
Somewhat ironically I was able to access ChatGPT through an incognito window in the problem browser and it walked me through some step-by-step troubleshooting that seems to have solved the problem. So kudos ChatGPT!