Sinéad Ryan is right: it should not be hard to change a broadband provider, renew an insurance policy or simply find out what we are actually paying for (It shouldn’t be this hard to switch over your broadband and TV subscriptions, Irish Independent, September 7).
The irony is that digitalisation was supposed to remove this administrative burden, yet somehow the consumer has become the unpaid employee of every company they deal with.
I recently tried to terminate the broadband at our holiday home in Donegal, only to discover that no human being appeared to work at the company – just a menu offering to connect me to a menu.
By the time I finally cancelled it, my language would not have passed muster in a national newspaper, which is perhaps the clearest evidence yet that this system is not designed with the customer in mind.
There is a wider economic lesson here. Businesses increasingly compete not merely by offering a better product, but by making it difficult for customers to leave.
Introductory offers, automatic renewals, labyrinthine websites and endless “press one” menus all exploit the same scarce commodity – our time.
My suspicion is that this is about to change. AI will eventually make comparison and switching almost instantaneous. Instead of spending an afternoon negotiating with three broadband companies, we will simply tell an AI agent: “Find me the best package for what I actually use, switch me if necessary, and make sure I don’t pay more next year.”
The interesting consequence is that customer inertia may become an obsolete business model. Companies will have to win our custom continuously rather than hoping we are too exhausted to leave.
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh
Huge congratulations to Sligo GAA inter-county star Nicola Brennan, who has been named as the new manager of Melvin Gaels men’s intermediate football team.
This is the first time a female manager will lead a men’s adult club team in Co Leitrim.
It is an inspiring and long-overdue moment for the sport, echoing a powerful shift we are seeing globally, with Bundesliga side Union Berlin shattering glass ceilings by introducing Marie-Louise Eta as manager of the Berlin club.
Tactical brilliance and leadership know no gender. The best football minds belong on the sideline, end of. Best of luck to Nicola and the Melvin Gaels squad for the remainder of the Intermediate Championship.
Cian Guckian, Dublin