Omni-cancel

Imagine a week or so ago you booked a taxi by phone but accidentally got the dates wrong and had to cancel.

Typically, the scene plays out as follows:

1. Dial the taxi firm number
2. Explain to the call agent that you have a booking and wanted to cancel, you’d probably also give the reason why just to be polite
3. Provide some sort of details to match the record in their database; date and time of booking name, phone number etc.
4. Thank the call agent
5. Hang up

I was just told of this really interesting alternative:

1. Ring the taxi firm number
2. Listen to an automated recording listing the existing booking with options to a) cancel booking (press 1) etc.
3. Press 1
4. Hang up

Matching the telephone number you are calling on to the phone number against the booking and presenting a shortcut of options is a really neat idea.

You’d expect that kind of experience from an app or, God forbib, a chatbot but this is a refreshing example of a great omnichannel experience, especially for a telephone channel.

The taxi service in question is Brighton Taxis