Do Customers Mind Talking to an AI?
In short: customers mind an AI that can't understand them or won't let them get anywhere. This year's GP surgery stories show exactly that: patients who couldn't make an AI phone receptionist understand them simply hung up. What people want is simple: to know it's an AI, to be understood, to get an answer, and to get booked in, or to reach a person if they'd rather.
What went wrong at the GP surgeries
Several GP practices now put an AI receptionist on the phone line. Some patients haven't taken to it.
- Rotherham. Healthwatch Rotherham said the AI receptionist some local practices use doesn't cope well with regional accents or speech impediments. One patient told them: "I could never get it to understand me, I ended up just hanging up and not bothering to try and book an appointment" (Management in Practice, 25 Aug 2026).
- Armthorpe, near Doncaster. Judith Butterfield, 71, is a stroke survivor whose speech was affected. She tried five times to book a GP appointment. When she repeated her name, the system couldn't understand her and the call dropped. "It was very difficult and upsetting," she said. The surgery has since stopped using the system and taken on more reception staff (NR Times, 27 Aug 2026).
- Wantage, Oxfordshire. One patient said she waited 20 minutes before the practice's AI system decided it couldn't help her, and that it "puts you off ever bothering" (Resultsense, 15 Oct 2026, from a BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service story).
The other side
It isn't all bad news. The Wantage practice reported 79% positive feedback in the first month and says its system passed NHS checks. The company behind the Rotherham and Armthorpe system says more than 90% of patients report a better service (its own figure, which the report didn't check). Both systems can hand a caller over to a person.
So plenty of people are fine with it. The ones who aren't have the same few complaints.
What customers actually mind
Read those stories side by side and four things stand out. Here's each one, and how a Talking Website handles it.
- Not knowing it's an AI. Before your agent says a word, your customer confirms they know they're talking to an AI. They've chosen to talk, so nobody's caught off guard.
- Not being understood, especially names and numbers. When your agent books someone in, your diary comes up on screen. The customer taps a date and time, then types their own name, email and phone number. The details that matter most are typed by the person who knows them.
- Getting stuck. If a customer would rather speak to you, your agent books them a callback, so you ring them back knowing what they want.
- Getting nowhere. Your agent answers from everything you've told us about your business: what you do, where you cover, how you work. Once their questions are answered, your agent books them in, straight into your diary.
Hear it for yourself
The quickest way to judge is to do what your customers would. Talk to Ollie on our homepage and ask him anything. There's more on what your agent does in They talk. Your Talking Website books them into your diary.
A normal website lets customers walk. A talking website lets customers talk.
This post is part of Shop Window: AI for trades, in practice.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Most people mind an AI that can't understand them or won't let them get anywhere, not the AI itself. On a Talking Website they're told it's an AI before your agent speaks, they type their own details when booking, and they can ask for a callback from you.
Your agent books them a callback, so you can ring them back knowing what they want.
No. When your agent books them in, they pick a time on your diary and type their name, email and number themselves.
Want this working on your site?
Talk to Ollie on the homepage — same live voice agent your customers would use — and book a free strategy walk-through.
Talk to Ollie