Customer service AI is programmed to infuriate us

When I decided on a holiday to central Europe, I should have known that the ghost of Kafka might make an appearance, even though this was Vienna rather than Prague. I won't name the budget airline in question, but suffice to say this firm has a policy of whacking customers with a hefty penalty fee if they fail to check in on the app at least three hours before departure. On attempting this, however, the app informed me that I'd "overpaid by £8" and should contact customer service for a refund before proceeding. This hotline was expensive to call – so much so that it was bound to absorb the £8 pretty quickly, yet saying "I don't care if I overpaid slightly, just check me into the darn flight" wasn't an option either. Instead I was bounced from one automated customer service assistant to another, each dispensing bland and sometimes contradictory wisdom.