{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-12T08:04:56.140Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"vendor-acknowledged","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"unknown","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":0,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-united-airlines-chatbot-told-customer-travel-credit-lasted-five-years-airline-acknowledged-wrong-answer","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'she turned to a United Airlines chatbot for help understanding a $200 travel credit'; 'the chatbot told her the credit would remain active for five years'; 'stays active for 5 years from the date it'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"NBC 5 Chicago reports that a customer asked a United Airlines chatbot how long a $200 travel credit would last and that the chatbot said it would remain active for five years from deposit, as a screenshot the customer provided shows.","causal_attribution":"The customer's account and screenshot as described by the station; the airline later acknowledged the wrong answer (c4)."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'a few weeks later, she received an email from United warning that her TravelBank cash would expire in a matter of months'; 'The email stated that her $200 credit was set to expire on September 27, 2026.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"NBC 5 Chicago reports that a few weeks later United emailed the customer that the $200 credit was set to expire on 27 September 2026.","causal_attribution":"Reported by the station from the customer's email."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'United apologized for the confusion and told her the travel credit could not be extended'; 'had hoped to save the credit for a larger trip'; 'she learned she had only months to use it before it expired'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The customer says United at first apologised and said the credit lasted one year and could not be extended, so the customer, who had hoped to save it for a larger trip, had only months to use it.","causal_attribution":"The customer's account of the consequence."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'AI chatbot provided this customer with the wrong information for her situation.'; 'we do provide a disclaimer informing customers that information may not always be complete or relevant'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"United told NBC 5 Responds that its AI chatbot provided the customer with the wrong information for the customer's situation, and that it shows a disclaimer that information may not always be complete or relevant.","causal_attribution":"The operator's own acknowledgement, quoted by the station."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The airline ultimately provided her with an electronic travel certificate.'; 'a $200 travel certificate for the inconvenience she experienced'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"After NBC 5 Responds contacted United, the airline sent the customer a $200 travel certificate.","causal_attribution":"Reported by the station."}],"effects":[{"label":"travel credit found to expire within months after the chatbot said it lasted five years","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"airline acknowledged the chatbot error and issued a $200 travel certificate after a media inquiry","claim_id":"c5","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.nbcchicago.com/consumer/ai-chatbots-are-taking-over-customer-service-but-how-often-are-they-wrong/3989958/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-12 from the publisher page; no translation was needed and the research agent (an AI) read the text directly. The article quotes the customer, describes a screenshot the customer provided, and quotes a United statement given to the station.","independence_group":"nbc5-chicago-responds-united-chatbot"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["When the chatbot exchange took place.","Where the customer lives.","Whether the customer would have lost the credit without the media inquiry.","Which policy applied to the funds; United says expiry varies with how funds were received."],"geography":{"basis":"The article, from a Chicago station, does not say where the customer lives or used the chatbot; no country is inferred from the station, the airline or the currency.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete adverse experience with a customer-service chatbot: the chatbot's quoted answer about a travel credit was wrong, the operator acknowledged the error, and the customer faced an early expiry until the operator compensated after a media inquiry. Claims are attributed to the station, the customer and the airline.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The station describes a screenshot in which United's chatbot told the customer that the $200 TravelBank credit stays active for five years from deposit, and United itself told the station that its AI chatbot gave the customer wrong information. The report connects that answer to the customer finding the credit would expire within months and being told at first that it could not be extended.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"United Airlines chatbot told a customer a $200 travel credit lasted five years; the airline later said it gave wrong information and issued a certificate","summary":"NBC 5 Chicago reported on 16 September 2026 that a customer asked a United Airlines chatbot how long a $200 TravelBank travel credit would remain usable and was told it stayed active for five years from deposit, as a screenshot the customer provided shows. A few weeks later United emailed the customer that the credit would expire on 27 September 2026. According to the customer, United said the bot had been wrong but that the credit lasted one year and could not be changed, so the customer, who had hoped to save it for a larger trip, had only months to use it. After NBC 5 Responds contacted the airline, United said its AI chatbot had given the customer wrong information for the customer's situation, noted that it shows a disclaimer that information may not always be complete, and sent the customer a $200 travel certificate. The report does not say when the chatbot exchange took place.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-09-16","aiSystem":"United Airlines customer-service AI chatbot answering a question about a TravelBank travel credit","aiProduct":"United Airlines chatbot","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"NBC 5 Chicago reports that a United Airlines chatbot told a customer a $200 travel credit lasted five years when it expired within months, leaving the customer facing an early loss of the credit and a dispute until the airline, after the station's inquiry, acknowledged the error and issued a $200 certificate.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the customer who asked the chatbot about the travel credit and was told it lasted five years. Exact 1. The forum complaint the article mentions about another customer is not counted because it is not described beyond one sentence.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.nbcchicago.com/consumer/ai-chatbots-are-taking-over-customer-service-but-how-often-are-they-wrong/3989958/","primarySourceLabel":"NBC 5 Chicago, 16 September 2026: AI chatbots are taking over customer service. But how often are they wrong?","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-12T03:22:22.061314+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:22:22.061314+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["customer-service-chatbot","airline","wrong-information","travel-credit","vendor-acknowledged"]}]}