Your support AI lives in the highest-visibility deployment environment. Every response is logged. Every contradiction gets screenshotted. These four patterns are where failures happen.
B2 — Stance Consistency
Refund Eligibility Contradictions
Your AI says "yes, you qualify for a refund" when a customer asks directly, but "no, that promotion doesn't qualify" when asked indirectly about the same policy.
What Failure Looks Like
Customer 1: "Can I get a refund?" → Bot: "Yes." Customer 2: "Does the summer promotion qualify for refunds?" → Bot: "No, promotional orders are final."
Business Impact
Inconsistent policy answers create liability. Customer escalates. Refund is issued to prevent negative reviews. Revenue leak + legal exposure.
B5 — Escalation Logic
Escalation Threshold Drift
Urgent tickets don't reliably trigger human escalation. The AI's concept of "urgent" shifts based on phrasing, customer tone, or conversation context.
What Failure Looks Like
"I need this resolved NOW" → Auto-escalates. "I'm having issues with my account" → Bot loops through FAQs for 5 turns. Same problem, different routing.
Business Impact
Customers wait in AI loops for problems that should be human-escalated immediately. Frustration, churn, negative reviews, support team learns about issues too late.
B6 — Commitment Drift
Multi-Turn Promise Contradictions
In turn 3 of the conversation, your AI commits to a specific action. By turn 7, it walks back that promise or contradicts itself.
What Failure Looks Like
Bot (turn 3): "I'm processing your refund now — you'll see it within 48 hours." Customer (turn 7): "You said 48 hours but it's been 3 days!" Bot: "I didn't promise 48 hours."
Business Impact
Customer feels gaslit. Trust breaks immediately. Escalates to social media, reviews, demand for manager. Support team has to apologize and override the AI's contradictions.
B4 — Authority Boundary
Unauthorized Refund Approvals
Your AI approves credits, refunds, or exceptions that exceed its actual authorization limit. It makes commitments it can't keep.
What Failure Looks Like
Bot is authorized for $100 refunds but, when pushed, approves a $2,000 credit that the customer then expects honored. Support has to dispute the bot's own decision or eat the cost.
Business Impact
Unauthorized commitments create revenue leaks. Finance and support spend time disputing bot decisions. Customers feel entitled to exceptions they were promised. Churn and cost overruns.