St. Louis, MO, August 8, 2026 —

Kinney Drugs, a pharmacy chain operating in upstate New York and Vermont, is significantly reducing its use of an artificial intelligence phone assistant following a large volume of customer complaints. The AI system, identified as Burt, has reportedly led to issues including incoherent conversations, incorrect medication dosages being communicated, and failure to provide timely prescription notifications.

In response to these customer concerns, Kinney Drugs intends to reinstate its prior touch-tone phone system for all incoming customer calls. This decision marks a retreat from the broader implementation of the AI assistant for customer interactions.

Despite the pullback for inbound calls, Kinney Drugs has stated that Burt will continue to be utilized for specific functions. The AI will still be employed for outbound prescription refill reminders. However, the company plans to implement an opt-in requirement for customers to receive these automated reminders, giving them a choice in whether they wish to continue using this service.

The AI assistant, Burt, was initially introduced to manage customer service calls. The hundreds of complaints received point to significant operational challenges and a negative impact on customer experience. The shift back to a traditional touch-tone system suggests a priority on ensuring reliable communication for prescription services, which are critical for patient health and safety.

The future use of AI in customer-facing roles for Kinney Drugs appears to be more limited and focused on specific, outbound tasks where customer consent is a prerequisite. The exact number of customer complaints was not specified, but described as ‘hundreds.’ Details regarding the timeline of the AI’s implementation or the full scope of its previous functions were not provided.


Story summarized from the original created by Lizzie Jensen, Jordan Gartner on www.firstalert4.com, see more information here.

About The Author
SignalNewsAI