To make tech work for human well-being

This is from The Intersection column that appears every other Monday in Mint. A moment after I had ordered tea, I noticed that the promised delivery time changed from 10 minutes to 45. I looked for the familiar button to cancel the order, but it was no longer there. Navigating my way through the delivery app to customer service, which now didn’t have the familiar option to chat or speak with a support executive, I arrived at a chatbot that did not have an option to cancel the order. Finally, after typing “I want to cancel the order” three times, it informed me that the cancellation charge was 100% of the order. The options that I had until recently had been taken away to the advantage of a big listed food delivery company. I, the consumer, was disempowered, left ruing the senselessness of paying for tea that had not even been prepared and would arrive long after I’d left home. After complaining on social media (and receiving the usual corporate-speak response), I used the Union…