We’ve often said that it’s not really a good idea to post on social media or e-mail a company while you are physically standing in their store or restaurant, and talking to a person is a better alternative. Here’s a possible exception to that from the TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon: a text-messaging service that uses a combination of bots and customer service chat reps to let you text for help from within Walmart.

This presumes, of course, that you get any phone reception from inside Walmart, which can be dicey at my local stores. Here’s the basic idea, though: you text a number posted in the store with your question, and the service texts you back with an answer provided either from the store’s data or from a live representative. The idea is to spend less time in the store and more time actually finding the things that you’re looking for and getting out.

“I want to get my hot Cheetos and get right out,” one of the developers of the project said, expressing how most people feel about Walmart.

While there’s no substitute for asking a live employee for help, it could help answer some basic queries, assuming that the combination of artificial intelligence and remote chat representatives could actually get facts correct.

While customers might not want to download an entire app for some initial help, the text exchange could then encourage shoppers to download the store’s shopping app.

Walmart Simple Text Could Be Walmart’s Version Of Magic [TechCrunch]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.