30 days of Grok Bot: slow, and sometimes stuck

When your agent says it's done, go and look

After eight months and thousands of Hermes Agent sessions, the poster says his number one lesson is simple: the agent often says a job is finished when it isn't. His rule is to always go and look at the real result yourself, whether that's a file, a sent message or a changed setting. In earlier posts in the same series he adds two related habits: use plain, repeatable checks to confirm work instead of trusting the agent's summary, and never let it change everything at once. Back up first and try the change on one item.

$20 back when an order came without its case

The poster had his Grok Bot order an electric toothbrush from Walgreens. The listing said it came with a travel case, but the case wasn't in the box. The bot suggested asking for a partial refund instead of sending the whole thing back. It then opened the online chat on the Walgreens website, explained the problem and handled the whole conversation by itself. Walgreens gave him a $20 refund and he kept the toothbrush. It's a small win, but it's the kind of thing most people let slide because a support chat feels like more trouble than the money is worth. Asking for a partial refund on a missing part is often easier than a full return, and the store keeps the sale.

A duplicate pest control plan found and cancelled

The poster had been paying Terminix twice for the same house for two years and never noticed. His Grok Bot spotted the double charge, called Terminix, went through the phone menus, and then kept texting the company's support line until it was sorted out. He kept the plan he wanted, the duplicate was cancelled, and he says $834.34 is on its way back to him. He never had to pick up the phone himself. Note that the refund was still "headed back" when he posted, so it wasn't in his account yet. Duplicate service plans are easy to miss when a home service bills on autopay, especially after a move, a change of card or a sales call that opens a second account.

He says the duplicate was cancelled and $834.34 is headed back to him. The refund hadn't arrived yet when he posted.