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Why does the bot answer “Sorry, I can’t understand you”?

Sometimes your bot answers “Sorry, I can’t understand you”. This is the expected behavior in case the bot has no idea what to do next.

Why does this happen?​

This is not an error, but the expected behavior in case bot doesn’t know what to do.

Your bot can only give a meaningful answer if the script has the user’s question.

For example, you have a chatbot that answers user’s questions about your online store. Your script can provide information about the range of your goods, or shipping and delivery. But when the user asks about refunds, the bow won’t know what to say unless you have added the information to the script, and will answer “Sorry, I can’t understand you”.

Most probably the reason is, you have forgotten to use the Intents block properly.

It might also be that you have added the Intents block, but haven’t turned on the “Make the block available from any script point” option. This option lets the bot refer to the intent no matter which point in the dialog this is.

What should I do?​

There are a few ways you can resolve this:

  • add an Intents block to every screen and add the intents you need
  • create a “global” Intents block. This means, you create an intents block and make it available from any script point. Then you add to this block the intents that should work at any moment of the dialog. Thus, no matter when the user asks a question you’ve added to a global intent, the bot will know how to react.

Other intents​

You might have noticed while adding an Intents block that there’s an option called “Other intents”.

If, indeed, the user has asked something you did not foresee, the bot will choose this option and react accordingly. For example, instead of “Sorry, I can’t understand you” the bot can answer “Please, tell me what exactly you want to buy”.

If you’ve done everything correctly, but the bot still answers “Sorry, I can’t understand you”, check, where exactly in the script you are getting this answer. Most likely, you haven’t made the connection between two blocks and the bot doesn’t know how to react.

Change the message​

We usually recommend building your script in a way that the bot doesn’t answer “Sorry, I can’t understand you”. But it might still happen. For this case, we’ve provided you with the option to change this phrase to any other.

To change the phrase, go to your bot settings and switch to the last tab called In case any problems occur. There, you can see different responses the user will get in case something doesn’t quite go right. Change the phrase “Sorry, I can’t understand you”. You can also add other options. The bot will randomly choose one during the dialog.

For example you can add a short instruction for the user on how to resume the dialog.