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Original poster

Rant about things being online only!

170 replies

Noseylittlemoo · 30/03/2022 10:15

My Uncle is almost 92 . He lives alone , independently without help even tho he is almost blind. He doesn't have or use a computer.
He loves gardening and as such signs up for his local council garden waste collections. Previously he has been able to phone a number at the council, giving his card details over the phone to pay for the service. However now they have gone online only so he phoned me to help.
I had to create an account - which obviously he will never use , putting in my email address for contact information. I asked him for his card details but then a one time pass code was needed and he is not familiar with this. So I had to change the mobile number on the account from his to mine and put in my own card details and he will give me the money. The whole process took about an hour when he could have called them and had it processed in 5 minutes.
It also angered me that he is eligible for a 25% reduction as he is over 65. But in order to get the reduced price he was supposed to upload proof of his age and obviously I don't have any of his ID or documentation. He is comfortably off and was happy to pay the full price because he was just stressed about getting it sorted.

Surely the council could look on his previous history to find his age or cross reference with other information held like the electoral register.
It just annoyed me that it took up both of our time and stress for something he could have done independently a lot quicker. There must be others in this situation too.
Rant over!

OP posts:

darlingdodo · 30/03/2022 20:33

MythicalBiologicalFennel I agree with your post entirely. I actually think we're walking into quite a dangerous situation - the current issues with Russia show that - we are extremely vulnerable with regard to our reliance on the internet and our online lives. It governs pretty much every aspect of our lives. This is not a good thing.

EmmaH2022 · 30/03/2022 20:41

Mythical "Laziness - I don't want a fucking app for everything I do in my life. It's not needed. Update your bloody website/ Facebook/ Instagram or maybe the sign on your front door. I went to a local leisure centre the other day and the staff at reception couldn't tell me when the pool opens. "It's all in the app". Staff are disempowered by this misuse of technology."

That last line is the point. Soon there won't be any front facing staff. That's the aim.

Pp said about not doing internet banking. I might withdraw from it myself. It seems to me that when I am forced to do it, I will have missed several boring iterations of "we're changing our website" etc.

I bank online via the web. I don't use banking apps. I don't understand apps generally. Why do people get excited about them? Probably a very stupid question but it seems like, if you enjoy faffing with tech, you like apps.

Fizbosshoes · 30/03/2022 21:14

I remember first using the Internet regularly in about 2003 so it's feasible people in their 80s might not have used it at work.
My FIL is 85 he has a computer and ipad and can use (to a limited degree) Facebook, YouTube, emails, Spotify and WhatsApp. He has a digital camera and puts his photos on the computer. He struggles with zoom because he is quite deaf. I would say he uses the Internet "passively" rather than actively, so he listens to songs on YouTube and Spotify etc. He occassionally updates Facebook. He doesn't buy or order things online and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to upload a document, so he's not doing interactive stuff.

My DC who have used tablets, then later phones or laptops since they were maybe around 8 find everything very intuitive. DH (late 50s) uses the Internet regularly (but again mostly passively - looking for news or sports results for example. He doesn't need it for work) often finds it harder to use than I do, and it doesn't seem at all intuitive for him. (Even websites which I think are very user friendly)

Fizbosshoes · 30/03/2022 21:43

I saw when I was last in WH smiths a book (like a diary) for noting down all your passwords. I mean in a sense it, it would be helpful - my kids school stuff alone involves 3 different parent platforms , and usernames and passwords for each child. And then a password for every other website you go on!....but it seems a very bad idea in terms of security!! All your usernames and passwords in one place.

NanTheWiser · 30/03/2022 21:46

This is the one time you wish the Daily Mail WOULD poach a thread from Mumsnet!

Original poster

Noseylittlemoo · 30/03/2022 21:57

Haha absolutely @NanTheWiser !

OP posts:

NanTheWiser · 30/03/2022 21:58

@Noseylittlemoo

Haha absolutely *@NanTheWiser* !

EmmaH2022 · 30/03/2022 22:29

@Fizbosshoes

Please tell me it's not three platforms for one school?

When people ask me "why don't you use whatsapp" i just think, seriously, why would I add yet another tech thing to my life?!

SilverGlitterBaubles · 30/03/2022 22:33

@NanTheWiser

This is the one time you wish the Daily Mail WOULD poach a thread from Mumsnet!

Absolutely. I mean of all the things they get worked up about you would think this would be a major issue.

Fizbosshoes · 30/03/2022 22:43

Please tell me it's not three platforms for one school?
Yes - one for school trips, one for payments and one for general communication (reports, absences, emails etc)

EmmaH2022 · 30/03/2022 22:49

@Fizbosshoes

Please tell me it's not three platforms for one school? Yes - one for school trips, one for payments and one for general communication (reports, absences, emails etc)

Good grief. For payments, do you mean it's not integrated?

I know MN move posts with petition links but do they do the same with emails?
If anyone wants to look, there's a campaign by the Post Office to save cash - with an email template for your MP.

The RSA produced this report today

inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/saving-and-banking/millions-set-to-struggle-in-a-cashless-society-as-the-regulator-is-urged-to-protect-access-to-cash-1545131

Let's hope we can delay the cashless society as long as possible.

Also, let's hope the DM get this thread! I read about the change to Waitrose offers on there. I don't have loyalty cards etc as I don't like them collecting data but I appreciate a lot of people are missing offers for no reason.

Carpediem15 · 30/03/2022 23:21

@MyDcAreMarvel

I have little sympathy for elderly people who are unable/unwilling to use the internet unless it’s due to a disability. An 85 year old now would have been 61 in 1998 hardly old or unable to learn a new skill.

This is absolute rubbish - my MIL was 71 in 2008 but only her grandson was the only one who had internet then. Certainly not us.

moonbedazzled · 31/03/2022 01:11

@MyDcAreMarvel

I just can't disagree more. I'm think I'm tech aware. I use laptop, mobile, alexa, control telly from outside house, etc. But I'm in my 60s and every year new tech comes out and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to make head or tail of it. It's difficult for me to work out if I need something or if it's just a gadget. At the moment I plough through reviews but my concentration level isn't as good as it was and techies use quite specialist language, so I find myself getting frustrated and soon give up. I dread to think what I'll be like in my 80s when I've stopped working. Yes, we'll probably still be able to shop online, but that will probably be antiquated technology by then and we'll be programming and sending out drones instead.

moonbedazzled · 31/03/2022 01:13

@Noseylittlemoo. Well done, Nosey, for not getting fobbed off and standing up for older people.

TooManyPJs · 31/03/2022 01:14

@RestingPandaFace

You could ask the council if the have complete and Equality Impact Assessment for moving the service online as part of their public sector equality duty, and what the mitigation measures are for someone such of your uncle with disabilities.

This. That is absolutely disgusting. I would also contact his local councillors.

M0m0aMmm · 31/03/2022 01:27

I've not had much luck recently

I popped to the local shop, to buy food to take into work. I tried to use the robot till. The till kept error ing, the manned till was busy. I swore several times & left all my shopping in the shop & stopped out ! I didn't want to be late for work.

I was visiting another town. The parking had signs advising that it didn't accept coins. I couldn't be bothered with yet another parking payment app. I left & went somewhere else.

Older people than myself really struggle
I know, because, I too have had to sort things out

EmmaH2022 · 31/03/2022 01:29

Moon "It's difficult for me to work out if I need something or if it's just a gadget"

You know if you need something though? They're all just gadgets but I admit, I cannot imagine having something like Alexa in my home. I think it's great for disabilities etc but 99% of what's around, I don't need. The 1% is for a need that's been created i.e. can't actually get a doc to call without doing e consult.

FindingMeno · 31/03/2022 01:52

Sometimes now it seems going out to eat involves something to do with those square thingies you have to scan (?).
I'm not sure where you can learn how to do these things.
And if you only have limited understanding you are completely open to doing stuff wrong like clicking on dodgy links.
Not everyone works with computers.

EmmaH2022 · 31/03/2022 01:55

@FindingMeno

Sometimes now it seems going out to eat involves something to do with those square thingies you have to scan (?). I'm not sure where you can learn how to do these things. And if you only have limited understanding you are completely open to doing stuff wrong like clicking on dodgy links. Not everyone works with computers.

QR codes? I don't eat out much but think I saw them at Wagamama.

My phone doesn't do those. I don't have a pricey phone. Hopefully we won't be forced into them.

MrsPsmalls · 31/03/2022 02:00

[quote MyDcAreMarvel]**@Thewindwhispers* Clearly you’ve never tried to teach an OAP how to use a computer. I have, and it was near impossible, they couldn’t even control the mouse. In the end all that I achieved was they could play computer scrabble.*
I have but that’s irrelevant did you read my post. The internet has been mainstream since circa 1998 before they were elderly. They have had years of choosing not to learn.[/quote]
It would be a rare 85 year old (in fact none I have ever met) who has managed to avoid all of the following... dementia, age related memory loss, arthritis, visual impairment, tremor, mobility impairment or nerve damage in fingers and hands. All 85 year olds have disabilities.Thats why we let them retire, give them bus passes, free prescriptions and why we should not be disabling them more by deliberately in many cases making things difficult to access, in the hope that they don't

BritInAus · 31/03/2022 02:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn - posted on wrong thread.

sashh · 31/03/2022 03:03

Make a formal request under the Equality Act, they need to make a 'reasonable adjustment' and as a PP mentioned they should have done an impact assessment.

They need to think about things more, one of my friends at uni is epileptic, at one point she was not to use a computer for a few weeks so she called the uni library to renew her books - nope they could only do it on line.

Fizbosshoes · 31/03/2022 07:05

@BritInAus
I suspect you might have accidentally replied to a different thread?

BritInAus · 31/03/2022 07:10

[quote Fizbosshoes]@BritInAus
I suspect you might have accidentally replied to a different thread?[/quote]
Thanks so much! I'll copy it to the relevant thread and delete here.

axolotlfloof · 31/03/2022 07:38

@Noseylittlemoo

I finished Uni in 2000. Only 2 of my friends had mobile phones. I wrote a lot of my essays by hand and typed on wordprocessor . Most research was still books /films and I wasn't backward this was normal for a lot of students . So I agree 1998 was not when the Internet became the way of life!

The council should definitely be providing a telephone service for garden waste payments.

I am shocked how different your uni experience was to mine though. I graduated in 1997. Everyone had an email address allocated when we started. All essays were done on computer, although the research was largely in the library.
I had a mobile in 1995 (although mainly for when my car broke down) although most people didn't.
Interesting to see this wasn't the norm re computers and uni.

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