Anyone else miss just turning up?

[sunhasgotthis]

These days it feels like you've got to download an app to book in a fart! I really miss just turning up somewhere, paying, without everything shoehorned into tight slots.

DP hasn't cottoned on to this yet so I am frequently in an anxious state reminding him that we need to book!

Have just been talking about this tonight and yes! Tje freedom to just decide you fancy doing g something then yhe online checking and booking tales the fun out of it. The number of times we've booked tables and activities and turned up and so many spare places. X

@FinnJuhl
I was massively relieved when the council removed the Covid-era requirement for booking a slot at the local tip - that was soul-destroying.

We've still got a booking system in Birmingham, and there are no plans for it to be removed.

It drives me crazy when I've got loads of stuff to take, my PA has helped load the car for me on Tuesday morning and I'm hoping I can get a slot within the next few hours (sometimes possible but you used to be able to just show up and sit in the queue if it was busy, although it was rarely busy in the middle of the day, mid-week), and the system says the earliest you can have a slot is at 6pm on Friday, so I have to either unload it all or drive around with everything until that really inconvenient slot arrives.

I've even driven past the tip at the time I wanted to go, and there's been no queue, so they're clearly not overrun, but they won't let you in without an appointment, or even 10mins either side of your allocated 15min slot.

I like not having to queue for ages to get in somewhere that’s clearly too full and crowded.

I’ve booked things and still had to queue/found it crowded!

I actually like the ability to go online and check stock availability in a shop before wasting time, petrol and parking charges to go to a shop to find they’re out of stock.

If there are very few units in a store it’s likely you won’t find the actual item though. POS systems tend to update overnight & often small lines of stock gets shoved in random places/off the shop floor.

I'm more cynical and presume getting customers do do things via an app (eg ordering food) means businesses need to employ fewer staff.

absolutely

And as mentioned upthread, even 20 years ago, you had to book Santa Special steam trains several months in advance by phone as soon as the phone booking lines opened. Now you have to do it online

I never had to book Christmas things in August 20 years ago, Many attractions would not even have had websites or online booking systems set up 20 yrs ago! I mean PayPal only launched around 20 yrs ago...

We've got millions more people in the country (though population increase is also a problem throughout European popular places).

Population growth has been driven by people living longer & immigration. The natural population is expected to start declining very soon due to low birth rates so any future growth will only be due to immigration.

Shortage of staff is a problem in leisure & hospitality at the moment.

That’s true, we don’t have enough workers in certain industries. We need those immigrant workers!

Where I stay, they have decided to keep it, and you are also limited to the number of times you go.

They’ve just brought that back to ours 😭😭😭

I saw a TikTok video the other day of someone saying they miss not having to book cinema tickets, and loads of people in the comments were disagreeing, citing that they don’t miss having to queue up for tickets or not being able to sit with their friends. I was really surprised!

Granted, this was an American video, but prior to Covid I’d only ever had to book in advance if it was a really popular film, like Avengers Endgame or something. Even then it wasn’t absolutely essential. I’ve also never had to queue up for cinema tickets in my life. It could just be the area I live in the though?

We use a tip that never had a booking system, even at the height of Covid. It's really well managed with easy parking, plenty of room to get in and out, well marked skips and a traffic light at the end of the road. Obviously if you go at busy times you have to queue, but if you avoid these it's really quick, particularly as the staff are willing to help if you have something heavy such as a fridge to unload. They don't charge for large items either. Apparently they've found at other tips that people will flytip if they can't leave things easily.

The thing that I am happy to book well in advance is my online Christmas shopping delivery which I can book in October. However I did this one year and then they started cancelling essential items which I'd had in my basket for months, I think it was Waitrose as I'd had to place a firm order for them as they were in the Entertaining section and needed booking in advance.

@angela1952
You're apparently really lucky if you live near a tip that doesn't have booked slots. I'm 1.5 miles from my local tip (pretty fortunate it's so close), but it's a real pain if you're having a bit of a clear out, or the binmen haven't collected this week, and you have to wait days for a slot, when you could have just dumped it all in the car, nipped round to the top and been home in half an hour (back in the good old days).

I no longer bother with online groceries, especially at xmas, because I've had so many short dated items, stupid substitutions and essentials removed from deliveries (especially on xmas eve), so I prefer to spend 90 mins-2hrs actually getting in the car, driving to the supermarkets and walking around picking up the items myself, so I know I've got what I want and can choose my own cooked/raw meats, fruit and veg, and know they'll last more than 2 days.

Yes I really miss it!!
Everything is micromanaged nowadays.
And it's got even worse since covid.

And if you have more than tip one load you sometimes have to wait to book a second slot, not much use if you’ve been doing heavy annual shrub pruning.
i just hate really busy supermarkets so I prefer online at Christmas but you’re right about missing items and subscriptions, I often have to go anyway to pick up things that need. I have limited freezer space but they’re not perishable I get them in advance.

Similar here with Christmas deliveries. No longer bother. I started getting them a couple of days beforehand so I had time to go and buy stuff that wasn't delivered or was too short dated, but it got ridiculous, so I just get the non perishables delivered a week or so beforehand and have reverted back to physically going to the supermarket for fresh stuff and perishables a couple of days beforehand so I can choose my own, get longer dated stock, choose my own substitutions etc.

I can't undertand why pickers would choose fresh stuffing or pigs in blankets with a use by date of 23 December when it's blindingly obvious they're probably needed for Christmas Day! Likewise with fresh cream, etc. The mind boggles.

Stupid really, because when that happens, if I notice I gave back to the driver for refund or if not, I take to the store for refund, so they end up losing money because they can't be resold. So surely the store managers should be telling the pickers to check dates are as long as possible? Or is that too sensible?? The refunds they have to absorb the cost for must be huge. (Or do people just keep them and not bother?)

Putting your bank details 'in a phone' is not a thing and is not how it works! 😂 When you enter your card details it is all encrypted and the company you're buying from don't even get to see a single digit of it and those that do, only see the final 4 digits which is of no use to anyone!

My elderly DM worked in online banking and even she uses it just fine on her iPad. How on earth do you think all the other billions of people in the western world manage it just fine?

@allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld Also, if your phone is stolen, even if the thieves can get onto your phone, they absolutely cannot gain access to your card numbers! I use Apple wallet and it requires my FACE to be in front of the camera in order to open and even then, it only shows the final 4 digits of each card number - which as I said before, is useless to anyone. It's highly, highly secure. I'd wager it's a hell of a lot more secure than carrying your cards in your handbag! I mean, what if that is stolen as all your cards are there! 😂😂😂

I agree with that. I feel a lot more secure by not carrying any cards and using Apple Wallet for everything, i.e. all debit and credit cards, store cards, the lot really.

My iphone is locked without face recognition or entering the 6 digit passcode and/or fingerprint. That's for the cards stored in Apple Wallet and all the online banking apps.

If my iphone is lost or stolen, I can buy a new phone and restore everything back onto it easily within a couple of hours and be back up and running again. If I was to carry cards and have them lost or stolen, I can cancel them via the banking apps immediately as soon as I realise and no one else can use them from that moment onwards. Banking protection rules mean even if they are used (only for contactless as pin number would be needed for anything else), my losses are limited. I can use the bank apps to change the limits of the contactless, which gives me even more control at my fingertips.

I made the big decision to move everything to Apple Wallet a few years ago. I was in Rome and got my purse pick pocketed. Not only did I lose all the cash, it also meant I had to spend several hours phoning the card companies to get the cards stopped and arrange for re-issues. A right pain in the arse as it's not just phoning to say they've been nicked. Each bank wants different information, i.e. last time I used each card, how much for, as well as having to go through security questions and all kinds of other questions. Then some told me I'd have to wait until I got back home before I had to phone them again to have the cards reissued as they wouldn't reissue whilst I was abroad, even though I was coming home in two days time and would be back home when the new cards arrived - computer says no! As I say, not only loss of cash, but a right pain the arse having to phone different banks.

Much better to leave my cards at home and just touch my iPhone against card readers etc and far more secure with fingerprints, face recognition and passcode protection.

Wow rude. I go to a shop to browse clothes and if I see something I like then, I look for my size so I can try it on. I might even need to try 2 sizes.
They may have a point if you go in already knowing you want an exact item.

I like ordering food and drinks in a pub/restaurant via app. No one mishearing what I said and no being away from friends while I wait in a queue. They are always the worst queues as not a single line but a scrum along the bar with people pushing in.
I went to a theme park recently and got email confirmation but could only access my tickets via an app. I uninstalled app after visit as I will run out of space on my phone.
I always choose guest checkout when available. So annoying to keep setting up another account.
I too, miss spontaneity. I don't always know in advance. I guess companies like it though, because they wouldn't be busy on a rainy day if it's an outside event etc.

Can't even go to our local rubbish tip without booking first.

I went into a Beefeater and got asked if I'd booked. Then then told me they were only taking booked customers. So I went outside and booked a table for half an hour's time. Went back, had a drink and got seated 15 minutes early in a pretty empty restaurant...

Now I just refuse to eat in anywhere that insists I need to book via their app...

It's also hellish if you care for someone who doesn't know how they'll be on a particular day. We can't just go swimming or to a museum anymore.

It's also hellish if you care for someone who doesn't know how they'll be on a particular day. We can't just go swimming or to a museum anymore.

Anyone with a fluctuating condition I guess?

Obviously we have less of a problem with stores that pick from warehouses. Ocado is OK (and M&S from them) but Waitrose isn’t as they pick from stores so run out of stock.