To be totally sick of modern technology and having to do so much online

[Lifeomars]

i have been almost reduced to screaming and crying over the past three days due to almost everything having to be dealt with online.

!. I ordered some hair straighteners online from Boots, all fine and dandy. I got a text from Royal Mail saying they would be delivered on 26 Nov and giving me the tracking details. They never showed up and tracking showed them as being at sorting centre. This message showed every day for the following week, trying to track it online did not work. Going onto Boots website had a piece of info saying not to contact them until 7 working days had elapsed without them turning up. 7 days passed and I went back on the Boots site .After a good few minutes of scrolling through rather unclear information I then had to engage with a bot to try and explain what was happening (or not happening in my case). The box to enter my order number in would not work and after trying for 20 mins and feeling like ripping my (unstraightened) hair our I tried to use the email facility. This took another 10 minutes as all you are allowed to do is scroll though to find the option. It keeps trying to divert you to their FAQ but in the end I managed to fill it in. The whole process was hideous and I kept thinking that a 5 minute conversation with a human being would have sorted it out.

2, Today I had a message from my phone provider EE saying I had exceeded my "spend cap". I have been with them for two years and was not even aware that I had one. Can't phone them as I now cannor use my phone, can't log into my account on my laptop as I cannot remember my password (never use the online account). To set a new password requires that they send me a text, phone is now not even receiving texts which is odd so atm I am phoneless. I do not use my phone excessively, a bit of WhatsApp, some texts, and all the online stuff is done via my broadband account. Basically I feel that I have been almost driven to the brink by tech over the past few days. Great when it works but when it plays up it seems to take so much mental energy to sort it all out.

I have the same issue - zero phone signal. Set your phone to wi fi calling and it should fix this issue.

Thanks @SharpWriter How do I do that?

I swear to god that I could sort things out quicker, or at least in the same amount of time, in pre-tech days. You could phone customer services on a landline, no worries about signals/wi-fi etc, speak to a real human being who you could properly explain things to. No going into meltdown about passwords or "computer says no"! Even allowing for sitting in a phone queue listening to music, it was still quicker, easier and much less stress.

Yes, you can’t just do anything.

I wanted to book my children into a session at a little role play place. Great except I needed an account, apparently i already had an account, couldn’t remember the password, needed to reset the password, faff fuss faff. I can’t just BOOK it.

Couldn't agree more. So much of it is nonsensical. I think sometimes there are really stupid people running businesses that dont think at all about why they do what they do.

A few days ago I was about 10 mins trying to park my car, the area that used to have a cash meter now has no meter and is app only. I downloaded the app but couldn't register cos apparently I already did once before somewhere else, so went through a long verification process but I've changed my car since so i had to go through that change, then input payment details etc and go to my bank app to approve. For about 80p. There were way less places occupied than before so obviously I'm not the only person they've put off.

Recently I was in local large pharmacy that has beauty counters and a photo shop. It's where everyone would go to print photos and was always busy. I preferred it to the online services, you plugged your phone in and edited etc on a nice screen on comfy chairs. They have 'upgraded' and there are no cables so I needed an app to get my phone to 'talk' to the screen and enable Bluetooth plus permissions etc, then a second app to allow the edit. Another customer was also eye rolling at the ridiculousness of it. So I won't be doing that again and will do it at home and the pharmacy will not get the footfall from the people coming in to use the service..

i agree @Gleeanda about the paperwork. You'd set aside a time and sit and do it all. Now it's so complicated and much easier to miss things.

There are definitely some situations which have been made worse by companies or organisations using technology, but today I booked a GP appointment online, and it was SO much better than having to be on hold for an hour. And there are lots of things which have improved in a similar way. Booking restaurants, theatre tickets, arranging returns with shops, etc etc. So on balance, albeit only just, YABU.

@ginasevern you have summed if up perfectly.

Re parking apps - we were nearly late for Les Mis because we couldn't get the stupid app to work. I realise many people don't carry cash so much now but why can't you just use contact less?

During Covid our GP surgery had an excellent econsult service that worked a treat. Now they've done away with it😓

@RaraRachael open your phone app on your phone. Go to Settings then Wi-Fi Calling - set to 'on'. This is for Android but should be the same or similar for IPhone- if not just Google 'how to set up WiFi calling' and you'll find instructions.

Hope this helps. WiFi Calling was a game changer for me.

Thanks - managed to do if after a bit oc palaver. For the first time ever J have managed to send and receive a text immediately!

Game changer indeed 😄

OMG! YES! I hate hate hate it. I resent so much that we are forced to live via apps and screens and mobile phones now. The world is not a better place for any of these things, everything is a battle and stressful. I want to go back to the 80s.

That drives me mad!!! They are apparently there to help, but can't understand the query and you just end up going around in circles, and there is no phone number to ring. Why are we expected to put up with this nonsense - and yet at the same time pay more for this sub standard customer service?

On the rare occasion you can phone an actual human the issue is usually sorted quickly.

I very much agree with you OP. And, aside from the sheer frustration and time-wasting, technology really alienates us from each other. I think it's part of the reason we're all so angry and rude these days. Chatbots and coders are not good starting points for a happy society of sensitive, thoughtful human beings, which is what we all are. We need connection. Endless tech leaves us bereft of it.

Try checking into a flight at Heathrow terminal 5. You have to do everything yourself but the machines do not work. The machine spits out a piece of paper saying speak to a member of staff. So you queue up for 40 minutes and just as you reach the person they say they are not allowed to be on the desk any longer. The machine can't weigh your suitcase so you spend another hour going through the whole rigmarole again.
Having arrived 3 hours before the flight, you get through security with 20 minutes to spare. No time for a snack or a drink. It is insane.

I guess you could have gone to a shop to buy some hair straighteners and none of this would have happened.

Tried to speak to the council today. I've emailed them several times but no reply.
Contacted the number on the email I have, got an automated voice which basically said, go online and sort it out.

But what I wanted to sort out can't be done online.

I just want to speak to a human.

I advocate a new Consumer Act. Some things should be obliged to provide an alternative to online contact, things such as utilities for example. Definitely all parcel carriers so that people such as Hermes aka Evri would be forced to provide adequate service.

No internet is 100% reliable.

Totally agree OP. It's like the human race has backed itself into a corner of madness. On the positive side I think I buy less now generally as never order online really as i just can't be arsed with the inevitable stress.

The real war on the motorist is over parking charges, not the other ones Rishi Sunak and the crooked Mayor of Tower Hamlets have talked about.

This could be sorted out by a simple law that any parking payments must have a contactless bank card option, or any penalty is unlawful.

I try to use Live Chat where possible.

I can often not even use the econsult option with the GP because the options dont align with what I need them for

Plus they never even respond

I cant even begin to explain all the problems that I have had with online this and that, I dont have the energy to explain, its soul sucking

I cant name off the top of my head these days which companies actually have a method by which to contact them, properly. Its usually a 'help' page with various options which are all rigid, dont actually contain an option I need, being sent round and round back to the same page again. And we all wonder why we are all so angry, this is what this is doing to society.

I would have agreed with you maybe ten or more years ago because things never seemed to work, but most of the glitches have been sorted out now. I've found moving house admin much easier lately especially anything to do with the dvla.

Why were you ordering hair straighteners from Boots? Just go to the shop. Much less faffy! Or Tesco.

Oddly enough I was thinking about making a similar post, but thought I'd get flamed for it.

I hate all of it. The whole lot. I'm convinced that the smartphone is just about the worst thing anyone has ever invented.

The boots app is an absolute travesty. I refuse to use it after wasting a good hour trying to do something extremely straightforward. My local EE shop recently delivered truly outstanding in-store support - although I get what you are saying about no time to go. If you do, find a proper EE shop not a franchise store. Not sure how you can tell as they look the same. I was genuinely impressed, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I could say that

Some things are better than others.

Dealing with complications when things go wrong is a lot harder. Live chat is hit or miss. FAQ pages don't provide an answer to your particular circumstances. Writing an email/filling a contact us form - people don't read them properly and we can go backwards and forwards a few times before they get the actual issue (and they try to close the case without it being resolved). Trying to talk to a human is impossible, even if you can find their number.