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.

OP I so agree with you. It's about apps. As well, banking, car parking. Dentist. Work. I do lots of updates for myself, vetting, safeguarding etc.etc. when all I want to say. Nothing has changed. I dread anything going wrong and i never change things like insurance.

@Lifeomars

Royal Mail have been losing parcels for decades with no tracing options. Before the internet, all you could do was complete and post them their complaints form and they'd refund the postage after a few weeks. At least now they've got online tracking and tracing systems which generally do work which is a hell of a lot better than it used to be, thanks to technology!!

I ordered something on an app and it asked if I wanted to tip. To which my friend asked what for? I'm with him - what exactly am I tipping for if I'm ordering on an app?

I'm autistic and I hate speaking on the phone, and I often deal with admin late at night after office hours, so I'm the opposite and prefer everything to be done online! I've found that a lot more services are offered online since Covid and it's made a big difference in me being able to deal with admin and finance tasks. There are some tasks that I've put off for literally years because I didn't want to phone, and got it sorted out quickly once it was possible to so on the website.
I'm a sahm with a toddler so finding a chance to make a phone call in peace is tricky, especially as you never know how long you might be kept on hold.

I had an issue with not being able to access my EE account even after creating a password - I have eventually given up and am moving to another provider as the costs were getting too high anyway.

I've just had to order a new credit card just to access my online card app, because I can't find the physical card (but I know it is in my house somewhere). I need the numbers on the back to log into the app (when I switched to a new handset). So that's a cost to the card company as I don't really need a new card but it seemed to be the only way to get access to the app (they stopped allowing account access through the website - I have all the login details I would have needed for that).

I always make a note of my passwords when creating a new online account, and also save it on my device. Agree it's annoying to get an app for every single service now, my phone just won't have the memory for all of them.

In the last few days I have had several problems.

1. trying to make a GP appointment. Haven't been for years. Tried to log on to NHS app as that ( or GP own website) is how you book. Eventually rang surgery . Told to set up NHS account on app.
2. could not set up NHS account as I am not receiving OTP on my phone . Other methods failed . Phoned GP they emailed me a link. Booked appointment. Did not receive text confirmation. ( I receive texts with no issue from other sources.)
3. Over an hour on phone to phone company trying to sort my text issue. Couldn't. They will contact me in 7 days ( they didnt)
4. Attended GP . Stood in queue at reception to advise that test results will need to be emailed currently as text not working. Receptionist couldn't hear because of glass screen. Forced to yell my details in front of other patients. Was informed that they have no record of me .
5. back to phone company. Asked for update on my text issue. They could not find my account . Still unresolved.
6. sitting in friends house as she tried to book a gym class. It wouldn't let her. She tried to speak to a person . Hung on and hung on but it cut her off saying " please try later"
7. Tried to inform a government department they had over paid me.The chat bot repeatedly sent me forms which were totally wrong. Could not speak to a human at all. Starling bank are brilliant though.

@gerniu

I'm autistic and I hate speaking on the phone, and I often deal with admin late at night after office hours, so I'm the opposite and prefer everything to be done online! I've found that a lot more services are offered online since Covid and it's made a big difference in me being able to deal with admin and finance tasks. There are some tasks that I've put off for literally years because I didn't want to phone, and got it sorted out quickly once it was possible to so on the website.

Although I'm not autistic, I'm similar in that I've had a life long hearing impediment so phone calls are a nightmare, especially when trying to understand someone on a poor quality line or with a strong accent or lots of background noise at their end! Even with a phone with a jack for headphones or bluetooth to earpods, it's still a struggle.

Being able to do things online is my preference and more and more recently, there's less and less need to phone organisations. Pleasantly surprised once I changed motor insurer a couple of years ago to find I could make changes online via their app of the new insurer, i.e. change the vehicle, change the level of cover, change driver details, change address, annual mileage, business use, etc., and even better that you can see the effect on the premium online of any changes before you press the "confirm" button to commit. Breath of fresh air really especially as it's a three car family policy, so I could transfer the no claims bonus between cars to best suit me in terms of premium reduction and which is most suitable to have the higher NCB and which car the lowest. When I tried doing it with the previous provider over the phone, it was a nightmare to get them to actually listen and understand what changes I was wanting to consider!

Now, you see, I love eating in places where you order by app as I love having all the options to choose from, i.e. different sauces, different types of sides, etc. Because of my hearing impediment, I find it very difficult to hear the serving staff when they trot off the list of questions and options (especially with strong accents and background noise), so I always used to just take it as it comes rather than have to keep asking the staff to repeat the options.

Now I prefer to go places with app ordering (more and more places thankfully) so I can take my time to ponder the app/website, explore the different options, etc and properly customise my meal in a way I've never been able to do before.

Bliss! And it's greatly improved my enjoyment when eating out.

Trying to order a roast dinner in a pub - app only - do you want roast tatties, mash, peas, carrots, parsnips etc etc. Put in all our info then it hadn't saved it so we walked out. Now if ordering food is app only I won't use that place.

Horses for courses really isn't it? It's a bit like working from home, some love it, some hate it. Same with the old argument of cash versus card. We're in a period of flux really. People with strong preferences one way or another will avoid some aspects of "modern life" and some will actively seek out their preference. After a few years, it'll all settle down. People will have moved employer to suit. People will find eateries who use systems they prefer. People will find businesses that accept or don't accept cash or cards, whatever their preference. Re eateries, I don't think I've ever come across a place where ordering by app is actually compulsory with no "in person" option. Certainly my preferred places where I can order by app still have the option to order from staff either at the table or at the counter, so best of both Worlds really. I'm sure any decent organisation or business will be keeping an eye on the statistics to see preferences and choose a system that will appeal to the majority whilst bearing in the mind the costs of each option (i.e. cost of the app against the cost of waiting staff). It'll all settle down over time, it always does.

It's cheaper for them to do it that way - who needs people?

They will evaluate any loss in trade against the benefits of employing fewer people (not just cost, but also the difficulty in finding staff). If it works out, they'll continue app, if not, they won't.

Like those who are either cash only or card only. Again, a business decision as to how much business they lose (if any) by accepting only one method of payment against the costs of accepting both methods.

NS&I (Premium Bonds) website used to be the absolute pits! Every time I tried to log in from my laptop I got a screen message that I had pressed the back button so it had logged me out. Time, after time, after time.

I tried my husband's laptop, exactly the same. I tried my son's laptop, exactly the same. So frustrating, I was so close to screaming and throwing the laptop through the window. Much pulling out of hair and gnashing of teeth 😁

I made a formal complaint to NS&I. I got a letter back saying thst it wasnt their fault, and told me they were basically ignoring my complaint. I also left stinking reviews on Trust Pilot.

The site has improved since then, massively, and it's now so much easier on my nerves, my hair and my teeth 😆.

OH and I have arguments of cash vs cashless. He thinks cash is king whereas I rarely use it. It's becoming increasingly difficult where we live for shops that still take cash as there are no banks left in the town so they have to bank money through the PO and it's absolutely mobbed all the time.

I agree. Nothing tops being able to speak to a human being and some issues can only be resolved by another human being, because of nuance and complications! I've found those chat bots to be nothing only a waste of time, excpet on the very, very few occasions it has ended up asking me if I want to speak to one of their agents! YES! I DO! Why couldn't I have just been put through to one in the first place??
I feel for the elderly too, I'm not young myself and need my son's help sometimes, but our adult children have their own stuff to do and can't always be there! Even he got nowhere with the HMRC website the other day though which was just sending him round in circles and he couldn't get to speak to a human at all! It was a disgrace!

@Thepeopleversuswork Your post made me laugh because I've felt exactly the same way on too many occasions! It'd drive a saint to drink!

@Helpnifoseeker

I know it sounds grumpy but it is SO stressful!

And while I'm back on the subject (and the OP will wish she'd never started me off): what absolutely maddens me about it is that while these companies are all falling over themselves to demonstrate they are so hot on customer service, their ACTUAL delivery of what customers want is so piss poor as to be laughable.

Case study: I'm waiting for some test results from my GP. They are over two weeks late. Fair enough, the NHS is swamped. They're not critical tests and I can wait. But while I'm waiting for these results, they have sent me no fewer than four texts asking me if I'm happy with the service.

If I did go back and complain I would a) no doubt get another dozen surveys to fill in about my satisfaction and b) it wouldn't accelerate the delivery of what I actually want, which is my test results.

I hate the pretence that these endless customer satisfaction surveys actually deliver any meaningful improvement in customer service. I would far prefer that money were invested in them actually doing the jobs customers ask and pay for, rather than generating more mindless algorithmic spam.

I have to say I also like the idea of being able to tweak the options (like the McDonald's ordering where you can take out mustard and pickles) And I dislike salad dressing and I'm always trying to order salad with no dressing - which is 50/50 whether that happens.

However mcdonalds have a separate option to "customise".
The person I was with was elderly and would struggled to use the app themselves so instead of them just saying they wanted eg a ham sandwich I had to ask them "white or brown, baguette or normal bread, do you want lettuce, tomato etc, so I felt like I was asking 5 questions instead of just what do you want?
So would be easier to have a customise option rather than that being the default if that makes sense

Yes I find it all terribly frustrating. I work with older people helping with benefit applications etc and councils won't even send them a form out any more to apply for housing benefits. They just refuse. So older people who might be able to make their own claim using a paper form but are not able to do it online just have no way of doing it so we are totally inundated with requests for help, or they just give up. I have given up on parking anywhere that involves having to download an app as well. I just find it stressful.

My Sky Glass remote was not responding. Looked at the batteries and noticed that one was leaking. I went on Sky chatbot on Wednesday evening. Followed their prompts about checking things. Said I need a new remote. Got home about 1.5 hours ago and the new remote was delivered. Working now!

You can customise your order on the touchscreens too. Seen someone going into the customisation screen for Big Mac. Then on getting it, removed the pickles!

I always ask for no ice with my drinks with McDonald’s. About a third of the time I get the ice

Trouble with paper forms is that people don't write the correct information in the correct place a lot of the time. They leave compulsory questions blank and then try to put all the information they think is needed in a garbled load of words in the "additional information" box. All that makes it a lot harder for some poor sod who has to process the form to try to work out what goes where in their computer data input screen and is a prime cause of problems/errors with the application or whatever.

Having a rigid approach with computerised systems allows for better control over inputs, i.e. numbers only in an "income" box, etc. and other data validation, such as an automatic check that someone claiming an age related benefit is actually old enough by an automated check based on the date of birth entered.

Having worked with people for 40 years needing to submit tax returns, loan applications, grant applications, etc., I can categorically say that people had problems filling in paper forms just as they now have problems filling in computerised forms.

DH is dyslexic, so as we work together I get all of the business admin and everything at home too. There are times that I could simply scream. We recently had a faulty household appliance that I just couldn't report the fault on as the chat bot wouldn't recognise what I was telling it. I ended up typing "the fucking thing won't work".

Boots have to be one of the worst offenders when it comes to customer services. Amazon however are exemplorary, as are Sky. They seem to have used a human at some point of setting up their bots.

But that's the same whether you order online, or via their touch screens, or in person at the counter/drive through. The person preparing the drinks doesn't know how you ordered it - your order is just another number on the screen - if they can't be bothered to look whether or not ice is asked for, that's not the fault of the technology, it's the fault of the person!

With the elderly and technology. Noticed from my friends, family and customers, there are three categories of elderly people with technology.

Ones that go with the flow. DF’s cousin is 90 next month and she uses her smartphone for everything. Even uses Apple Pay. She understands that the way forward is technology. Think her children and grandchildren help her initially.

Ones that get help from DC and DGC. Anyone who has elderly parents or other relatives, must do this! Especially with energy bills where if you select an online tariff you can save £200 v quarterly statements on standard tariff. Also do this for insurances they use.

Those who refuse to adapt to new technologies and say to family not to bother helping them.