AIBU to think everyday life admin has become far too complicated?

[Samben2014]

I just can’t believe how difficult it is to just the most basic of things these days. I forgot my password for my savings account online and I have just been on the phone for over an hour being passed between so many different bots and AI generated response systems before I could even speak with a human. I find doing these things that used to be so straight forward have become overly complicated in the last 12 months. I have no idea how the older generation cope. The NHS trust I work for are pushing everything down the APP route and if you’re not tech savvy you’re going to get left sitting on the waiting list. We are just not prepared for this new way of doing things, I miss talking to humans! I’m only late 30’s and find this is becoming unbearable. Am I being unreasonable?

Organisations are supposed to simplify processes to make them more accessible for the non-tech savvy.

If you are finding it otherwise, let them know.

Unfortunately that is not my experience. The trust I work for a pushing elderly people in hospital to sign up for the APP they use whilst admitted. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great and I use mine all the time. However, the patients who are signed up to the APP have their settings by default set to appointments sent via APP only. So many elderly people miss their appointments and now they’re introducing an AI generated ‘ticket’ sent to the patient via the APP when they near the top of the waiting list. If they don’t respond, they are discharged from the service. It’s all well and good them saying they understand how to use it at the time, but inevitably they forget how to log on as it’s overly complex having to use their email to add one time pass codes etc. it’s a recipe for disaster!

I just about remember the days when all admin had to be done by phone or in person between 9-5 on Monday-Friday. Now that was hard work.

Being able to do admin on my phone at 11pm while watching TV or on my commute or while waiting for the laundry to finish is amazing. Yes some apps are annoying and glitchy, and I hear you on the Byzantine password systems but that’s because unfortunately there is a lot of fraud. In the olden days you’d probably have had to go into the bank in person with photo ID.

Agreed, Op. Just this morning I was lamenting "but technology was meant to make things easier."

Yes checking my energy bill required a txt code and 2 steps even tbough l know login, honestly who's going to hack my eon account...I mean if they want my debit they can have it

In my life the 'elderly people' need me to do it for them. (90+ years old).

The advantage at least is today, when the SALT visited DM in hospital, I was able to pull up her Mum's last SALT report to show her (DPs live on a boundary of health trusts which can cause disjoint.)

I’ve just had a letter through the post saying I need to book my smear and that I need to phone the doctors to do so.

So, I phone them.

A recorded message tells me I have to do everything online now and I will get a text with a link, I do so I click the link.

I am given four options, none of which sound suitable so I go for the ‘book an appointment for a new issue’ option. But I can’t tick any symptoms because I haven’t got any. So I go back and try the other three options, can’t get past the first page on any option.

So in the end I put my request into a comments box and I’ll see what happens.

I agree about a lot of life admin being complicated, eg the hoops you have to jump through to not pay over the odds for broadband, insurance, TV etc, but I've recently had to reset a load of bank, savings and credit card passwords and I'm surprised how easy it was. In each case it was little more than them emailing a reset link to the address registered with them and me answering security questions.

However, I had cause to complain about a faulty appliance and that was an almighty week long argument with a sycophantic, condescending and wilfully useless AI powered chatbot.

I walk to the surgery (about 10 mins and next to the Co-op where we buy most of our bread and milk) and talk to the receptionist every time I want an appointment because I CBA dealing with the telephone system and the online version claims there are never any appointments available even when there are.

Tell you what I don't like, now we're having a (perfectly reasonable) whingefest - I don't like ordering drinks on apps in cafes.

For a start, it interrupts the flow of conversation when you've just met a person on a first date. Also you have to pay up front so the delicate "who's paying" question comes up far too early.

Secondly, my iphone doesn't let me open some QR codes on the default browser so I have to faff around changing that, often with a talkative toddler rabbiting on in my ear.

And, I really miss the ease of someone friendly coming over and asking me what I want :(

I wouldn't mind so much jumping through security hoops for a bank account (in fact I'd be worried it it were too easy).

But for some things it's just unnecessary and occasionally Kafkaesque.

What particularly annoys me is how shit 5G and wifi can be when everything is online. Central London seems to be the worst, particularly around London Bridge, and train wifi is generally unreliable. And yet some e-tickets require you to have an active connection. The worst time was at Alton Towers. Live e-tickets were required, took bloody ages to get 5G.

Tech is all very well if things work reliably but they just don't.

I'm broadly sympathetic that badly designed booking systems and multi-factor identifications can make life very annoying OP, but why are you capping up app in your posts? It took me a moment to work out what you meant I thought APP was an acronym for some NHS system.

The problem occurs when companies are driven by consultants who they hire to make things more efficient. Or make them more money. Meaning they need to have fewer staff. The consultant costs thousands. And comes up with some rubbish idea that they present in a very slick way suggesting the company will save £ on staffing costs if they introduce this new system.
The new system is not road tested fully on all age groups who use it. And not for long enough. Some people cannot even actually use it and their problems are not identified. So it all gets great feedback.
I hope at some point companies or organisations realise they have missed the point of their existence and start to recruit and train people. Not machines.

From @Monty36 :

I hope at some point companies or organisations realise they have missed the point of their existence and start to recruit and train people. Not machines.

I’ve been hoping this for years now. There’s no point hoping any more.

“They” find it very useful to be obstructive in any possible way. We are all paying these scummy organisations. Utility companies are the worst.

They want your money but don’t want to do anything for it. It’s as simple as that. With patients (or customers) dropping by the wayside “they” will claim excellent results, and the boss will praise them/reward them for getting the waiting list down, or whatever.

Customer Service is dead. We are doomed!

Apologies, I didn’t mean to cause confusion.

My major issue is when a utility or other organisation will not talk to me on the phone because the account was opened as Mr & Mrs.
its my email address on the account ann…the account the money comes out of is a joint account etc. They insist on my husband saying ‘yes I am happy for you to speak to my wife’!
The club card people do this as do all insurance firms.
How do they know that the male voice that gives them permission to speak to me isn’t the gardener!!

Life is overly complicated these days. Our computers went down at work today. No internet, no phones, couldn’t access even our saved files on Word as all part of the system linked with the server. Makes you realise how crippled we are without computers. Everything now involves having an app and a password. Everything is tedious and bloody frustrating. Everything takes SO long although that with the technology life should be so quick and easy and make you happy.
Why don’t we feel like that?

I think tech makes everything much easier

Yes, I find a lot of things like this nowadays. Going round in circles, stuck in dead ends. It’s so often an infuriating, time-wasting experience.

All admin has. Two step authentication, then the Authenticator app, password must be 12 characters with a special letter, now here’s a code required from your email to get in, then swipe this jigsaw piece into the slot.

You’re in! You may now buy some towels/pay your bill/ request a quote.

Oh… you wanted to pay? Please tell me your first boyfriends blood type, authorize this on 2 devices and no, actually, you’re wearing sunglasses so we can’t authenticate you. Locked out!

Just say ‘yes I’m MR Setters’ what are they going to do? They can’t question your voice. If you know all of his security answers. Maybe you’re trans.

Someone crashed into my car two weeks ago. I have a complicated job and a degree and all that but I reckon it was several hours of online activity, creating accounts and passwords and responding to automated forms to complete the necessary admin to submit my claim and sort a hire vehicle.
It’s just exhausting.

i put in requests through my GP app and they text me/phone me back
so much better than hanging on the telephone trying to get through

When it’s AI, just keep stating ‘speak to a human’ over and over and eventually it lets you. Usually takes 10 mins and then they break

I think that’s the whole point - you can’t let them know without great difficulty. Lots of places have no phone number and send emails from “no-reply” addresses. I once phoned the bank and was on hold for 3 hours. Basic things that used to take 2-5 minutes are now some sort of multi hour/day project to be attacked.