Elderly and vulnerable being 'unfairly discriminated against' as supermarkets shift to apps

SadieO

PennyForThem_2 said:

Me too - bought an ultra cheap Motorola sim free (think it was about £80 3 years ago) and added a sim from first O2 then changed to Plusnet.  I pay £6 / month for frees texts, free calls and 6GB data (which I never ever use).  Now don't use LL other than for free 0800 calls and only have it because of internet (not on cable or fibre to premises).

I know you can get a smart phone cheaply so really puzzled by this resistance - whatever, this is the way the world is going.  Embrace it!  Cash is / should be gone.

I'm sure there's plenty of people with "old" (but still useable) smartphones kicking around since they got upgrades. I'm sure if someone wanted to get one and weren't bothered about it being the latest model they might be able to find a friend, family member, colleague etc with a spare one. My friend just got their first smartphone (in their 40s!) and just got a cheap sim and put it in an old handset of their partner's. They'd never been bothered about having one before but decided to now as lots of concerts and events are doing e-tickets and it just makes life easier to have a phone. As you say, that's just the way of the world now. I must confess I find it a bit of an odd complaint if people are saying they simply don't want one, but then complaining that they can't avail themselves of the benefits that having one brings...?!

Woolsery

PennyForThem_2 said:

 Embrace it!  Cash is / should be gone.

I have no problem with you embracing what you like, but I see some advantages in cash that you don't, chief of which is anonymity. I have the right to spend my cash privately, however I like. If I want 10 bottles of whisky I can buy them with cash and no one will know. True, I'll have to pay a punishing rate of duty, but no one can tell me, "That's far too much spending on alcohol this month." It's none of anyone's business how I choose to spend my cash. If I want to give £50 to a  particular cause I can slip it into an envelope and mail it. There's no follow-up with a begging e-mail 3 times a week.

Now, most of the time I don't care who knows what I'm buying or contributing to, but I have that right to anonymity if I want it. Once that's lost and I'm forced to leave a digital footprint everywhere I go, there are situations imaginable which might be really difficult.

Years ago Britons rejected the introduction of the identity cards, as used in other countries. "Your papers, please " wasn't something people wanted to hear in the UK. If cash goes and everything's on a chip, the last protection against that scenario will be gone, though there will be no one enquiring because the computers will already know where you are and what you're doing 24/7. If that's the world you want, fine, but you must be rather naive or unaware of how your favoured technology is already being used to remove basic human rights elsewhere.

PennyForThem_2

In Wales 16-17 year olds were given the right to vote.  One such on BBC Wales News said that he wasn't going to because he could not do it on his phone.  This is the way government must engage with a younger population - private business is already awareof this.  Those who bury their head in the sand won't benefit and that is their choice.

I realise that this raises all sorts of identity verification problems, some of which have been tackled by private firms (banks) as well as public authorities (NHS, HMCR, DVLA)  with varying degrees of success.

Fortunately or unfortunately this is the way of the world - the forward trend, if you like.  I don't 'do' social media other than for what benefits me (very little) and I usually give false private info.

But I recognise that I need to learn and employ what I need to to make my life easier - internet banking, google searching, HMRC, various social club sites.  Limite NHS - I wish they could join up and unify systems (NHS find this really, really hard due to legacy systems).

I need a cheap smartphone to do this.  I get minimal scam calls/txts via phone and/or web.  Plusnet filters most obvious out.  BUT I don't participate in Facebook/Instagram/Ebay/Twitter or others of this ilk.

Murphybear

KxMx said:

Your last line is certainly true- many older people are perfectly capable, but simply don't want to use a smartphone.

We live in an over 60s community of 33 people.  Our regular coffee mornings and afternoon teas are regularly interrupted by smartphones ranging.  

Murphybear

We live in a rural area and cash is a long way from being gone.  We went to a fabulous food fair recently and the vast majority of the stalls only accepted cash.  My posh hairdresser only accepts tips in cash.  Most market stalls, car boots etc only accept cash. 

Marvel1

p00hsticks said:

sammyjammy said:

I'm not old or vulnerable and its not really an App thing but I'll take the opportunity to have a rant at Tesco, don't get me wrong they are very clever.  I try to avoid the shop generally as I used to work their part-time and its a dreadful employer but when I popped in for some tomatoes the other day every other item I saw had a special price for Clubcard holders, some of it virtually half price!

Really clever and sneaky when they are using all that info they get from people to get them to spend more and more money in Tesco.

Funny thing is I'm so stubborn I'd rather not buy it at all then get a clubcard  which is good because chances are I didn't need it anyway!

I must admit that I've also wondered if Clubcard loses Tesco as many purchases as it gains them - I only ever go in there occasionally  to help my elderly father with his shopping, and there are things I see that I might buy for myself, but don't because they seem overpriced if Clubcard holders are getting them for considerably less...

I called in once,only after a cable, seen the meal deal so thought why not save me going to my regular Morrison's, but 50p more than clubland prices (same as Morrison's). So didn't bother.

MrsStepford

Robgivs said:

Digital discrimination is becoming a serious problem as teens and twenty's who are welded to their phones snap-up all the best deals the moment they're released. Older people may not look at the phone for hours and by the time we hear about deals there's simply nothing left worth having!

What we need is say a 30 minute head start via an age verified site, please not an App, that  can give specific alerts for particular types of offer, even then the youngsters would simply give a false DoB to get access! Anybody got any clever ideas how we can "level the playing field?"

What ? Is this a serious post ? Digital discrimination my foot.

All anyone has to do, is set up an alert for products they buy, on www.trolley.co.uk then you get alerts by email when products go up or down in price. If you can use an Internet forum, you can do that. it's simple. You don't need a laptop or even a tablet to do it. A phone is good enough. If you're not tech savvy, get some help from various sources or from younger family members. 

If you order food online, when you log into the supermarket website you will see offers on things you have bought before in Favourites plus there are Offers listed and Flash Sales at checkout. You may get coupons and offer codes in your account or via emails. 

Older people get 10% off at Iceland on Tuesdays and lots of similar offers at cafés, garden centres, cinemas, chain restaurants, pubs etc.

Younger people don't get those specific offers and many will have children to support. 

Ultimately offers are only useful, if they save you money on things you buy. Even with offers, branded products are usually more expensive than own-brands..