No mobile phone- no discount

cymruchris

roy_harper said:

I have looked of course, before posting and the only way I could do it as far as I can see is to take my laptop to the checkout.  That's not a good look.  I thanked the person who posted I could copy the numbers of the offers and take it in.  
I don't think you all understand what it's increasingly like for people without a mobile phone.  

But you have found where they are - so that's good. And now you can make a note of the voucher numbers as outlined, and then get the benefit whenever you shop in store. So it was more of a case of not quite being sure of the process, and now you know it, it's fairly straightforward (although you do need a pen and paper) - and so in essence not discriminatory, more likely not clear enough, and could be explained better. 

p00hsticks

roy_harper said:

I don't think you all understand what it's increasingly like for people without a mobile phone.  

You could say the same about people who don't drive, who don't have internet access, don't possess passports  etc.

There comes a tipping point where there are so few people in a particular demographic that companies feel that - unless they have a legal obligation to do so - it is not cost effective for them to be targetting or catering for those sections of society. 

Given that Waitrose is generally seen as the most expensive / exclusive supermarket out there (I think it was Alan Coren who once quipped that Sainsbury's sole purpose is to keep the riff-raff out of Waitrose) I suspect the number of their customers who don't possess a mobiel phone is vanishingly small.

Out of interest, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you have one ?

MattMattMattUK

roy_harper said:

I have looked of course, before posting and the only way I could do it as far as I can see is to take my laptop to the checkout.  That's not a good look.  I thanked the person who posted I could copy the numbers of the offers and take it in.  
I don't think you all understand what it's increasingly like for people without a mobile phone.  

You have made a choice to refuse to have a mobile phone, that is a decision you have made and has consequences. There is no discrimination. Some businesses operate entirely online, or even within apps, that is not discrimination. 

You are making an active choice to refuse to engage with one component of vaguely modern technology. Mobile phones have been common for 25+ years, smart phones for 15 years, you obviously do not refuse all technology as you are posting online, but for some reason you refuse to use a smart phone.

The choice is yours, any disadvantage you face is an active choice on you are making, it is not down to Waitrose.

Abbafan1972

roy_harper said:

I have looked of course, before posting and the only way I could do it as far as I can see is to take my laptop to the checkout.  That's not a good look.  I thanked the person who posted I could copy the numbers of the offers and take it in.  
I don't think you all understand what it's increasingly like for people without a mobile phone.  

Really?  You make it sound like an illness.

As another poster had said, I don't drive a car, but can still get to work on public transport, there are alternatives.

Why don't you have a mobile phone?  It doesn't have to be an all singing all dancing iphone, but something relatively inexpensive.

Or do you prefer to walk around with tin foil on your head. 

roy_harper

Good morning. I don't have a mobile because I'm a f/t carer for a family member with complex needs. I don't drive either.  We just live at home with a land-line and my laptop.  My friends contact me that way, and I know who they are.  I haven't got a lot of patience learning new things, my days are filled already.

Ath_Wat

roy_harper said:

Good morning. I don't have a mobile because I'm a f/t carer for a family member with complex needs. I don't drive either.  We just live at home with a land-line and my laptop.  My friends contact me that way, and I know who they are.  I haven't got a lot of patience learning new things, my days are filled already.

Discrimination against people who don't want to learn how to do something simple is not illegal.  If you can use a laptop you can use a mobile phone.  It's just a smaller version of the same thing that can connect to mobile networks as well as cabled internet.   (Not that you need to in this case, or indeed in most cases.  You have just heard "phone" and assumed your laptop can't do it.)

roy_harper

No, I can't use a mobile. I've tried.  I'm partially sighted and partially deaf.  I find the amount of information and connections too much too take on.  So I'm not saying anything is illegal.  Please try to understand.  If I'm outside, I have to fiddle with hearing aids and spectacles like so many others my age.  I'm trying to say that the world has changed so much that now I can't handle it in the real world.  I shop locally so that the little shops are kept going, even though I have internet access on my laptop at home.  It means a lot to me to keep a community going.  It just feels like increasing I'm made to feel marginalised for not having a mobile.  

TMSG

Ath_Wat said:

If you can use a laptop you can use a mobile phone.

That sentence is definitely not correct. My MiL is (for her age of 89) quite able to use a laptop, though she steadfastly ignores my pleas to get away from Windows 10 and its update woes and switch to Linux (she only does email, web and very rarely some Excel and Word and I could easily install a Linux distro with all those apps for her). She has a smartphone with Whatsapp and of course all the other goodies on it but she is just not able to work the thing as the screen (and consequently the virtual keyboard) is way too small for her eyesight and dexterity: she twice locked herself out of the phone because she typed in the wrong PIN... and that is a relatively big input area with only numbers. The only time she uses the smartness of the phone is when we call her on Whatsapp. That works though it took quite some training.

I honestly think that jumping to conclusions based solely on one's own capabilities and experiences is not helpful.

sheramber

I have a friend who has very limited sight. She cannot use a mobile phone  for the internet but uses an IPad as she can enlarge the screen to be able to read it. 

Ath_Wat

TMSG said:

Ath_Wat said:

If you can use a laptop you can use a mobile phone.

That sentence is definitely not correct. My MiL is (for her age of 89) quite able to use a laptop, though she steadfastly ignores my pleas to get away from Windows 10 and its update woes and switch to Linux (she only does email, web and very rarely some Excel and Word and I could easily install a Linux distro with all those apps for her). She has a smartphone with Whatsapp and of course all the other goodies on it but she is just not able to work the thing as the screen (and consequently the virtual keyboard) is way too small for her eyesight and dexterity: she twice locked herself out of the phone because she typed in the wrong PIN... and that is a relatively big input area with only numbers. The only time she uses the smartness of the phone is when we call her on Whatsapp. That works though it took quite some training.

I honestly think that jumping to conclusions based solely on one's own capabilities and experiences is not helpful.

You can get larger tablets that run android and are just as easy to use as a laptop but just can't make phone calls.  With external keyboards if you want.  People are just confused as to what constitutes a "mobile phone", which is an archaic term for a small tablet computer with network connectivity. 

This is about whether you can get the functionality, not whether you can put it in your pocket.