I hate modern life

No I don’t hate it, I have mobility impairments and visual impairments and a chronic health condition that often prevents me from leaving the house so have been doing banking and billing online for many years. Also I worked from home and had a long career as a software developer so I’m used to this stuff and changing times. Technology has enabled me and made my life much easier.

It would be very different if I were in your position and I can understand your frustrations. Those people you have been dealing with are very bad at their jobs if they’re not helping you and making you feel comfortable. I would complain about that bank employee, that behaviour really is beyond the pale.

The trouble is.... trying to complain!!

No I dont hate it it makes my life much easier. I checked my back account this morning whilst sitting on a sofa. I can communicate every few minutes if I so wish with family who live elsewhere.
You have experienced really bad service which isnt pleasant.

Write them a letter. You know the bank’s address.

Was answering NatSpaghetti’s query about complaining.

Many aspects of this modern life are wonderful. Even the internet. But I agree it can be aggravating. I simply tried to buy a senior railcard online last week.. I won't bore you with the details but it took me nearly 4 hours, endless swearing and many tears. I do wish we could just do it by post.
But the good news is that eventually I did manage to do it and now have the senior railcard app on my phone. Phew!!!

Good god no life is SO much easier nowadays thanks to technology! Where shall I start?

It certainly makes life easier in many ways.
But I agree at times it’s enormously frustrating, our daughter and her children live with us, and without their assistance, we probably wouldn’t be able to work the television, but having said that, we probably wouldn’t have the all bells and whistles ones we have now.

No, on the whole I love modern life. I like being able to order, pay and deal with problems online. I love the fact that if something goes wrong at home I can often sort it out myself instead of calling a tradesman because I can Google the way to do it. I love being able to find solutions to my gardening dilemmas, identify, and look up plants’ foibles. I love online communities where people have shared interests - and lots more advantages. Rather than hanging on the phone for ages, have you tried the online chat facility which a lot of companies now offer, it’s much quicker, and you have a record of the conversation?
I think the thing with technology is that it makes your life easier, but you have to put some effort in to use it regularly, or you’ll get overwhelmed by the changes.

I dont hate it. I have all my utility Bill's online. I was very lazy with internet banking and came to the party late with this, now I would not be without it now.
Christmas presents are done online as that is what is asked for. I do however do Christmas shopping in high streets as I enjoy it.
For me the old and the new works well.

Brilliant ,well said , I feel your frustration. Best wishes

This morning, I’ve checked my bank accounts, done next week’s shopping, booked a hotel, and chosen some new trousers, all whilst drinking two cups of tea, curled up in my armchair.

Now I can go out and enjoy the rest of my day, having spent minutes on all that. I love technology.

Problems making complaints, accessing services, and bureaucracy/admin failures aren’t new, and weren’t ever easier to resolve , just different.

I am not comfortable with tech, couldn’t even post a photo onto a thread ( or a post.) earlier...don’t understand the terminology and flummoxed by unexpected strange messages which pop up on phone or iPad. Don’t buy online, get news online, prefer a proper newspaper to online. Basically avoid like the plague if I possibly can.
Yet this morning on the radio ( my friend) they are debating bringing back imperial weights instead of metric.
You are not alone Emerald.

I’m another who loves technology, shopping, banking, renewing library books, repeat prescriptions, YouTube, Satnav and so on.
If I need to complain, after trying the normal avenues, it’s usually Twitter, Facebook or I Google the email address of a senior person and contact them directly. Online reviews count too.
Senior people used to be well protected by phone as being ‘unavailable’ whilst shielded by staff,

I love modern tech.. I buy 95% of stuff online and feel confused if I have to rifle through bag or purse for cash. Notes and cash in my hand feels funny. I now often forget to take a handbag out having stuffed a card in my trouser pocket. Its quite liberating really. Few men carry bags.

I don't like the modern world as much as I liked the one before the millenium.

I have always loved technology and still do and utilise it regularly and frequently, including paying for car parking via an app on my phone.

Having said that, I have concerns about that same technology, namely;

(1) It is too easily available to - and adaptable by - criminals and those with nefarious intent.

(2) Too much blind reliance on it ends up isolating part of society (almost always the poor and disadvantaged in society) who are unable, to use, or can't afford, the technology.

(3) Children (if not carefully monitored) are growing up transfixed by computer games, mobile phones and social media (the latter of which can bring on mental health problems caused by bullying and low self-esteem)

(4) When phoning any business, organisation or government body, getting to speak with a human is nigh on impossible and......

(5) I fear that overwhelming adoption of technology and 'artifical intelligence' will make the whole of society vulnerable to foreign governments with ill intent and could result in the disruption of business, trade, health services - in fact most aspects of modern life - through hacking.

(6) How much is known about the 'dark net' and what damage it is causing.

If it hadn't been for modern technology OP, you wouldn't be here bemoaning your admittedly rotten service! I sympathise with you as sometimes we have days when things go wrong, people are unhelpful etc. However hating the modern world won't help. As others have said, keeping in contact with friends and family is easier, banking is easier. I hope you feel better now

I don’t hate modern life and technology does not intimidate me either. However I don’t like being patronised or passed on when making a valid complaint. It’s best not to let it get on top of you and deal with each irritating situation one at a time.

I don’t hate modern life but aspects of it can be frustrating as you’ve demonstrated.
I do love your last paragraph BeEmerald, it really made me chuckle.

I decided twenty years ago that if I didn’t keep up I would be left behind so although I find some aspects of modern life frustrating I am glad I have made the effort. And GD1, currently in the US, thinks it is cool to be able to video chat to Granny!

Definitely not. The good old days were misery for most.

I'm just about to book flights. Being able to quickly compare different costs/dates/airports is absolutely wonderful. I would never go back to sitting in a travel agent office and relying on them to find the best deal.

I do understand some people find the technology difficult but I think these will get fewer and fewer. Almost everyone under 60/65 (and lots of those much older) are used to doing things online/ using apps etc, so in another 10 or 15 years all the "old" people will be tech savvy.

Don’t you remember the ‘good old days’ ringing 23 car Insurance Companies trying to get a quote?

Queueing in the bank for 20 minutes as it’s a busy time and the cashier is off to lunch.

Trying to carry armloads of shopping back to the car or bus through crowds of people.

I don’t miss it, when things go wrong it’s frustrating but at least you can sit in your own home and sort the problem out on the phone or computer.
As to the Doctors surgery, MzOops sat with our GS in the surgery for an hour along with half a dozen other people, when she asked why she was waiting for so long the Receptionist told her that their computers were down and wouldn’t be fixed until that afternoon , so no blood tests could be taken because they couldn’t print off the labels. No one thought to tell the patients.

So I think it’s people we have a problem with not the technology and they were the same back in the day.

I know isn’t it dreadful.
Organ transplants, immunisation against killer childhood diseases, a wide choice of good food in supermarkets, being able to see your grandchildren hundreds of miles away via. FaceTime, “shopping around” for insurance -car, house, pet. Online shopping whereby it can be delivered the next day-no more carrying heavy shopping bags on the bus. Contactless payment so no fears about not having enough in your purse or a fistful of grubby paper notes or coins in your change in shops.
Live coverage of events on the other side of the world -and if they are in the middle of the night, the ability to watch them on “catch up” TV