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Well, good for you. My wife has to go down, in person, to one of the banks where we have accounts, on average once a month to get them to fix their mistakes. Things like Roth IRA deposit not deposited in a Roth, combining 3 CDs into one triggering "excessive transaction" fee, statements that show three accounts but not the fourth which we can never ever ever get a statement for, one institution that has decided statements will no longer show the ID numbers of individual CDs, etc., etc., etc.
I'm not real interested in giving these clowns control over automatically paying all my bills and automatically screwing them up. If I'm going to have to scrutinize every single statement even more closely than I do now, I'd rather just write the damn checks and mail them, and keep track of it myself.
I have never yet lost a bill payment to mail theft. I don't believe it's happening very often. Just how exactly do you think a thief is going to get money from a check made out to "Middletown Gas and Electric Company"? Nope, ain't gonna happen, and thieves know it.
They wash the checks and write it out to whomever they want and change the amount. It’s definitely a problem locally. I also don’t use outside mailboxes as they get broken into and the mail stolen. If my bank was that incompetent I would change.
Well, when they messed up my computer on line credit card payment, they were threatening me with having to mail them a teller's check for the next year. It is not as convenient as one may think when they are making the mistake.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TamaraSavannah
The phone company and they said the bank refused the payment......from account with plenty of cash in it.
Credit card or bank payment? You say both.
When our card was closed due to theft, almost every account we do online (netflix, internet, electric, etc) go a notification that the credit card didn't work. We just went in and entered the new info.
No one threatened for us to get a teller's check (?) and pay for a year.
I suspect your situation is unique and perhaps there was a miscommunication by one or more parties.
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When our card was closed due to theft, almost every account we do online (netflix, internet, electric, etc) go a notification that the credit card didn't work. We just went in and entered the new info.
No one threatened for us to get a teller's check (?) and pay for a year.
I suspect your situation is unique and perhaps there was a miscommunication by one or more parties.
You pick what you want to embrace obviously. We could not have retired outside the U.S. without some technology. We pay all our bills online since there's not even mail service in our country. No libraries either, so I am SO thankful for my Kindle. It's my most valuable possession next to the laptop.
I can read at night and not bother DH. I can increase/decrease the lighting to suit me. Make the type as big as my old eyes need. Carry it to places I might have to wait around. Order any books from a U.S. library.
There's a translation app on our smartphone, and a calculator, alarm clock, radio streaming...
We can find anything on Amazon so don't have to drive around for days looking for it. Clothes are tough to order online, I agree, but in-person shopping is so aggravating too.
Our decision not to have a car was financial, nothing more. Uber is convenient.
We haven't embraced digital ticketing or any of that yet.
I lived without plumbing or electricity for years. But we had a laptop with a solar panel, lol.
And what does politics have to do with any of it? From what I can see, right-wing authoritarianism is taking over the entire world anyway.
You pick what you want to embrace obviously. We could not have retired outside the U.S. without some technology. We pay all our bills online since there's not even mail service in our country. No libraries either, so I am SO thankful for my Kindle. It's my most valuable possession next to the laptop.
I can read at night and not bother DH. I can increase/decrease the lighting to suit me. Make the type as big as my old eyes need. Carry it to places I might have to wait around. Order any books from a U.S. library.
...........
That they let you order. As debatable of how PC the original Huckleberry Finn (and other such works), I would rather have my books in printed ink that is not likely to change than in electronics from some source.
So, if you do agree that our way of life is going the way of the dinosaur, how much longer do you think those of us who prefer a simple and mostly tech-free environment will be able to resist and refrain from joining the 21st century?..
New tech and simple living aren't necessarily mutually exclusive IMO. It's simpler for me to stream videos than visit blockbuster for some DVD's. Depositing the rare check that comes my way via online banking is so much more convenient than hauling it into the local branch.
Land lines are still available. My older sister resisted a cell phone until last year, when it became evident to her that having the ability to communicate from locations other than home would be the responsible approach given that she's relied upon to support, and transport, our younger sister who is battling cancer.
Now she's checking her texts regularly and sharing Wordle results with me daily via the "new" (used) smart phone.
If you enjoy older vehicles, as I do, just continue with the maintenance and keep it going. I'll draw the line at gross polluters though, none of those for me. Of course in some states these are being regulated out of commission via emissions laws, which is probably a good thing.
Walking will never become outlawed or outdated. It's my favorite way to get around.
One particular thing I find interesting with these types of topics is that everyone draws their own line for what they consider 'tech-free'.
Do you have a TV? A DVD or blu-ray player? A CD player? Any security cameras at the house? (hardwired or otherwise). What age is your car? Do you own a computer (apparently, since you are posting here - unless you are at the public library). Most of what I see is that someone draws a line at some point in time as they approach 50+ years. Anything up until then is acceptable and anything after that is 'new fangled tech, who needs it?'. I may be off, but I have seen the same thing with neighbors and family members around the same age. Not trying to be snarky, just pointing out a common trend I see. I don't see anything particularly wrong with that choice. But, as you pointed out, eventually time catches up and it's hard to live in society without some level of keeping up.
Beyond that, I will provide some additional context. I am in my 30s and I work in the tech world. However, I do appreciate a balance of not revolving my life around tech. My wife and I still read physical books (lots of them) and we don't have any issue getting them from the local bookstore or from the library we walk to down the street. I own a 21 year old car (only car I've owned) and I use public transit or my bike outside of that. Occasionally uber. We shop at local, brick and mortar stores for nearly all of our clothing and buy as much clothing made in the USA as possible. We eat at local, non-chain restaurants and coffee shops for most of our meals out. On the flip side, we do all of our music/movie/tv via streaming and we do all banking electronic (I don't even use physical cards that often anymore).
To me, living 'simple' is not avoid avoiding all 'tech', but it's a general lifestyle. I actually think you can live a simpler life by embracing SOME tech than you can by trying to avoid all tech. Additionally, it may be counter-intuitive, but I also believe it is easier to live a low-tech life in a big city than in a more rural location. We leverage tech to make our lives simpler - to replace other devices, to own fewer physical 'things' and to be able to stay more connected to friends and family. But we don't rely on tech to provide our fulfillment.
I am fortunate to say those infamous words of Professor John Robinson.................NOT IN MY LIFE TIME....for it does not seem much of my life left.
In some ways, it is hilarious for......consider how I make my morning coffee. Cowboy coffee on the stove top. WHAT? HOW PRIMITIVE! But consider, when it comes time to recycle the pot, that's it, just the pot, not a whole bunch of inwards that may or may not be recyclable, just the metal of the pot.
As environmentally conscious we are becoming of our world, does that not make more sense......or is environmentally conscious just a lie?
I am a rifle touting cowgirl with her phone wired in the wall and if takes Internet (high speed, broad band, unlimited) for one to have a happy life, I am glad I don't have it..............and they are not here.That's not the problem. The problem is that we are buying the same things, over and over again, each time the format changes. I am tired of doing that and have decided to stay at DVD/CD.
Well, good for you. My wife has to go down, in person, to one of the banks where we have accounts, on average once a month to get them to fix their mistakes. Things like Roth IRA deposit not deposited in a Roth, combining 3 CDs into one triggering "excessive transaction" fee, statements that show three accounts but not the fourth which we can never ever ever get a statement for, one institution that has decided statements will no longer show the ID numbers of individual CDs, etc., etc., etc.
I'm not real interested in giving these clowns control over automatically paying all my bills and automatically screwing them up. If I'm going to have to scrutinize every single statement even more closely than I do now, I'd rather just write the damn checks and mail them, and keep track of it myself.
I have never yet lost a bill payment to mail theft. I don't believe it's happening very often. Just how exactly do you think a thief is going to get money from a check made out to "Middletown Gas and Electric Company"? Nope, ain't gonna happen, and thieves know it.
There's a difference between automatic payment and just paying bills on the Internet. I don't have my bank account paying any bills automatically. I pay through the sites using my bank account or a credit card, but I don't have anything done on auto.
Your banking experiences are terrible, though certainly not the norm. I would go to a different bank.
I'm a keep-it-simple Luddite being dragged kicking and screaming into the complications of the tech life. I'll also admit the skills don't come naturally to me. Often I find the "conveniences" actually take longer and involve more complicated steps than real life dealing.
A year ago last winter I was in Mexico with all of my six-week lodging and food money on a cash card I got through my credit Union. Usually I just take it all in pesos but that's quite a chunk of money to secure and the credit union talked me into this cash card from a third-party promotion that they told me would be safer.
Turns out the card wouldn't release the full amount of lodging payment on arrival.
Fortunately I had a couple hundred dollars in pesos or I would have been foraging. The lodging wouldn't take the card in spaced amounts even with reassurance from the credit union. I had my Amazon Prime card with me but they couldn't extend the amount of credit I needed. This is what happens when you pay cash - you're treated like someone who has no money. So backward to me when I see friends who really do have no money spend like crazy.
Everywhere I turned - no help. In fact eyebrows were raised and one place I was escorted out by security for pleading my case. I was quiet but persistent and they didn't want to deal with me. I imagine they deal with all kinds of shysters.
All of this occurred because I hadn't brought a cell phone with me and that was the only way they would verify my validity.
I asked them on the computer to please just use my security questions but they refused. Crazy. Why have security questions to identify you if they won't use them?
Through the generosity of the landlord I stayed free at the small apartment hotel for two weeks but it wasn't a comfortable existence and all I could afford to eat with my loose change was beans and rice, fruit from the little grocer, chips and dip and the iced tea mix I had with me.
Finally I found a Mexican bank where someone there would help me get money wired from my family. Part of the craziness is that I was communicating with my family through the computer and they weren't sure it was me because they knew I had plenty of money with me.
I'm telling my family their birthdates, names, etc. Finally I realized I had to talk about things that we only know. But then they went all spy movie on me and thought I could be held at gunpoint and forced to tell someone all those things. It was bizarre.
Every holdup raised more eyebrows. I couldn't believe something so easy to verify could become such a mess so fast.
When I got back I talked to the manager of the credit union. Apparently others had had problems with the card because they made it clear they were not associated with the business. I got my money back in spite of a supposed penalty for some reason I can't remember. Talk about insult on injury. The person who gave me the card had neglected to educate me about what I was getting and like a silly person I trusted them.
A final insult was the manager saying to me incredulously, "You went to Mexico without your cell phone?" Then we had some personal words. All is better between us now.
As a solution for the next year, on the friends' recommendation, I applied for a good Mastercard. It arrived with two purchases on it. I was advised to pay them in order not to default. WT crazy F? And of course the card was immediately cancelled.
I had already used it to secure reservations for next year so I lost them at a good price. Another raised eyebrow on my credit credibility.
None of this has made me feel more secure in the world of anonymous interactions. That is an understatement.
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