Who Agrees

[LondonRascal]

2 minutes ago, oldgregg said:

They'd just set up a similar service to what you're proposing, surely?

Sure it's a bit of effort, but it then yields a nice passive income and without explicit bank details printed there it's much harder for the rozzers to track.

No I don't think so, because in the example I gave, it would go through Yoello so they would have the original 'destination bank account' stored for payments to go to (and be traced). Also it would be branded by them (but a landing page set up for people to arrive at). I can well imagine a great deal of trouble being taken if the income stream was deemed worthwhile (e.g. at an RSPB reserve with many visitors, or a Church, Museum etc.)

I  have seen many sites with QR 'donation' signs which is why I was aware this method of payment transfer existed.  Again, perhaps I should not have mentioned this is 'more secure' but, I believe it would be safer from the point of view of the Trustee's of the Staithe not having to have a bank account number and sort code on a sign in public, and safer for the public to use rather than blindly sending money to a bank account number (and whoever is the receiver good or bad) having their name, sort code and bank account details after the transfer of funds had been made. 

At the end of the day, I imagine the fact was the donation box was stolen, and rather than spend on a more robust box (or have to come to empty it) one of the Trustee's said 'why not just set up an account and have the details of it on a sign for people to use' and it got rubber stamped and here we are now as that was the only solution they knew/thought of would work.

[grendel]

23 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

I would say these days the use of Tablets to connect is far far better than a computer as they are safer, faster, and don't go wrong/need as much knowledge to use as a computer does.

I do have a tablet, however its not got a sim, so only works when I am within range of my internet (or wifi dongle) the tablet is the main reason I dont have a smart phone as I find that a smartphone has too small a screen to read, the buttons are too small to press, and its economically unviable for the few uses I do have for a phone, I have PAYG and generally top up £10 every 3 or 4 months, I have no need for a smartphone on contract, the main reason I have a phone at all is to use every day for MFA verification when I log in to work (you ought to see the fuss it caused when work said it was compulsory to use an app for this- they did backtrack quite quickly when I asked if they would provide a company phone for this purpose (I am in the one role where a company phone is not provided automatically).

so it suits me fine to be considered a technical luddite without a smart phone.

[YnysMon]

I think the problem for many retired people is that their techy/ digital knowledge degrades quite quickly, especially nowadays when the speed of change is hotting up.

And I say this as someone who has today applied for an enhanced ‘mutually acceptable retirement scheme’. (MARS) One thing I noticed since the last one was on offer is the change of language. Last time (about 5 years ago) is was a ‘voluntary severance scheme’. Everything nowadays has to be dressed up in ‘positive’ language, end result is the same. Mind you, if my application is accepted I’ll be jolly glad. 

[ZimbiIV]

An example, 2 weeks ago I was away and went out to buy a newspaper and a couple of magazines.

Fine no problem I had a lot of change in my pocket so went to pay cash.

We do not take cash for over £10 do you have a debit/credit card?

Yes I said do you want to pay the carrier fee or take the profit from cash, (my back was up by now).

I said they had to take cash or refuse to sell me the things I wished to purchase.

Owner came out to say it was policy so I would have to pay by card.

I left and walked 10 yards up the road and paid cash.

I would not refuse to pay and be willing to leave contact details for them to claim payment.

You are still allowed by law to claim to be paid in coin of the realm, unless by mutual agreement.

Beware of those that run technology it is for their benefit not yours.

I do use internet banking and like it but to close banks is just profit making and service denial.

1984 and all that.

paul

[Tempest]

13 hours ago, grendel said:

its not safe to assume that everyone can cope with technology, or has it available.

You are absolutely spot on, but so is Robin @LondonRascal

Just as Betamax and V2000 was beaten by VHS, but that was later replaced by DVDs, then that by Blu-ray, then digital streaming, cash is going, whether we like it or not....

(I know loads who still bleat on that Betamax was better than VHS! 😂)

More and more venues will stop accepting cash, something which the younger generation have already accepted. 

It's only a matter of time, but I do feel we will all eventually have to get on the bus and enjoy the ride.....or not!

5G network is the next step in that drive!

[grendel]

the point is, other than paying for things I have absolutely no use for a smart phone, all my needs are covered elsewhere, in a much more secure manner.

making people reliant upon the latest tech is effectively controlling them.

If I did have a smart phone, I would still not be using it for banking or payments, as i dont believe that is as secure as carrying cash and a bank card (its a trust thing, I dont trust the phone companies with my data- no matter how secure they tell me it is), if you lose a smartphone- you have lost your 'life' and cannot accomplish anything.

So I will stick with my dumb phone that makes phone calls and does simple texts, thank you very much.

[kpnut]

13 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

Nowadays, it is a choice to not have a smartphone

They are very expensive to buy in the first place. 

[MargeandParge]

HELP 

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

Willing to slip a Lady Godiver to anyone that can help us cough up the bill.

[FairTmiddlin]

14 hours ago, kpnut said:

They are very expensive to buy in the first place. 

Don't have to be! Android 12, 6.9 inch rugged phone does everything a £700 Samsung does. Penny under £170.

Very likely made in the same factory as the top-end phone in China, cheap sim cost under a tenner a month.

I'm happy.

[jeffbroadslover]

I totally agree with Grendel.

I do carry a "phone" when I leave the house but mine is  a phone and not a mobile office like it is assumed EVERYONE has.

I received an email the other day ( on my desk top ----don't have a laptop ----don't want one) it offered me over £250 off a new "phone".   I had to laugh as I could buy half a dozen of my phones for what I would "SAVE" on what they were trying to get me to buy!!!!!

If an organization insists on me paying with a system I cannot use then they are going to have to wait a very very long time to get my cash ( unless of course they supply me with the equipment I need to do as they want)

Jeff 

[YnysMon]

I didn’t pay that much for my smart phone, just over a £100. I bought a Motorola phone that had very good reviews at the time that was not part of a package and got a deal with our WiFi supplier BT for £5.99 a month, though I don’t get a huge amount of data for that. Not enough for streaming anyway.

I think the all in package phones and sim are a bit of a rip off.

[grendel]

true, but when you can get a non smart phone for £25 and pay £10 to top it up every 3 or 4 months thats a considerable saving over a smart phone and contract payments, I just dont use a phone enough to justify spending even £100 on one, I have a spare non smart phone (bought when I drowned the current phone and had to put it in a bucket of rice for a few months to recover / dry out, that wasnt expensive either.

for me its the expectation from all of the various bodies from the doctor to the government that everyone has to have a smart phone and can use their apps, that is most disturbing.

the figures say that on average 88% of the population own smart phones - that drops to 78% when you consider over 55 year olds, this leaves over 8 million people who dont have a smart phone, worryingly its the teen and middle aged people who have a 99% smart phone usage - these are the age group that are starting to make the decisions and are assuming that everyone has a smartphone- because they themselves do.

It leaves the elderly and the poor vulnerable to pressure to purchase a phone they may not be able to afford- or even afford to keep in credit

[Gracie]

My phone is very smart, it has a pretty, pink sparkly case 

Going back to drinking and in charge of a boat. I wasn't going to get involved in this topic because I do like a nice glass of bubbles whilst helming on a summers afternoon with the roof open. Lot's of people do too and very responsibly. I know day boat hirers can be a tad boisterous and the odd party boat but that's going to happen at any holiday destination whether it be a boat, hotel or holiday park 

On my Hen boat I never drank more than one glass at the helm but moored up early and  then got raving drunk   x (just kidding)

[Mouldy]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

true, but when you can get a non smart phone for £25 and pay £10 to top it up every 3 or 4 months thats a considerable saving over a smart phone and contract payments, I just dont use a phone enough to justify spending even £100 on one, I have a spare non smart phone (bought when I drowned the current phone and had to put it in a bucket of rice for a few months to recover / dry out, that wasnt expensive either.

for me its the expectation from all of the various bodies from the doctor to the government that everyone has to have a smart phone and can use their apps, that is most disturbing.

the figures say that on average 88% of the population own smart phones - that drops to 78% when you consider over 55 year olds, this leaves over 8 million people who dont have a smart phone, worryingly its the teen and middle aged people who have a 99% smart phone usage - these are the age group that are starting to make the decisions and are assuming that everyone has a smartphone- because they themselves do.

It leaves the elderly and the poor vulnerable to pressure to purchase a phone they may not be able to afford- or even afford to keep in credit

Whether we like it or not, more and more services are going on line.  Our last remaining bank (Barclays) in our closest town,  Watton, closes next month, meaning that should we need to visit a branch, it involves travelling to either Swaffham or Dereham.  As the majority of folk who don’t own a smartphone appears to be the elderly, this is either a car or bus journey to go to the bank, both of which involves a cost, either in time or money, so it’s that age bracket that are hit hardest again.

There have been several reports on the BBC recently about bank branch closures across the region and even reasonably large towns are either now, or will be shortly, without a single bank in the area.

Sadly, it is the way of the world, where big businesses control how we live.  It’s all about money and profit, not about looking after people and their needs.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Great  Yarmouth  has a number of banks.I think thankfully  five or six.I do most of payments on line,but I do go to the bank a few times  a month. The whole assumption  that we have access  to tech is Wrong.I think it will be at least  20 to 30 years, until everyone has access  to tech.So people and many businesses  need access  to banks for some time.

[Mouldy]

7 minutes ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

Great  Yarmouth  has a number of banks.I think thankfully  five or six.I do most of payments on line,but I do go to the bank a few times  a month. The whole assumption  that we have access  to tech is Wrong.I think it will be at least  20 to 30 years, until everyone has access  to tech.So people and many businesses  need access  to banks for some time.

Try telling them that, though.  All they’re interested in is profit and lots of it.  If the bank branch isn’t frequented by sufficient numbers of customers to make it viable, they will close it.

Obviously, some banking transactions can be completed at a post office, but even proper post offices offering all of the available services are few and far between now.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Very true.I worked for Nat West for nearly  18 years.I was also involved  in the community  at Thamesmead. The bank was closing a branch in Thamesmead. Along with many in the community we tried to save the branch. So sadly bank branch's closing have been happening  for 40 odd years.

[hazelgirl]

32 minutes ago, Gracie said:

My phone is very smart, it has a pretty, pink sparkly case 

Going back to drinking and in charge of a boat. I wasn't going to get involved in this topic because I do like a nice glass of bubbles whilst helming on a summers afternoon with the roof open. Lot's of people do too and very responsibly. I know day boat hirers can be a tad boisterous and the odd party boat but that's going to happen at any holiday destination whether it be a boat, hotel or holiday park 

On my Hen boat I never drank more than one glass at the helm but moored up early and  then got raving drunk   x (just kidding)

I'm so glad you posted this, I am exactly the same and of the same opinions.

[kpnut]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

true, but when you can get a non smart phone for £25 and pay £10 to top it up every 3 or 4 months thats a considerable saving over a smart phone and contract payments

My little flip phone used to get topped up with £10 every 6 months. I once topped it up by credit card for £15 and it generated a fraud alert with my credit card who said it was ‘unusual activity on my card’!

The same day I had already bought some plane tickets for a few hundred pounds!!!

32 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Whether we like it or not, more and more services are going on line.

 

32 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Sadly, it is the way of the world, where big businesses control how we live.  It’s all about money and profit, not about looking after people and their needs.

I unfortunately agree Mouldy. Very sad that we live in a society where ‘I’m all right Jack’ pervades, rather than a sense of community and care for others. 

[Chelsea14Ian]

A friend  of mine had a not very smart phone.He went to the phone shop and asked if he could have an up grade.The chap said the only upgrade  you can get is two tin cans and a piece  of string.

[jeffbroadslover]

When I moved to the town where I live we had 2 post offices and 5 banks.

Now with "progress" we have just 1 post office and the nearest bank is about 15 miles away ( 30 miles round trip) or about 10 miles each way plus toll bridge costs of £3.

Have no idea what the local businesses do when they need coinage to give as change for all the a "out of date" older folk who pay for things with cash.

What is likely to happen when someone "accidently" crashes the system and switches everything off?

Jeff