Well, that was a farce.........

Whitewavemark2

It is difficult for elderly folk who have never used computers or possess one.

I was in the queue (covid) and an elderly gentleman went to the Drs reception - I didn’t catch what he wanted, but he was advised to do “it” on line, which of course he was clearly clueless about . There apparently is no other way unless he phoned. This morning he was 29 th in the phone queue, so took himself off to the doctors. The last I heard before I trotted into have my jab, was “come back tomorrow”

Honestly - that is abysmal service.

My disabled brother has no computer and cannot speak on the phone. Recently I had to call an ambulance for him, he ended up with a 5 day stay in hospital due to an untreated infection because he could not get to the surgery to make an appointment in person.

Still having problems he went to the walk-in centre to see a doc; they palmed him off to a pharmacist who refused to prescribe the needed anti-biotics and told him to make a GP appointment

WNO: Or, as it was a sunny day here, could they have been on the sun lounger? Of course, no cynicism intended!!!

What a lovely attitude you have, LuckyGirl13. Good luck with your organised trips, and with any elderly contact who presents you with a 'fiddle-faddle' Well done, you.

cc I can change the amount I withdraw from a cashpoint on my mobile app.

Well said Stansgran. i have a friend with Macular Degeneration who sometimes cannot see to do cash machines in supermarkets. we were in Lidl in Sutton 2 weeks ago - new shop and not one cash desk open. queue a mile long - we gave up. Must be really awful for people who can’t see or just generally unable to cope with these damn things.

MY sympathy with all!
Do we all imagine lots of comfy sitting rooms, with TV switched on, whilst supposed WFH staff ( for a variety of workplaces) sprawl on the sofas, maybe varnishing their fingernails, or reading the paper, even texting a friend on their phone,whilst frustrated members of the public attempt to get help?

QR Codes, everywhere - and ideally tailor made for scammers.

Fallingstar

Tech is ok until it isn’t, then what do you do?
I had an update on my iPhone that requires me to prove I am over 18, it wanted me to scan a credit card, I don’t possess one, only ever use debit cards which it won’t recognise, so I tried my passport but it won’t scan it whichever way I do it, and I don’t drive so haven’t got a licence. I can use my phone it just keeps reminding me to confirm my age later. So my iPhone thinks I am under 18, and contacting Apple is useless.
I did swear. I mean it is just such a bloody minded mess when tech goes pear shaped.

It is really annoying. I have a driving licence, but DH doesn't. I gather the UK is unusual in not everyone having credit cards, I read about someone who was told to turn over their passport and scan the other side. Umm 🤔
I gather Apple are aware of the problem....

1960srelic

If 5 billion people out of 8 million use tech, then 3 billion don't!

But those 3 billion may be living in remote areas of the world , or in war zones.etc I don’t think you can presume all 3 billion are not wanting to use tech 1960srelic
It’s harder when you get older but even my 100 year old cousin uses it

Having said all than my grandson who works away in remote areas applied for a postal vote and didn’t get one

I understand some parties offer transport to polling stations to people who can't get there independently. I thinkmy mum used them in her later years.
My DD applied for a postal vote once and it didn't get to her in time to send it back. She was furious. I don't trust the post these days so I'm glad I can still walk to my polling station, but I guess there will come a time when that won't be the case!

That's not good B9. A good proportion of taxis will take wheelchair users, & I would hope that the party you were voting for would refund the fare in those circumstances, but that might have been a lot of hassle.

DH was disenfranchised yesterday. We have a van to get him out in his wheelchair, but the van had to go in for repair at short notice. You can apply for an emergency proxy vote, we did and received, completed and returned the form within the hour. It was rejected because it wasn't supported by a medical professional, even though to get that support would have been impossible. I understood that this requirement could be overridden by the electoral officer if need be, but obviously not in our case.

butterandjam

dalrymple23

I applied for a postal vote from Norwich CC at the beginning of April. I had to do this on line. My application was acknowledged. As of today (the 7th) nothing. I tried to contact them but, as is now normal, noone answered the telephone.

I tried to find the local office for the party for which I was going to vote. After googling for an hour, and finding nothing, I gave up. I also looked at websites for the parties for which I was not going to vote. No way of making contact.
I do not do Facebook or Twitter and have no intention of ever doing so. Why is there this assumption that the world and his wife uses these platforms?

Grrr....

Application for a postal vote, is made to your local electoral registration office.

Not to local offices of political parties.

It can be done either online or on a paper form; nothing to do with Facebook or twitter.

Have you tried scanning your Birth Certificate

Luckygirl, that's a lovely attitude. 🎶

REKA

Mine hasn't arrived either. It's becoming more and more difficult to contact anyone these days. I'm on all SM sites but they prefer to do everything online via chat bots etc

My friend refuses to do online banking and has a terrible time trying to make contact with her bank. She still wants her bank manager, (only the bank manager will do) to answer her calls but it's just not possible any more.

My husband refused to use online banking for years, but now that they've closed all our local branches he had no choice. He actually admits now that most of the services are useful, though absolutely no use if you want to deposit a larger cheque or withdraw cash over your limit from any ATM.

We have had postal votes since Mad Cow disease closed everything down. We have voted by post every year since then, This year we had letters asking us to re register for postal votes. I filled mine in and it went through OK. My OH's was returned as his signature could not be read./recognised We went into the council office and he re signed the form with the signature he has always used. His signature was not accepted so he doesn't have a vote. He refuses to change his signature as he wouldn't remember how he wrote it next time he came to vote. The only way I can think of is to just print initials and surname. Puzzling. His postal vote may still be in the post as we only get post about once a month.

If 5 billion people out of 8 million use tech, then 3 billion don't!

We always register to postal vote- they were acknowledged but nothing has arrived in post yet..

Missed from last post.

Remember Royal Mail is not what it used to be. Get in touch with your Electoral Office in about a weeks time.

They are usually very good and really get it in the ear from Local Councillors about people not being able to vote.

Hope this is useful.

I think they may not have answered the phone because maybe some of the staff have caught up with the local elections yesterday.

I also rang my Town Hall for a postal vote form at the begining of
April
They said it would arrive by the 24th of April and it did. I complete it and sent it back by the due date

petra

^why is there this assumption that the world and his wife use these platforms^
Probably because over 5 billion ( combined ) do use them.
World population approximately 8 billion.

Why should anyone have to pay for a broadband service that they will use very occasionally for online services? By all means have an online option, but for many people in person or telephone contact is preferable. My friend is in the very early stages of pre-dementia, and she's finding it harder to negotiate online services. Nobody seems to consider people who have any sort of difficulty.

My son and I were away in Ireland at the time of the referendum so applied for a postal vote. The necessary papers arrived and we cast our votes correctly (and independently) also in very good time.
We later received notification that the votes arrived too late to be counted although posted when 2 weeks were to run before the deadline.
We had both independently voted to remain.
Strange that!

I am fully aware of that BJ, which is exactly what I did. BUT the local electoral office did not answer its telephone, hence me trying to find out what to do by using a local branch of whichever party. All of which referred me to Facebook or Twitter.

dalrymple23

I applied for a postal vote from Norwich CC at the beginning of April. I had to do this on line. My application was acknowledged. As of today (the 7th) nothing. I tried to contact them but, as is now normal, noone answered the telephone.

I tried to find the local office for the party for which I was going to vote. After googling for an hour, and finding nothing, I gave up. I also looked at websites for the parties for which I was not going to vote. No way of making contact.
I do not do Facebook or Twitter and have no intention of ever doing so. Why is there this assumption that the world and his wife uses these platforms?

Grrr....

Application for a postal vote, is made to your local electoral registration office.

Not to local offices of political parties.

It can be done either online or on a paper form; nothing to do with Facebook or twitter.

Tech is ok until it isn’t, then what do you do?
I had an update on my iPhone that requires me to prove I am over 18, it wanted me to scan a credit card, I don’t possess one, only ever use debit cards which it won’t recognise, so I tried my passport but it won’t scan it whichever way I do it, and I don’t drive so haven’t got a licence. I can use my phone it just keeps reminding me to confirm my age later. So my iPhone thinks I am under 18, and contacting Apple is useless.
I did swear. I mean it is just such a bloody minded mess when tech goes pear shaped.