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‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

nytimes.com

91–100 of 164 posts

Re: ‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

#91

Hopefully this is the moment we start realizing that capitalism is not serving the public the way we need it to. How can we expect the old to be cared for without a profit motive? How long will we ignore expert opinion that communism is the most ethical option in nearly every way? How many more cases like this man's will we need to see?

[dead]

Re: ‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

#93
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doing that by email is a real dick move. They should send a letter with the last bill. And do it opt in of course. Old people are exactly the type of people that would carefully study letters that come in the post. Unlike people my age that would bin anything that comes with the bill thinking it's probably just commercial crap. But of course this is precisely the reason they do it by email. Dark pattern..

> And do it opt in of course. In my case, ISP charges you extra if you decide to keep the paper bills instead going for "eco bill" pdf file send by an email; same goes if you decide to opt-out from company selling your number elsewhere. Last time while getting new contract, 3 different people at local company's office tried to convince me that I can "win some fantastic rewards" if I decide to let them do with my numb…

In my case, ISP charges you extra if you decide to keep the paper bills

I'm old enough to remember when banks and other companies would charge extra for the privilege of paying online.

Re: ‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

#94
post #57

> it hurts to see that the digital world has dehumanized us to the point that loyalty has lost all of its worth sigh , this has almost nothing to do with the "digital" world as much as it does with the fact that corporations never cared. If they could have saved a single cent by moving to "tellers"/ATMS that were mechanical in nature, 51 years ago when he first opened his account, they would have. The corporations we…

> corporations never cared This is a pet peeve of mine: I understand it can be liberating to blame those greed corporations for giving profit the top priority, but the truth is that corporations never cared because consumers never cared. We, the consumers, have the nasty habit of looking for cheap before anything else. Whoever tries to sell quality, or to offer his hard-working employees a respectable wage, is painfu…

We also live in a totally different time.

You were never able to just research how credit works. You needed the bank teller for this.

You were not able to compare prices and service before.

It was critical for you as a necessity that you trusted them.

For consumers our time is much better than it was before.

And yes due to global optimization it's just something bound to happen.

Instead of complaining that we have much better options and are more enabled to do things out way we should start to think how we want to shape the future.

I would love to talk about how we can further enhance the life's of everyone and how we live together than discussed if we still need to support checks.

Re: ‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

#95
post #11
post #3

I've had to assist an elderly neighbour after her phone company cut off her phone service. Why? The way she had paid for it for the preceding 40 years was she would get the paper bill in mail, and then go down to the post office and organise payment using the details in that paper bill. They switched her over to paperless billing with an email that they've done so but you can opt out. She either did not understand th…

Ironically, my dad sometimes receives random scam bills via email from [insert well-known company name here] and I tell him to instantly delete them.

scam bills via email from [insert well-known company name here]

Name and shame. The rest of us can't help people look out for scams if you're not going to tell us what to look out for.

Re: ‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

#96
post #52
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you ever need to prove this kind of transactions to the tax man as an individual? As a business it’s your duty to take care of your recordkeeping, print out the invoices if you so prefer.

It's an American urban legend passed down from a time it may or may not have mattered. What did matter in living memory (thus passed down to at least this generation) is that saving utility bills for 7 year can establish credit. My parents still tell me to do this to this day, since that's how they were able to qualify for a home loan having not participated in the credit system otherwise. Nowadays most such transact…

Huh? Paid utility bills don't help to establish a credit history on your credit report even today.

Re: ‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

#97
post #57

> it hurts to see that the digital world has dehumanized us to the point that loyalty has lost all of its worth sigh , this has almost nothing to do with the "digital" world as much as it does with the fact that corporations never cared. If they could have saved a single cent by moving to "tellers"/ATMS that were mechanical in nature, 51 years ago when he first opened his account, they would have. The corporations we…

> corporations never cared This is a pet peeve of mine: I understand it can be liberating to blame those greed corporations for giving profit the top priority, but the truth is that corporations never cared because consumers never cared. We, the consumers, have the nasty habit of looking for cheap before anything else. Whoever tries to sell quality, or to offer his hard-working employees a respectable wage, is painfu…

I look for competitive rates based on services offered. A shitty motel is cheaper than an airbnb but I use Airbnb because typically they offer nicer houses. I use a credit card that has a high annual fee because the rewards make it more than worth it. I buy the nicer toilet paper because it feels better than the shit kind.

Consumers are not valuing cheap over everything else. If I'm unaware of why a $100 bike lock is better than the $20 bike lock and I buy the $20 bike lock that isnt me being cheap. That is the $100 bike lock manufacturers failure to convey the value of their product compared to other, more affordable, options.

All of this is wrapped up in another issue as well. Wealth. I'm at a point financially where I can pick the better and more expensive option. At many times in the past I bought the shit toilet paper because it was half the price and that meant I could stretch my paycheck a bit further.

I'm not going to get into how that could be alleviated but consumers care when they have the financial comfortability to care and when they are aware why they should care.

Re: ‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

#98
post #3

I've had to assist an elderly neighbour after her phone company cut off her phone service. Why? The way she had paid for it for the preceding 40 years was she would get the paper bill in mail, and then go down to the post office and organise payment using the details in that paper bill. They switched her over to paperless billing with an email that they've done so but you can opt out. She either did not understand th…

"they should just eat the cost" No consumers will eat the cost of a bunch of boomers who want to keep using cheques. And here's what will happen: the non boomer consumers will choose a cheaper bank. So unless the government wants to pick up the bill any sensible company will tell those senior citizens to get with the times.

No consumers will eat the cost of a bunch of boomers who want to keep using cheques.... any sensible company will tell those senior citizens to get with the times.

Your ageism is showing. Hopefully you're never in a management position in an American company, because that attitude will get you fired for violating federal discrimination laws.

Moreover, just wait. You'll get your turn.

Re: ‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

#99

> it hurts to see that the digital world has dehumanized us to the point that loyalty has lost all of its worth sigh , this has almost nothing to do with the "digital" world as much as it does with the fact that corporations never cared. If they could have saved a single cent by moving to "tellers"/ATMS that were mechanical in nature, 51 years ago when he first opened his account, they would have. The corporations we…

Sigh , it does have to do with the digital world actually (in that everyone now seems to think that everyone is on their platform. Further, it has been been observed that digital systems promote cognitive fatigue and empathy depletion across the board). There's no need to be so dismissive. Sigh.

Indeed. There are many things computers are amazing at doing (that's why I find them fascinating and enjoy working on them from time to time)—but human empathy isn't one of them.

Re: ‘I’m Old, Not an Idiot.’ One Man’s Protest Gets Attention of Spanish Banks

#100
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically, my dad sometimes receives random scam bills via email from [insert well-known company name here] and I tell him to instantly delete them.

scam bills via email from [insert well-known company name here] Name and shame. The rest of us can't help people look out for scams if you're not going to tell us what to look out for.

I read it as the bills aren't actually from [well known company] but sent out by scammers knowing many people will get real bills from [well known company] and some may mistake the scammer's bills for real ones and pay the scammer.
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