I've Had it With Apps, Subscriptions and "Loyalty" Programs!
While I am not a tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist, I am increasingly inclined to join the bandwagon of those who are proclaiming that the proliferation of AI will be the death of humanity!
Now, I'm not saying that because I believe that AI is going to become our evil overlords, but because I think a whole bunch of us are going to keel over and die from strokes as a result of having to navigate the eternal maze of apps, loyalty programs and subscription-based bullshit that seems to pervade every corner of society.
No, I do not want to download an app so I can communicate with my toaster! And no I do not consider it a feature that my toaster will send me a text message to let me know that my toast is now ready. I have eyes in my head. I can see when my toast is ready, thank you very much!
I also do not have the slightest interest in paying you $2.99 a month to subscribe to your newsletter giving me allegedly new ways to toast bread twice a month. I don't need to know new ways to toast bread. Toast is toast: it's bread it's been toasted on the outside. I toast it, I add butter, then either jam or cheese and that's it... we're done. Anything else is fluffery that serves no practical purposes... at least from where I'm sitting.
I also do not want to "join your mailing list" just because I am buying a loaf of bread at the bakery. And I'm frankly a little bit annoyed by the fact that when I tap my debit card the screen pops up to either have me complete a survey, or even to leave a tip for you handing me bread over the counter.
It's a bakery! I come in, I point at what I want, you hand it to me, I pay and we're done. You don't have some special bread selling skill that warrants leaving a tip. It's just complete nonsense.
The other day, I was picking up some pieces of wood for a little home project. As I checked out there was that question again as to whether I would be willing to complete "a quick customer satisfaction survey." To be honest the only way you can improve your customer service is to not ask me to complete service surveys while I am shopping!
Much of this trend stinks of the likelihood that businesses are getting these different point-of-sale systems that allow them to create surveys and all these extra bells and whistles, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's appropriate to use them!
Pretty much nobody cares about subscribing to the "broccoli of the week club!"
The thing that the stresses me out about this — and this is particularly true when I visit a large chain or a big box store — is that it is all but impossible to opt out of these things. And if you do insist that you just want to pay it with cash and not give any of your information such as your email address (that they almost always ask for) it virtually requires a manager to come and do a "manager override" on the terminal to allow the employee to bypass collecting this information.
It almost comes across as the shopping equivalent of those invasive Flock cameras they are installing everywhere!
I'm not sure where all this is leading, but I fear the day that I'm going to wake up and see the announcement that cash is no longer a thing, which is basically your kick in the butt that you no longer have the option to opt out. So much for freedom!
For now, I do the only thing I can. which is to voice my displeasure at having to deal with these things and use it as a talking point as to why I'm most likely not coming back to this establishment.
Feel free to leave a comment — this IS "social" media, after all!
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The toaster example actually hits home since I have seen smart appliances that seem to complicate things rather than simplify them. It feels like every simple transaction now comes with a list of demands for my data or extra fees. I really agree that needing a manager override just to pay with cash is completely absurd.
Indeed, some of these things border on the absurd!
Like going to a coffeeshop and not being able to order a coffee without giving up your email address... unless you really push back. And the trouble is that we have become so compliant that we don't even think twice about it being a "pretty normal part of going out."
Nope. It's not normal!
=^..^=
After the fridge situation in France, I definitely don't want any household appliances connected to the internet where someone else could take control of them !
When our local Dunelm told me that they were no longer going to be producing till receipts, only emailing them, I must admit I had a very frank exchange of views with them. Under UK law, that would have given them the "pre-existing commercial relationship" loophole as a way to circumvent rules on spam emailing.
So I pointed out that blind people tend not to use computers, or have printers (since braille printers are pretty specialist bits of kit), and many don't use email because they may find screen readers inconvenient. Dunelm would therefore be in breach of the Equality Act 2010, and also if the customer was buying for a business they'd be breaking the law about providing a VAT receipt at the point of sale. Shortly afterwards they dropped the idea, although I suspect I can't claim credit for it, their legal department might have seen what was going on and gone "hold on a minute...."
There's an old saying — I'm not sure where it came from — that ”silence is consent.”
So I always make a point of giving constructive feedback — not just attacking and calling them stupid RIP offs — whenever I encounter a situation that's really annoying me, and I tried to frame it in such a way that it will leave no doubt that I'm saying ” your policy is going to lose you money, because I'm not the only customer who's going to walk away.”
These venues don't care about actual feedback but they do care about their bottom lines so if the feedback is always wrapped around damage to their bottom line I feel like it is more likely to be ”heard.”
Your example with Dunelm is also an effective angle if they think they're going to get in trouble legally things tend to change rather fast.
Again not trying to take credit, but some years back my wife started rattling an attorney e-commerce giant eBay because of a practice they had of arbitrarily holding incoming payments from buyers for up to three weeks, which led to a major class action lawsuit, as a result of which PayPal stop being and integrated part of eBay commerce.
Regardless, it often feels like paddling upstream against a current that moves you backwards ever so slightly faster than you're capable of paddling.
=^..^=
The toaster subscription lol, but i can get worse... You'll have a little screen on it with ads. You'll need to watch everything before use it ;-;
I come across that, from time to time. I hate being trapped behind an "Ad Wall," particularly when there's a small "apology" from the site owner that in order to bring you this tool for free, we have to have ads, sorry.
=^..^=
This bit especially — "which is to voice my displeasure at having to deal with these things and use it as a talking point as to why I'm most likely not coming back to this establishment." — thanks for walking through it. 🐝
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Maybe I'm just too stubborn, but I don't believe in just ignoring attributes of site/apps I don't like... I give feedback. Frequently.
=^..^=
Short, agreeable follow-up — stubborn-but-constructive feedback is exactly the opposite of silent compliance.
Not stubborn at all — that's the useful kind of persistence, the one that actually gives businesses a chance to fix things before they lose you for good. Silent walkaways teach a company nothing; a clear "here's what's wrong and here's why it matters" at least gives them a shot. 🐝
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