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Lance R. Vick

@tphinney @Jennifer Exactly this, and they chose to introduce it months after I became a patient, having known from the outset that I do not have or want a Google or Apple device.

I gave up my smartphone 3 years ago, and am a lot happier being disconnected when I am not at my desk. It would seem some don't consider this a valid lifestyle choice.

This is the first time anyone has refused me services for not having a phone.

29 comments
Glenn Fleishman

@lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer I'm sympathetic. My wife has a device that doesn't require an app, but benefits from smartphone integration. At some point, I assume they will require one—and then what? I've boosted your post.

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@pineywoozle (s) for HARRIS

@lrvick I would guess they’ve moved to an AI model to handle those type of interactions and are doing it to save money. @tphinney @Jennifer

Robert M

@lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer Nothing like a medical provider electing to drop me as a patient, but last week I dropped off 3 boxes at FedEx in Walgreens and couldn't get a receipt because I didn't have a smart phone with me. They were prepaid returns worth several hundred dollars.

People are being forced to have a smart phone on their person at all times to do ordinary everyday things.

kæt

@rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer I get this kind of thing a lot, too.

I don't really carry my phone around with me unless I need to phone someone while not at home (which isn't often, it can wait, and other folk can wait for me).

Your phone can be nicked or damaged and it's got all that info on it and is big and expensive and everything, and it's always tempting to fiddle with it, or take photos rather than do things unmediated.

But the strangest things are suddenly not possible. There was a burger van which refused to serve me the other day. I was there, they had spare burgers, I had a kind of money they accepted, but they wouldn't serve me because I didn't have the app, literally just to order the food, and I didn't have my phone.

They're all trivial things -- I can always try to remember my phone if I know it's going to happen -- but it's weird.

My phone spends most of its time plugged into the wall at home for when I have to interact with these weird companies (until I find a competitor!)

@rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer I get this kind of thing a lot, too.

I don't really carry my phone around with me unless I need to phone someone while not at home (which isn't often, it can wait, and other folk can wait for me).

Your phone can be nicked or damaged and it's got all that info on it and is big and expensive and everything, and it's always tempting to fiddle with it, or take photos rather than do things unmediated.

Petr Tesarik

@chiffchaff @rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer

The second beast forces all people—important and unimportant, rich and poor, free and slaves—to be marked on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that NO ONE MAY BUY OR SELL unless he has the mark, which is the beast's name or the number of its name.
 This calls for wisdom: Let the person who has understanding figure out the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.
(Revelation of John 13:14)

Petr Tesarik

@chiffchaff @rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer I mean, as long as it is a smartphone that you carry with you, the doomsday is not imminent, but once the smartphone is put into your forehead…

Maggie Maybe

@chiffchaff @rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer the burger van is being dumb, why don’t they buy a $20 TracFone for folks who don’t have a smart phone so they can place an order if dudes won’t just go ahead and do it for you?

Killick

@rob11563

I would have pressed them to give me a handwritten receipt. Hopefully you wont need it, though.

Maggie Maybe

@killick @rob11563 yes if you watch them scan the labels that scan would be attached to the tracking number and show the package was received.

Maggie Maybe

@rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer this sounds crazy though, I guess I understand if they’ve decided to stop printing receipts, but they can’t email or text it to you? Yikes

Piggleston Pecanpants

@rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer I would report the Walgreens incident to your Attorney General. Not everyone can afford a smart phone. I'm sure the Attorney General would be interested in a major corporation excluding a vulnerable portion of the population from being able to do business with them.

just adrienne

@LilPecan @rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer Yeah, if you're in even a halfway decent US state, your state Attorney General is often a really good resource for shit like this. Even in red states!

Jennifer

@adrienne @LilPecan @rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney lol nobody in my state would give a shit about something like this (Tennessee)

Piggleston Pecanpants

@Jennifer @adrienne @rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney I agree with Adrienne that you won't know if the AGs office can help if you don't try. There are people who want to assist in these matters if given a chance plus you would be throwing sunlight on the problem instead of letting companies simply get away with poor behavior. You could be pleasantly surprised. I used to be a professional consumer advocate and the wins are worth fighting for.

Jennifer replied to Piggleston

@LilPecan @adrienne @rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney well I don't need help with anything, the original poster might live in a state that might help with this situation.

just adrienne

@Jennifer @LilPecan @rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney You MIGHT be surprised, tbh. Tennessee's elected/appointed government sucks rocks, but the AG's office is still gonna have a lot of salaried, boring people in it who actually do want to do their fucking jobs.

William Conner

@rob11563 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer Dropped 3 returns @ Kohls yesterday. Had printed RMA with product named for each. Good thing, since clerk's first question was "Which RMA goes with which return?" Much harder to find in email on phone, which is why I printed them in the first place. Clerk could not be bothered to read paper cause expecting to scan phone. Something wrong here. 😝

💡𝚂𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗆𝖺𝗇 𝙰𝗉𝗉𝗌📱

@lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer @mapache
"I gave up my smartphone 3 years ago, and am a lot happier being disconnected when I am not at my desk. It would seem some don't consider this a valid lifestyle choice"
I know some who don't even consider having a landline to be a valid lifestyle choice!

m0xEE

@SmartmanApps @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer @mapache
I didn't own a cellphone in mid 2000s and it was pretty hard to get certain thing done already, now is the time when you are forced to have a smartphone, and one of the current ones to boot, capable of running applications from official stores that often impose a slew of restrictions themselves: Google Play services and all that 😫

💡𝚂𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗆𝖺𝗇 𝙰𝗉𝗉𝗌📱

@m0xee @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer @mapache
"you are forced to have a smartphone"
That alludes to part of my point - websites that refuse to accept a landline as a valid contact number. "You've entered an invalid phone number" - you've heard of landlines, right?? Pretty sure you're using them, except I can't tell for sure because you didn't include YOUR contact information on this website (instead insisting I should "download our app to contact us". Nope, not gonna happen)...

Gina Intheburg 🇺🇦 🌻

@lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer

That is horrible!

What insurance provider is this?

I can't believe they don't have a patient portal that you could access from your computer. Or email? Messaging on their website? Maybe an app for PCs in the Windows store? Nada?

There really oughta be a law to enable you to fight this kind of discrimination. I hope you are able to sort this out soon.

Peter Bindels

@ginaintheburg @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer

> Maybe an app for PCs in the Windows store?

An app in a closed store for a huge tech giant because you don't want to be tied to two other huge tech giants isn't much of an improvement.

Gina Intheburg 🇺🇦 🌻

@dascandy42 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer

You got me.

But when the alternative is no insurance, eg, sometimes we find we have no choice but to bite the bullet. And that's no disrespect to @lrvick. I know he's far better informed and more sophisticated than I am about such matters.

Peter Bindels

@ginaintheburg @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer I believe that the root of this was that you should not be tied to any given huge corporation to get basic things like health insurance... so yeah, I do think it's the same point.

Gina Intheburg 🇺🇦 🌻

@dascandy42 @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer

I saw it as a problem of not being given options - which is what I thought @lrvick's main issue was.

Maggie Maybe

@dascandy42 @ginaintheburg @lrvick @tphinney @Jennifer The LDN Research Trust has a great little app for tracking symptoms, medications, activity, etc. I think it’s the only app I’ve used that I didn’t get from an App Store, you can only find it on their site

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