It’s getting harder

Some long-established habits are getting difficult to maintain.

One of our consultants has been paying his monthly phone bill in a very old-fashioned way: he receives a paper bill in the mail and sends off a handwritten check in the envelope provided.  It’s more from inertia than anything else, plus some stubbornness.  The phone company has been trying to get him to move online for years, citing better security.  Well, the security of the internet compared to the mail system is questionable.  The real reason is that sending out paper bills each month costs the company more than in electronic form, though it’s still a tiny fraction of the cost of the phone service.  And stuffing envelopes is labor-intensive, again leading to expense.

Well, the bill didn’t arrive at all last month, so he didn’t pay it.  This month’s version was expensive and came with unfriendly notices.  He is going to be forced online.  He is a bit resentful at being forced to do something; but he now realizes that he cannot depend on the company performing paper billing competently.  It’s possible no one employed there pays their bills that way, and that many never have.

Our astronomer had a similar experience not too long ago.  He retains a bank account in England, where he got his degree, and uses it to pay his annual dues to the Royal Astronomical Society.  For decades this has meant doing a wire transfer from his US bank account.  Traditionally this meant going to a branch of his bank and filling out a paper form.  A few years ago this was no longer possible, and he had to make a phone call to a central office.  Three years ago he spent a long time talking to several different people, apparently none of whom had ever done a wire transfer overseas before.  Eventually it got done.  This year he went online and used a credit card.

(Incidentally, we notice another trend.  Local branches and locations of companies are less and less capable of handling the details of one’s account.  Our consultant can pay his bill or buy something at the phone company’s location, but any adjustments or questions have to be referred to a call center elsewhere.)

In a way, this is nothing new.  Even if one of our neighbors were to maintain a coal-fired furnace in their basement, there is no company to make deliveries of the fuel; and if one wanted to travel to Alexandria from Mount Vernon by horse, there is no stable to house the animal here.  One should probably expect that being a dinosaur gets harder as time goes by.

But our tutor does resent the fact that operating the drink dispenser at the Wendy’s near his work requires a smartphone app.  He avoids the place.