Thought of this thread when someone shared this with me today:
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I have some tech-themed gripes:
⢠Autoplay previews on streaming services. I have turned it off on every app/device in our household (the setting can be frustratingly hard to find). AND YET it somehow gets turned back on periodically on some apps (updates, maybe). Iâm even-keeled but this sets me off. And it always seems to play at eardrum-blasting volume for some reason.
⢠Needing to create an account and/or download an app for truly dumb stuff. Bonus points if the password needs certain characters or 2-factor authentication is required.
⢠Every company pushing AI âhelpâ front and center (i.e., in the way) for any task. No, I almost certainly do not want the âassistanceâ of AI to accomplish an already irritating online task. This is distinct from chatbots which were annoying enough already.
⢠Digital-only menus (via QR code on the phone). Iâm not even that old and Iâm too old for that crap. Along those same lines, the Newark airport is cursed with all the restaurants being way too expensive even for airport food and having to order and pay on your phone via QR code. A burger and fries there was the most expensive meal I ate during a trip to Europe (I ate no shortage of amazing food). And of course the order didnât get properly routed to the chefs who were 15 feet away from me. Which I found out 30 minutes later when it falsely said âdeliveredâ and I asked them what was up. That airport also has weirdly uncomfortable seating, among other delights.
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Ugh, thatâs one of my main pet peeves. If Iâm in an aisle seat, I stand up quickly and block the aisle. Itâs usually young men who are the offenders, in my experience.
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Once in the Chicago airport, I sat at a bar where you had to order food and drinks on a tablet. It was hard to figure out. The woman next to me kept getting an error when she tried to pay. The bartender was doing an admirable job of ignoring her. I felt sorry for her and started waving my hands to get the guyâs attention. Oh, my, he came over and reamed me out! I filed a complaint when I got home. It want his fault that management had t hired enough staff, but he didnât have to be rude.
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My husband insists that part of the reason he retired so early (58) is because of all the computer password, security and 2 party -authentication he had to deal with. Mind you, he has a very high level security clearance, so what drove him crazy seemed like common sense to me. 
Airports - Itâs almost impossible to be a traveler with two allergies (dairy and gluten). No inflight meals cover both, and itâs impossible to find options in the airport. I pack my own food on outbound fiights and have no problem getting through security. The problem is coming home or delays. Itâs crazy how hard it is. Weâve put off international trips because of this.
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I agree with your husband lol. Iâm tech-savvy, and security minded (e.g., I never save my financial passwords on any device, never reuse them, have no financial apps on my phone, always use 2FA for sensitive accounts, etc). But I simply donât care about the security on >80% of the âaccountsâ I have because they are for stupid things. I shouldnât have to jump through the same security hoops to schedule a haircut that I (gladly) jump through to log into my bank account.
I dislike air travel and it just seems to be getting worse and worse. Self-service is great when everything is running smooth! But throw the tiniest wrench into things and good luck talking to a real person to get the issue resolved. Kiosks are fine and I usually opt for them, but donât make it the only option available.
It seems you can barely order food from a real person at Newark anymore. Walking around and browsing the food options, there were menus posted on TV screens with no prices to be found. Why, do they do surge pricing? You have to scan the code on a table at each place to see the eye-watering prices. Normal sized steak frites, looks tasty so I sit down and scan, see itâs $45, stand up and move on. I also always pack food outbound, and even on my way home if I can manage it. But I was delayed on my way home from Europe, like you say. Iâm used to dealing with airport food/prices, but this was just obnoxious. Iâve been really into Amtrak for shorter trips lately, where I feel much more like a human while traveling and itâs much easier to pack a bunch of food.
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The Subaru service center. I donât think I will buy another Subaru at least until we move, and only if they offer it free for a time period. We live an hour from the nearest dealership. But every stupid oil change with nothing extra is 3x the cost of my Hyundai at the dealer. I canât get out of here under $200 and sometimes the bigger services are $500. Iâve never ever in 150,000 miles spent $500 on the Hyundai.
And it takes forever. Hyundai is typically an hour. And thereâs a trail I can walk on while I wait. Here thereâs nothing and it always 1:30-2:00. (Currently at 1:35 and counting today)
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Or why does every single freaking venue need its own app? Every time I go to a sporting event or even graduation ceremony I need a new app for the tickets. WTH. I needed two downloads for D19âs graduation ceremonies (the all-college commencement and the individual school ceremony..) Why does every tennis tournament need its own app?? I had to even get an app for the T20 World Cup cricket last yearâŚat a temporary stadium built for the purpose which Iâd clearly never need again 
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This is exactly what Iâm talking about! I had to download an app to pay for 2 hours of meter parking in a city I was visiting once. Which of course took forever. A commencement app is truly ridiculous. And when youâre chided that your password isnât secure enough or required to enter a code? If youâre traveling, stressed, having a bad day, running late, whatever, youâll eventually feel like Samir from Office Space murdering the PC load letter printer.
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Dentist, I would happily give a review. What I will not do is sign in using my google or facebook account to review your practice. Stop asking me multiple times a day by email and text.
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I left a dentist after they offered rewards for people giving them a 5-star review on social media/yelp. That seemed unethical to me.
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Yep, as soon as I get an offer for free services for leaving a 5 star review, I immediately donât leave a review (even if I loved the product) or I leave a poor one stating that itâs an honest review as I did not except the free offer for leaving a 5 star review.
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Town wide FB pages and youth sports (parents).
Donât need to explain either, because IYKYK.
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The couple we are co-hosting tonightâs event with made essentially all the decisions without checking with us. Ok, annoying but we will manage. Then I asked if they thought we should get a bit more main course since we have a smaller group who are mostly bringing apps. They said no, and then proceeded to order a smoked item, again without asking us. I personally cannot stand smoked food, so asked (when they told us) if it could be roasted instead of smoked. They said no â too late they already ordered and paid. And of course we will pay them for half since we are co hosts. But geez, annoying! I guess I wonât eat.
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I was a bit more than annoyed by the two people who came up on our cabin porch at 10PM last night, opened our screen door, and got confused when their key was incompatible with our digital door lock. Apparently, they were looking for the Air B&B across the road and a few cabins down. Our number is plainly marked on both posts at the foot of our driveway, so Iâm baffled by the confusion and still a bit shaken. I can see how an incident like this could end badly under different circumstances. Had they attempted to enter the cabin next to us, they might have made the headlines this morning.
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I think you canât do this anymore with new remote tech, but a number of years ago a friend went on a date with someone who opened another BMW (same color and model as his) by mistake with his remote and started getting in, when the actual owner came yelling down the blockâŚ
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I can remember the days when many garage door openers would just as easily open a neighborâs garage as your own.
In last nightâs case, the people had a physical key and were faced with our keypad, so they immediately knew they were in the wrong place but no explanation of how they even turned in to a clearly marked driveway that was not even close to the number they said they were looking for.
Weâve had an ongoing problem with this particular Air B&B due to the inaccuracy of GoogleMaps in the woods.
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We had something similar happen. We had a car pull up our driveway (between two retaining walls) and drive to the back of our house. They wanted the Airbnb next door. This was during daylight hours, we are in the middle of a small city. Our houses are completely different shapes, styles and colors. And it wasnât the driveway between our houses - that would have been the correct one.
They looked surprised to see our cars behind the house and H went running out to see who they were. I am glad it wasnât on the middle of the night! That would be creepy.
I had a 92 thunderbird in college. I once opened up another - not a remote key either - and got in it. Then I noticed it wasnât my car! I quickly got out and slunk awayâŚ
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When I bought a new white Toyota van, I had an awful time telling it from all the other white Toyota vans in the various parking lots. I tried to open the wrong one more times than Iâd like to admit. I finally started putting a cute antenna ball on the antenna and that helped some (but folks kept stealing them). Fortunately the owners and I would just laugh because sometimes theyâd try to open my van too but look inside and realize it was too messy and not theirs!
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I once opened a car, sat in the seat and realized it looked slightly different than mine when I went to reach for my water bottle that wasnât there. None of that sunk in, until I realized the car certainly wasnât mine, as it reeked of weed, and Iâm not one for hot boxing.
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