Web User - UK (2019-12-11)

72 11-26December 2019

Snail mail ismoresecure
thanemail
Regarding Barry Collins’ Page 4 04
column in Issue 488, ‘Let’sstamp out
snail mailin 2020’. Iopenedmyinbox
this morningtoseeIhad received an
emailbecauseIhad looked
ataflightprice.Ihad 20
notifications, because
Ihadbeen on eBay,and
three scammessages–
twofrom Nigeria andone
from Venezuela.
My grandmother is 9 3
and shecontacts meregularlyto check
on someemail scam or other.Ihave to
monitor emailsreceived by my other
family members in their advancingyears
to ensuretheyare notcheatedout of
thousands of pounds,becaus eweare all
being drivento use technology.
Barryiswrong –snail mailis essential.
Tried and trustedsnail mailprovides
moresecurity than anyelectronicsystem.
It allows morematurepeopletimeto
consider and act on thecommunications
theyreceive. It also allows less
technically savvy folk to have amore
simple lifewhere youhaveevidenceof
gettingsomething andkeep it as proof.
Perhaps Barry’s column should have
been ‘Let’s relieve people of the
perpetual pressureofhaving to respond

immediately’. Whymustpeoplerespond

with “sorry for thedelay”? Bring back

morerelianceonsnailmail, Isay.

Russell Taylor,viaemail

Snail mail hasitsuses

Barry Collins’ columnsuggesting thatwe

stop using‘snailmail’ isshortsighted.

Millionsofolder peopledon’t have

computers and areunableto

comprehend newtechnology.

Afriend ofmine,aretired

teacher,puts it into

perspectivewhen hesays:“You can’t

teach old dogsnewtricks”. Plus,how

is Barry going tosend parcels

electronically?I’m intriguedtoknow!

David Austin, Sheffield

Keepscammershangingon

thephone

As afollow-up toyour question ‘Have

youeverbeentargetedbyaMicrosoft

tech support scam’(Inbox, Issue 488),

Iwould addthatitis useful whenyou

recognise ascam tokeep thecaller

1

3

5

2

4

6

Quiz Answers: Issue 489

IceIce Baby

SleepingSatellite

EarthSong

ThreeLions

Candlein theWind

GenieinaBottle

T

hereisnothing moreannoying

than takingtime offwork totake

delivery ofaparcelthatthen

doesn’t arrive.Iordered asmall item

in apadded bag from the US.The

retailerand USPS(United StatesPostal

Service)managed togetit tothe UK

in adayand ahalf.UKParcelforcethen

took morethantwoweekstodeliver it.

Iemailedthe retailerand USPS,then

Irang Customs and UKParcelforceand

got nowhere.

Nowtomypoint. Ipaid for the item,

the delivery,£20 incustomcharges

and £12 extrafor aSaturdaydelivery

(whichneverhappened),but every

timeIphoned oremailed for an

update,Iwas told ParcelforceUK can

onlysupplyinformation tothe sender,

Our delivery services need fixing

so Ishouldcontact them.

Surely,the person who is payingfor

everything is entitledto knowwhat’s

happeningto their parcel? Ifor one will

neverpay extrafor afasterdelivery

again, as thestandard excuseseemsto

be “Wetried to deliver butyouwere

not in” or ”Itwasonthe vanbut the

driverranout of time”.Then th eparcel

gets delivered thefollowingweek as

nor mal. Ihaveonoccasionevenhad a

photoattachedto the email of the

delivery man’ sfoot on some tarmacto

prove theytried to deliver –but Ilive

in thecountry and thereisnotarmac

near my property!

This is whyalldelivery services are

broken.They badly need anoverhaul

and moretraining.Themoral of the

story is: don’tever pa yextrafor faster

delivery and docomplain likehell until

the system is fixed.

Iwonder whatbad serviceother

readers have experienced?

Welsh Legend,via email

Star Email

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