Digital exclusion: Will businesses only take this problem seriously if someone dies? – Helen Martin

They had branches or offices, phone numbers and call centres which customers, clients and the public could use to get in touch.

Gradually branches and call centres were closed and reduced as internet communications increased. For big companies and organisations, that meant they could save thousands or millions by reducing employees in customer service.

That causes problems for many elderly people. Some still don’t have computers or email and don’t have a clue of how to deal online with any important bills, assistance or anything else.

Most of us believed that there would still be some support for the elderly in a world which was shifting everything to modern technology rather than human advice and support. Yet even when call centres still exist, it could mean holding on the phone for as much as two hours before a person picks up.

Covid-19 made this even worse. Call centres, with dozens or hundreds sharing the same large office, were uber-infectious. Some staff could stay at home and accept the phone calls there, but online communication accelerated.

In many circumstances anyone who does now telephone a company number is faced with an auto “recording” (not a human being) which asks for personal details, yes or no responses, and nine times out of ten tells callers to head to their website.

Utility firms can send out made-up “estimated” bills demanding payment. Correcting them is difficult with their phone system engaged. Emails from clients don’t necessarily get to the billing department. I’ve been through horrendous experiences of being hit with debt collectors while having proved the bill wasn’t mine. The solution in the end was to report them to the Energy Ombudsman and a lawyer, at which point they admitted they were wrong. A few months later they did it again.

Last week our boiler broke down. For around a decade I had paid a well-known national company for annual service and repairs. Now with the pandemic, there is no human being to phone. There was an auto system with which I recorded we had no heating and no hot water, plus we were pensioners and I had health issues. They offered the soonest repair in 11 days!

Cut a long story short, I cancelled our account, hired a local private gas engineer who came the next morning and repaired it. The company website insisted cancellation must be reported to them but included no method of how to do that. I googled and searched for half an hour and eventually found a cancellation number.

The girl answered immediately. She said they should have sent out an engineer within 24 hours, there had been many such disasters, she’d forwarded many such complaints, registered cancellation and recompensed me with two months’ payments. I know there are some “pensioners” much older than me, who would have been left to freeze for 11 days.

Shouldn’t such vital firms have an urgent, human call line, especially for over 70s or 80s who can’t cope with advancing technology and might not have a young relative to help? How could any firm without that cope if their client froze to death?

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