Poll of the Day > welp, my grandmother fell for an old people scam

(+) Yeah! (+)

some company named american mint sent her a letter about some coin for $5 and there was a small paragraph at the bottom you had to X out or they charge you $80 a month

she was off on vacation at the time she received the invoice and coin so it's past the 7 day return time, too

when are old people gonna learn how to google this shit, there's literally not a single positive thing about this company anywhere online
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Time to put her in a home

agesboy posted...

when are old people gonna learn how to google this shit

I don't think they even really understand what it means to 'google' something.

My mom, who is I believe 62, constantly asks me to order stuff for her because she can't figure out how to do it. About a month ago she needed a new battery for her Dyson vacuum. I said, "Mom, I just googled 'Dyson (whatever the hell the thing was called) battery. That's all you have to do." and she just says, "Can't you just do it for me?"

No mom, I can't. I gotta teach a man to fish here.
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it's actually kind of funny.

my wifes grandpa constantly asks her to do something with his TV because he pushed a button and it did a thing, or she orders hearing aid batteries from amazon for him, and it's like, he could absolutely learn how to do these things.

and yet, i've seen him literally take apart a car piece by piece and reassemble it without looking anything up. that blows my fucking mind that he can do that, but doesn't understand how to press the input button on his tv remote control a few times.
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People who grew up in the 70s when technology started coming in are all almost fifty. So I'd say you're looking at another ten years or so of this, depending how long our grandparents live. Not to mention the fact that this stuff used to happen with snail mail as well. How many people fell for that before there was Google?

helIy posted...

it's actually kind of funny.

my wifes grandpa constantly asks her to do something with his TV because he pushed a button and it did a thing, or she orders hearing aid batteries from amazon for him, and it's like, he could absolutely learn how to do these things.

and yet, i've seen him literally take apart a car piece by piece and reassemble it without looking anything up. that blows my fucking mind that he can do that, but doesn't understand how to press the input button on his tv remote control a few times.

I can add oil and torque a tire, when I have jacks and stands. That's all. I think it's a stubbornness issue. I was thinking about going to mechanics school. They will always be in demand.

its because old people are stubborn as fuck
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zebatov posted...

I can add oil and torque a tire, when I have jacks and stands

i can change the oil, change a tire, replace spark plugs, fuel injectors, take apart a carburetor and put it back together, replace an alternator, belts, wires, ect.

because i took the time to learn, i paid attention when someone gave me advice

my grandpa in law literally doesn't believe it and refuses to listen when we say he can just press the input button on his remote three times to get back to the right input. it's "too difficult for me. i can't figure out this technology shit" while i'm watching him assemble a goddamn engine.
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well fuck single clicking is hard enough withouth having to gasp click again

helIy posted...

replace spark plugs

Ah, yes, spark plugs. I can on a rotary engine, because you just reach into the engine bay and unscrew them (at the side of the housing). Most of my vehicles are/have been raised, and honestly I wouldn't know where to look. On an older carbureted engine, don't you just follow the cables down from the distributor?

agesboy posted...

you had to X out or they charge you $80 a month

$80/month for what? Additional coins or just payments on the same coin?

helIy posted...

it's actually kind of funny.

my wifes grandpa constantly asks her to do something with his TV because he pushed a button and it did a thing, or she orders hearing aid batteries from amazon for him, and it's like, he could absolutely learn how to do these things.

and yet, i've seen him literally take apart a car piece by piece and reassemble it without looking anything up. that blows my fucking mind that he can do that, but doesn't understand how to press the input button on his tv remote control a few times.

Yeah, it's kinda weird. The younger generations can do complicated computer stuff, etc, yet we can't do something basic like changing our oil (well, when I was 7 or 8, I had a black babysitter who taught me how to do it by helping her change her car's oil, but since I was 7 or 8 I can't remember how it worked.)
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zebatov posted...

helIy posted...

replace spark plugs

Ah, yes, spark plugs. I can on a rotary engine, because you just reach into the engine bay and unscrew them (at the side of the housing). Most of my vehicles are/have been raised, and honestly I wouldn't know where to look. On an older carbureted engine, don't you just follow the cables down from the distributor?

you just look at the engine, they're pretty easy to spot.
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Zeus posted...

$80/month for what? Additional coins or just payments on the same coin?

they sent some extra coin and a vial of what they called gold dust or some shit

it was a "preview" service or some shit
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helIy posted...

my grandpa in law literally doesn't believe it and refuses to listen when we say he can just press the input button on his remote three times to get back to the right input. it's "too difficult for me. i can't figure out this technology shit" while i'm watching him assemble a goddamn engine.

If you think about it, it's more likely a generational thing. This was the tech of Gramp's day, this is the tech of your day. Different generations, different wheelhouses. If you look at the owner's manual from when Gramps was your age, it was an inch and a half thick and told you how to remove the radiator and whatnot. For your car, it's a quarter inch thick and likely talks more about what console switches do and how many Bluetooth gadgets you can pair to it. I get it.

I realize as I close in on 40 that I'm squarely part of the last generation that grew up before cellphones and the internet were ubiquitous functions of our society. I didn't have a pager until I was 19 and got my first cellphone at almost 22, and THAT was a Nokia 5190 it was nearly the size of a red bull can. I grew up taking apart clocks and radios back when you could still learn something about how they worked. I can and have stripped a carbeurated engine because my first car was an 89 Jeep. Friends growing up were into classic cars.

At the same time, I also grew up in a time when personal computers and game consoles were still in their infancy. I've owned rotary phones, record players, tape decks, VCRs, and a shortwave radio. I'm the last generation that grew up without the internet being a thing but I was just on the cusp of adaptation for all of it. My parents are well into their 60s and have adopted new technology surprisingly well, but late in their careers they had no choice but to adapt.

So on second thought, maybe it's partly generational and partly a matter of exposure.
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Law and Order had an excellent episode about this sort of thing.

The old guy was a WWII vet and tracked the guy down afterwards using good old fashion investigating and smoked his ass.
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Dreaming_King posted...

Law and Order had an excellent episode about this sort of thing.

The old guy was a WWII vet and tracked the guy down afterwards using good old fashion investigating and smoked his ass.

I remember this episode!
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RCtheWSBC posted...

Dreaming_King posted...

Law and Order had an excellent episode about this sort of thing.

The old guy was a WWII vet and tracked the guy down afterwards using good old fashion investigating and smoked his ass.

I remember this episode!

Hell, look at Mike Ehrmentraut from Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul. That character is about as old school as it gets but I sure wouldn't want a guy like that after my ass...
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agesboy posted...

some company named american mint sent her a letter about some coin for $5 and there was a small paragraph at the bottom you had to X out or they charge you $80 a month

Something like that actually came up on a Dutch quiz about Dutch law here. So, I do not know about American law for this situation, but since there is nothing officially signed, there would be no official contract here. Also, legally speaking, the sample would be a gift under Dutch law.

But knowing America, the law would probably protect the company first over the consumer and thus the scammer in this case.
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I am glad my grandfather doesn't fall for that crap.

My step-grandma however...
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DirtBasedSoap posted...

its because old people are stubborn as fuck

Honestly, this is the answer. Old people are not stupid. They're just tired of learning new shit and don't bother. This makes them seem wildly naive to younger people when they fall for simple tricks and wildly stupid when they don't learn new technology. But it's not naivety or stupidity. They're just tired and stubborn.

Oh, and not all of them of course. I know plenty of older people in their 70s or 80s who love technology and wouldn't fall for any stupid tricks on the Internet. Also, I just now realized that at 29, I no longer consider 60s to be old.