Making Banking More Convenient... For Criminals!!!

The author of the blog post and podcast, Mr. O, shares a humorous story about his friend's experience with a pharmacy and their inefficient computer system. The friend had to renew her prescription and went through various appointments and paperwork, only to receive an automated call from the pharmacy stating she needed to call them urgently. However, the pharmacy was closed, causing her unnecessary stress and confusion. The author also shares a personal experience with a company saving his credit card information without permission and the difficulties he faced in undoing unauthorized purchases. He concludes by expressing frustration with the conflicting messages about protecting personal information and companies' requests for private data. Hi, and welcome to Mr. O's Sideway View, a blog and podcast dedicated to all those folks who aren't me. And I've noticed a surprisingly large number of people who aren't. Hmm. Anyway, I'm Mr. O, and it's time to take another Sideway View in our crazy world. A good friend of mine recently came upon a problem. No, for all you comedians out there, the issue is not because she is my friend. We've been friends for over ten years. That particular inconvenience is not recent at all. So there. Her issue is more medical in nature. You see, she needs a certain medication, which is only available from one source. Remember, please, this is a humorous post. She is in no danger. Well, except for that whole being my friend thing. But this is beside the point. The thing is, she has to renew her prescription every year. Recently, when she called the pharmacy, they reminded her she had to talk to her doctor. Acting immediately, she contacted everyone concerned, went to all required appointments, and filled out the proper forms. Next, she sat back, wondering what would go wrong this time. Sadly, this process is never smooth. Anyway, after doing all this, she called the pharmacy again. She informed them that all the T's were crossed and the I's dotted. They would be seeing her renewed script soon. They in turn entered all this material into their computer. Everything was done. Well, maybe. Two days later, she got an automated phone call stating she needed to call the pharmacy right away. This is interesting for two reasons. First, if there's an emergency with her meds, why did the computer call? It's not a real person. She can't talk to the machine. In point of fact, the freaking machine didn't know what the problem was. If it did, wouldn't it have said so? Second, that machine didn't leave a callback number. Since she was house-sitting at the time, she had to go home to get the number and couldn't respond to the emergency. She did just that. An hour later, she made the call, only to find the pharmacy was closed and would reopen tomorrow at 8. She had to wait 12 hours. Now I'm no expert, but I thought the definition of emergency was, This can't wait 12 hours. Silly me. Again, I would have thought if this was so important, they'd have made a voice call. Some of you good folks might remember those. You know, having one person actually speak to another person? A bold concept, I'll admit. But in some cases, the better option. Either way, she was up all night stressing over what the emergency could be. She had a small supply of the medication, so that couldn't be it. Could it be there was a new side effect? Could it be the drug was coming from Siberia and the dog sleds weren't running? Could it be young Dr. Drake had fallen in love with another beautiful female patient and was so distracted by her, he removed Mrs. Nedsmith's fulmarcarin instead of her clondose? Nah, it's probably not that. I guess I've been watching too much General Hospital. Either way, the next morning she called. After pressing buttons, answering silly questions, and being frustrated for about five minutes, she spoke to a nurse. You guessed it. It wasn't really an emergency. The nurse informed her that her script expired, and their efficient computer system was only calling to let her know something, in fact, she already knew. My extremely sleep-deprived friend laid into them. The only thing their computer was efficient at was wasting her time, and causing anxiety. She yelled at the woman, saying she called a few days before. This was a bit unfair. Yes, the correct info was in her chart. Also, the processor could have spent a few precious nanoseconds reading that chart. Instead, it just made the call, without even checking. I like it this way. Her confidential statistics are protected. I mean, even the pharmacy's computer can't access the information on their own computer. Folks spend millions for that kind of data protection. Okay, maybe not. This is called artificial intelligence, which is a misnomer because it's neither. If it were intelligent, the call wouldn't have been made. Also, it's not artificial. It's very real, and making real phone calls to unsuspecting humans. And that's not the worst of it. I purchased something online a while back. The company asked if I wanted to save my credit card information for additional convenience with future purchases. I responded, no! Of course I didn't want them to save my credit card. I may be an idiot, but I'm not stupid. About an hour later, I went back to their site. Acting as if I was making another purchase, I made sure they didn't keep it. Then, two months later, my statement was showing odd purchases. My son had accidentally subscribed to a music service. How is this possible? I know they don't have my card information. Well, not really. You see, while the site deleted the information, the all-powerful Google decided it should be saved anyway. Not only saved, but available for one-click purchases. He hit a wrong button, and Google thought it wouldn't be convenient to ask him to verify this request. So it didn't. The thing is, while it took only one click to make the purchase, it took two hour-long phone calls to undo it. Also, for my convenience, this info was tied to my account. Months later, my laptop broke, so I went to the library to check my email. Three days after I did, my account was charged $1,000 in retail electronics. Apparently, it was easy for the hackers to get and use my information, whereas I, the honest citizen, had to jump through hoops to get my money back. I think the system might need a little tweaking. However, I do understand this completely. Think about it, an honest man can turn on you in a second, while a crook will undoubtedly be a crook. See, the crook is far more trustworthy. The bank eventually gave me my money back, but due to difficulties in prosecution, they let the thief keep the merchandise. This may appear wrong on the surface, but there is logic to it. I did nothing to have my credit card stolen. Contrary-wise, the hacker had to work very hard writing programs and viruses before he could make this illegal purchase. He did all the work, therefore he should get the biggest reward. It all makes perfect sense. Not! As all this was going on, several of my utilities wrote to tell me I could automatically pay online. All I had to do was give them carte blanche to my checking account. I can't see any problem with that, can you? Hi, Mr. O. We decided to double your electricity rate. Sorry you didn't know, but we've gone paperless, so you don't get alerts anymore. Of course, ignorance of these changes is no excuse. You have to pay it regardless. Thank you for your patronage. Every other day, I read stories about how I should protect my banking information and the dangers of not doing so. Then, on the off days, some company tells me they need my private data, or the world will end! Is it any wonder I'm so confused? Thanks for listening, and I hope you laughed a lot. Stop by anytime. Open 24-7 for your smiling convenience. If you liked it, push like, or share it with a friend. If you missed an episode, you can hear Mr. O. on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, and Spotify. Remember to subscribe so you won't miss it again. If you'd like, you can send me an email at osidewaysviewatgmail.com. That's O-H-H-S sidewaysviewatgmail.com. And remember what I always say, laugh now! You can be crabby anytime!