It is not because I am not “tech savvy.” I am surrendering because I value my time and I am frustrated when things don’t work as they should and are not streamlined when they could be.
I want to choose how I allocate my time, not have it stolen from me.
These pictures say it all. It’s a snowy day and I finally have the chance to work in my home office taking care of loose ends.
I decided to try to get my Honeywell wi-fi thermostat back online so I can monitor the temperature in my home while away and even turn the heat up before I come back. Great concept, right?
First I look up the password to get onto my Honeywell account. I had saved it and found it, and bingo, I’m on.
The emails that I get incessantly from Honeywell to reconnect say “click here for instructions on how to reconnect” and that link takes me to a page of the site where it asks me which model I have. I pull out the manual that I had stashed in a safe place by my cookbooks, and bingo, I have the model number. I write it on masking tape with a Sharpie and affix it to the thermostat. It would have been time-saving and convenient if the model number was put on the outside of the thermostat by the manufacturer.
Next, I have to download the app again on my phone, because it either disappeared or I removed it during the year that the thermostat was not connected, and I needed the space on my phone.
App downloaded, I try the same password that worked on Honeywell 20 minutes ago, and it says “wrong password or email.” Finally I open a new account with new info, and that works. Next I have to get the app and the site coordinated, because apparently these are now from two different companies.
I go back to my computer to choose my thermostat device. There are 12 pictures of models on each of 5 pages. It would have been time-saving if there was a box to type my model number into, or if the models were categorized by type, or any number of ways. I have to read the small numbers pictured in light blue under each photo to look for my model. And…it is not listed. When I finally get a dialog box to type it in, I get “Sorry, no search results found.”
I have spent 90 minutes to accomplish a tech task, and I am at a dead end.
It is not because I am not “tech savvy.” It is because I value my time and I am frustrated when things don’t work as they should and are not streamlined when they could be. I want to choose how I allocate my time, not have it stolen from me.
I think back fondly on my pre-computer life when I could make a phone call to a repair department and the person who knew how to do the repair would walk me through it. My wish in the Twifties Wishing Well today is that companies support their products and make it easy for people to set them up and get help.
These are product values that were important to companies and customers in the past.
Products that look out for their customers’ time and needs are products that I would go out of my way to purchase and recommend to others.
What is your wish for the #TwiftiesWishingWell ?
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