Over 70 and Webless

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

It’s been said that the Internet is a boon to senior citizens. They can stay connected, shop, blog … a lot of things without leaving their home. Apparently, the Carphone Warehouse in England doesn’t agree as they wouldn’t let Shirley Greening-Jackson sign up, despite the fact she recently walked the Great Wall of China and is obviously in fine shape.

The 75-year-old would only be allowed to sign the forms for the Carphone Warehouse’s TalkTalk phone and broadband package if she was accompanied by a younger member of her family who could explain the small print to her. The young man said, ‘Sorry, you’re over 70. It’s company policy. We don’t sign anyone up who is over 70.’ Source: Daily Mail

We Say: All right, it’s not as clear-cut as it seems. A spokesperson said that customer service reps had been told to exercise “discretion” when dealing with older patrons, because of complaints that staff had mis-sold products last year. And that makes sense: once bitten, twice shy. Still, I’m sure that’s no comfort to Greening-Jackson.