[godelski]

What's worse is when you're forced to use the app.

In my apartment complex we're forced to use an app for laundry (no cash, no card). The fucking app doesn't even sort the rooms (I'm actually impressed. I didn't know you could do any programming without knowing what sort is. Like not even one line of code...). It also has a 30 second load time because it redraws everything during the startup when it tries to connect to the network. Luckily their API got exposed, in May... and someone made all the machines free.

They also wrapped up their sales notification with the one that tells you the laundry is done. So you disable both. Not an issue though because the latter never even worked anyways.

But it's like when people send spam through the same email you send necessary information. Universities pull this shit all the time. Guess what? It all is spam now. And these people wonder why they emails get blocked.

Or when you go to a restaurant and they make you use their app. I'm autistic enough to try hard not to use them but often I give up because people I'm with get upset I'm taking so long (but I'm not the one at fault. It's like yelling at a cashier when corporate increases price on an item. Wrong target, but I get it). I think this is why they get away with it though. Because blame is often targeted at what is right in front of you, and they're often small. But a lot of small things add up. 1 shitty app can be ignored, but a hundred is overwhelming. And I swear, it gets worse every day

[attendant3446]

Oh, I used to live in a building where the laundry was operated by a similar app (and unfortunately there were no alternatives nearby). To make matters worse, the laundry room was in the basement, where there is no internet connection (no WiFi and no mobile signal). And you had 30 seconds from the moment you "booked" the washer or dryer. So the workflow was 1) go to the laundry room, load the clothes into the machine and close the door, 2) run upstairs and start the wash cycle via the internet, 3) repeat the process for the dryer. Hated it.

[rubslopes]

I'm curious: if there was no internet connection at all, how the machine knows it's been booked?

[attendant3446]

I can't remember now, but maybe there was a password-protected WiFi. Or the machine was connected to a controller that was connected by wire. All I know is that there was definitely no network available to the users of the laundry.

[godelski]

Idk about them, but at my place you just don't get to do laundry.

And you email them and they don't respond. You email your complex manager and they tell you to contact them. Eventually someone yells and it gets fixed. Or someone destroys a machine or in my case, someone hacks them.

[zzo38computer]

> What's worse is when you're forced to use the app.

Yes, especially if you do not have a compatible smartphone (or any smartphone, or any computer) or if it had run out of battery power. But also just in case you don't want to, or if the app is defective, etc.

(I had read on Usenet that there is a German word "Digitalzwang" if you are forced to use computers with specific software.)

> The fucking app doesn't even sort the rooms ... It also has a 30 second load time ...

Yes, also that, that they are badly written and badly designed.

> Or when you go to a restaurant and they make you use their app.

I had only been at one restaurant where this was required, although they provided a iPad for this purpose, to any customers who required it. Furthermore, the restaurant was mismanaged and not such a good quality anyways. I do not intend to go to that restaurant again.

[m463]

Can they actually force this on people?

[godelski]

Yes and no. What do you mean by force. From my comment I use it the everyday way, not literal.

Yes, I can go to the laundry mat a quarter mile away or 3 miles away and pay cash. Both of which I need to be on site the entire time or I can expect my laundry to be taken or someone else to stop my machine and replace my clothes with theirs... But if I want to use the ones that are in the same building or the same complex that I live in, yes, I must use the app. As annoying as it is, there are worse options... It's just that a handful of undergrads could make a better app during a hackathon. Ones who know what a sort function is and maybe even caching!

Once they even tried to steal $20 from me. It double processed. I sent them the log from the app and showed them my bank record. They said they didn't see it. I sent the docs again and threatened a clawback. They said they didn't see it. So yeah, I made a clawback. I wonder how often that strategy works considering who their target customers usually are

I guess there's a third option. As mentioned, the API was exposed. Someone used this in my complex to set all the machines to free (I understand this has happened several places across the country given news and Reddit). I guess I could also send POST requests and pay that way.

There are technically options, but there is no option that is not exceptionally bad. I mean the bar is low to make me happy. We live in a world where my computer can talk to me in a fairly realistic voice while simultaneously to do laundry I have to wait several minutes trying to reload an app to just fucking pay. Something that could be solved with a typical tap to pay (they even have Google and Apple pay in the app! But you gotta prepay in fixed amounts. The machines also have NFC but it's not enabled)

[xerox13ster]

If your washers are LG washers there’s a cheat code in the manual.

[brewdad]

Why can’t they? You technically have a choice to go elsewhere to do your laundry or to eat. It’s shitty and probably a long term negative but it isn’t anywhere close to illegal.

[komali2]

People should be allowed to set the rules corporations have to agree to to be allowed to do business near them. "Can't require a phone to purchase things" is a perfectly reasonable such rule... And in some states is a real one.

[godelski]

Maybe we should also recognize that "you get what you pay for" and "lowest bidder" are related topics.

So many businesses try so hard to save money that they end up losing a lot.

[m463]

I guess it's better than the apartments where you phone is your (only) house key.

[userbinator]

It depends where you are. Some states have made it illegal to refuse cash.