Queenslander Trevor Head sends cash through the mail to buy something online from Kogan

THIS sweet story of a 73-year old Queensland grandfather’s analog ingenuity to shop online without a credit card will melt your heart.

Queensland retiree Trevor Head sent cash through the mail in an unconventional way to sho

ONLINE shopping is crazy convenient right? All those products at your fingertips, purchased without leaving your couch and delivered to your door. So easy.

Spare a thought for the older generation who have seen this baffling world spring up around them at the speed of roadrunners, with many unable to keep up. But a 73-year old Queensland grandfather of three wasn’t going to be held back by technological barriers when he saw something online he really wanted.

Trevor Head, who was a train station master before he retired, spied a handy gadget on an online store but there was a small hitch. He doesn’t have a credit card or a Pay Pal account or any electronic means to pay for it. So he mailed in $15 cash to retailer Kogan with a letter requesting the breathalyser product he had eyed.

Trevor Head's letter to Kogan with $15 cash included.

Mr Head told news.com.au it wasn’t the first time he has employed an unconventional payment method. Or maybe it’s the most conventional method of all.

He has bought three or four other items from the internet previously. He said: “What I try to look for is [the retailer’s] phone number. I ring them up and get their bank account details and I transfer the money.”

But not through internet banking like all you young whipper snappers out there. Mr Head, who doesn’t have a credit card or debit card, goes into a branch with his bank book and transfers the money through a human teller.

He said: “I don’t have a credit card. I’m 73-years old and I don’t need someone to steal what little money I have left.”

But in the case of Kogan, Mr Head couldn’t find a phone number and thought he would chance sending in the cash, figuring that if it didn’t work, he would only be out $15.

Kogan founder Ruslan Kogan received Mr Head’s letter and said he thought it was the sweetest letter he’d seen in the seven years since he launched his site.

While it’s not something the store would normally do, Kogan filled the order and Mr Kogan sent an extra $100 voucher to Mr Head, as well as an offer to personally take him through the intricacies of online shopping. Mr Head said he was very appreciative of Mr Kogan’s gift.

Ruslan Kogan's response to 73-year old Queenslander Trevor Head's attempt to buy an online item by mailing cash through the post.

Mr Head said he was pretty computer “illiterate”, having only jumped on the internet two years ago. The computer he uses is a hand-me-down from his wife’s brother and he accesses the internet through a prepaid USB modem.

He confessed the whole online world often confuses him. “Sometimes, these boxes just pop up on screen and I don’t know what it means so I just shut the computer down,” he said.

But not one to give up, Mr Head said he might take up one of the free internet lessons he’s seen advertised in the local newspaper. He might also look into the pre-loaded Visa/Mastercard debit cards someone told him about so he can keep shopping online.

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