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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

That a Vodafone shop wouldn’t accept cash in payment and it pissed me off?

281 replies

Inappropriatefemale · 10/01/2020 01:13

So as the thread suggests then AIBU because a branch of Vodafone wouldn’t accept cash and it pissed me off?

I went into a Vodafone store around 4 weeks ago to buy a £20 memory card and I was aghast when the sales advisor told me that they didn’t accept cash because it was ‘a hassle’ and that paying by card was easier for the shop, it wasn’t the end of the day or anything like this where they had counted all their profits for the day.

I didn’t have my debit card with me that day so I went elsewhere to buy it but I was really pissed off, what if I was purchasing a brand new iPhone 8, or whatever the latest one is, at over £700 then would they have been happy for me to walk out their shop and spend that money elsewhere.

I have always suspected that actual cash will be done away with one day but not for a good few years at least and not in a Vodafone shop.

I didn’t look into this, I was just pissed off and wondered if any of you ladies/gents had experienced this and if so where, when and for how much?

OP posts:
FlamingoAndJohn · 10/01/2020 20:22

There is a really interesting episode of the podcast 50 Things That Made The Modern Economy (much more interesting than you might think) talked about a couple of times when banks have either all gone on strike or money has just failed and what happened then.
In the case of Ireland, everyone wrote cheques but no one could cash them because the banks were on strike. So a cheque from someone was used as a kind of bank note. So a cheque for £20 would change hands a couple of times until the banks reopened.

NameChangeNugget · 10/01/2020 20:03

Cash is expensive for shops. I never carry cash and they’re a public limited company.

Other than for dodgy reasons, I cannot see why anyone would buy an iPhone with cash

chomalungma · 10/01/2020 20:02

The good old days of taking 4 different currencies to Europe

AlrightyyThen · 10/01/2020 19:58

You can get prepaid cards for use abroad
All it takes a 10 seconds on google.

I found this out when i got back obviously Blush

But my only holiday ever before this was all inclusive so i had no idea, i've never been anywhere in the UK that doesn't accept cash and couldn't imagine Wilkos turning down 2 pences!

I don't think it has anything to do with people not wanting to change, just the shock of things changing without any kind of notification or prompt, i'm in my early 20's so don't really have a "good old days" to wish things were like Grin

chomalungma · 10/01/2020 19:58

Gold. When the machines take over and wipe out the data on how much money people have, there will always be people to trade gold. And cigarettes. Probably. Or chocolate

FlamingoAndJohn · 10/01/2020 19:53

I got charged by my bank every single time i was forced to use it because i was abroad, it really shocked me

That’s why I have a do research and get a card that either doesn’t charge or gets such a competitive exchange rate that it covers the charge.

fairynick · 10/01/2020 19:30

I know a business who had their shop robbed at gunpoint twice when they decided to switch to cashless. This means their staff don’t have to stay late cashing up, it’s well known that there’s no cash so they have next to no chance of another armed robbery. YABU it’s 2020.

aroundtheworldyet · 10/01/2020 19:27

And all it takes is 10 seconds on google to find out places that are mostly cashless.

This thread is just a bit of a “I don’t like change” things change. Get with it. Or sit in your living room complaining about how much better it was in olden times. The Luddites didn’t win.

End of.

aroundtheworldyet · 10/01/2020 19:25

You can get prepaid cards for use abroad
All it takes a 10 seconds on google.

AlrightyyThen · 10/01/2020 19:24

I just got back from Amsterdam, went armed with my wads of euros and got the shock of my life that a lot of places expected me to pay by card

I got charged by my bank every single time i was forced to use it because i was abroad, it really shocked me

I also was in a shop that did accept cash, but wouldn't accept any cents less than 50c Confused That was embarrassing when my DP tried to give them 1's and 2's at the til!

FruityWidow · 10/01/2020 19:22

There was an example recently of a young woman who got stranded at a train station because her phone battery died and she had no other way of making payment. No cash or cards etc.

Phone boxes are being replaced by charging points which you can also use to make WiFi calls.

KittenVsBox · 10/01/2020 19:13

If the cash machines go down, it usually means the whole banking system is down, so no card payments either.

FlamingoAndJohn · 10/01/2020 19:01

So what happens when the cash machines go down? It's not like that never happens is it?

I like using cash so would not use a shop that refuses to take it.

Well if all the cash machines go down then people will pay by card, surely.

Ferretyone · 10/01/2020 18:48

Years ago a sign in the local take-away said "Plastic tells more to the VATMAN than cash ever can!"

How times have changed

@inappropriatefemale

Original poster
Inappropriatefemale · 10/01/2020 18:39

Menora they wouldn’t be involved though, they have zero control over what people do with sims and phones and the police would know this.

OP posts:
Original poster
Inappropriatefemale · 10/01/2020 18:38

Sims can be purchased anywhere though, I have never gotten a SIM card from a mobile shop, I’ve bought one out the newsagent usually if I have ever needed one.

OP posts:
coffeeforone · 10/01/2020 18:29

Meant to say Central London - itsu, a nightmare for tourists!

coffeeforone · 10/01/2020 18:28

It's also in a touristy area of central and a lot of tourists are turned away as they want to use the pound currency they have bought to pay!

Menora · 10/01/2020 18:27

It’s only a theory - but not unusual that a large corp wouldn’t want to be involved with crime or money laundering so may choose to go cashless for multiple reasons. It’s also vodaphones problem when they have to disclose info to the police/courts when requested!

coffeeforone · 10/01/2020 18:27

The closest lunch/snacks place to my office is cashless! Annoying for the catering assistants who go out to buy refreshments and reply on the old fashioned petty cash system!

Original poster
Inappropriatefemale · 10/01/2020 18:26

Menora that’s the polices job to worry about that not Vodafone, if they’re getting the cash for various sims and phones then I doubt they care why.

OP posts:
FlamingoAndJohn · 10/01/2020 18:23

Two pubs near me are cashless.
It keeps their insurance down.

I never use cash. For some reason I’ve got about £40 in my purse at the moment, I’m going to pay it in to the bank tomorrow.

Menora · 10/01/2020 18:19

May have already been said but I think there is one element that mobile phone shops could do this for traceability. Already too many criminals using cash for mobiles and SIM’s for nefarious purposes

SerendipityJane · 10/01/2020 18:15

I imagine that soon everyone will have their own chip

Mike Leigh was there in 1993 Grin Bit long, but worth it. I've set it to start at the good bit

Original poster
Inappropriatefemale · 10/01/2020 18:05

I imagine that soon everyone will have their own chip so that if someone is owe you money etc then they can pay you with their card, god know how it will work, a pp said a chip in the finger, imagine that! All our info would come up when it was scanned!!Grin

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