To be narked that my hairdresser will only accept cash?

[Hillfarmer]

Had my hair cut and coloured at a small local salon in London i.e. not West End. At the weekend. Came to £108.00. Only taken my daughter there before for a trim so it was under £15 and must have paid cash previously.

I asked why, and they said it was ‘easier’. I said it was ‘easier’ for me to pay with a card. They said every card transaction costs them money. I said ‘even a debit card?’ and they replied with a yes.

So off I had to trot to the ATM up the road, presumably just like most of their other customers.

The more I think about it, the more it pisses me off. They are obviously just avoiding tax in some way, aren’t they?

I feel like dropping them a note saying I like my haircut, but won’t be coming back unless they drop the insistence on cash.

AIBU?

P.s. I tip in cash.

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My beautician does this and TBH it is making me find somewhere new to go. It's already a hassle to park there and having to remember to go via the cash machine on the way is just a PITA.

It costs about 2% to use a debit card which adds up if you have to pay 2% on everything you earn.

The hairdresser could be behind the times with regard to charges, which have come down a lot over the years. It used to be very expensive to take cards, especially as a percentage for smaller transactions, but it's a lot cheaper now than it was.

I can understand small cafes, newsagents etc being reluctant to take cards, but not hairdressers taking over £100 a time.

Also, it costs money to deposit cash too and there is a security risk. I expect that they pay a lot of their suppliers, and possibly some staff in cash including the business owners, so can avoid bank costs that way.

They're not necessarily avoiding tax doing it this way, althought they could be, and it might be easier/cheaper for them, but they wouldn't have to lose many customers by refusing to take cards for it to be a false economy, especially, costwise, they seem to be quite an expensive place.

It's not just the cost per transaction with a card machine, you also have to pay to rent the machine itself. You also then have to wait a few days for the money to reach your account. Factor in that at many hairdressers each stylist will "rent" her chair individually from the owner, you can see that for a small salon paying by card is not an attractive option.

Just because someone is paid in cash does not mean they must be avoiding tax, hmrc are quite good at working out how much you should be making and checking up if it "looks" wrong.
The turnover limit for vat is about £85,000 pa, iirc. So if theirs is less than that there will be no vat any way.

I hardly ever have cash on me these days, and tbh i do avoid businesses that won't accept cards because of that, because it's a extra step of organisation. I definitely wouldn't have £108 sitting in my purse! Didn't they have anything when you booked in to warn you about the cash only payment? And was the haircut good enough that you'd be going back?

It doesn't cost 2% to use a debit card, it's a fixed fee of a few pence.

it used to cost about 2% to use a credit card for small businesses (larger supermarkets, Amazon etc obviously could negotiate down considerably) but it's a lot less than that these days.

You don't always need to rent a machine any more either - some businesses that have an online and shop presence put their shop transactions through as online too, although the banks may not like them doing it that way.

It costs businesses to bank cash though!

The only way they can get around incurring banking charges by being a cash-only business is by not paying cash into their account and therefore paying staff and suppliers and themselves all in cash, which does have a strong whiff of tax avoidance about it

Lots of small businesses don’t take cards. A card machine costs several hundred pounds a year just to have in store. Transactions then cost more, whether credit or debi

That is v annoying, these days there's no excuse. If they don't want to use efopst there are other options these days. They are probably shouting themselves in the foot over this.

I would always expect to pay a £100 transaction with a card. Don't go back and tell them why.

I can see why. If everyone paid on card, and put tips on card (or didn't bother leaving tips at all) the juniors who are really on very low pay would get even less. I would imagine all the chains like Sassoon take cards, just not the local independents. Easy enough for them to tell people at the time of booking appt tho.

That's just ridiculous.

I get that debit cards incur a fee and costs the business money but I ordered a coffee in small independent coffee shop yesterday and paid with a debit card. They will pay a fee for a £2 coffee. But they accept cards for any amount.

If a hairdresser cannot build what must amount to a 50p charge into her prices when she charges £108 for a cut and colour I'd say she is avoiding tax.

It's really bad business. They need to take cards and build the costs into their prices, or make very very clear (every time someone rings for an appointment) that it's cash only. Expecting people to be happy to traipse to a cash machine after the fact is not on.

As an aside, I'm in London too and that sounds like a LOT for a cut and colour at a local salon!

If they don't want to to card transactions because of the cost, they could offer you the option of doing a bank transfer - lots of self employed/ small businesses around here offer that.

No it costs money to have a card machine ... you can either pay a monthly sum or a % of transaction ... people get mad about adding money on so it loses them money.

Paypal is the answer

There are shops around here who charge a small transaction fee under a certain amount. For example, local bakery charges 30c extra if you pay by card when spending

My hairdressers do this, only accept cards for over £40, which is fair enough though annoying. The first time I went after they’d changed the rules they let me pay card despite only paying about £27 as I didn’t know about the new procedure. Since they were accommodating I didn’t mind.

If a hairdresser cannot build what must amount to a 50p charge into her prices when she charges £108 for a cut and colour I'd say she is avoiding tax.

I dunno about tax, but yes - building in the fee seems a no-brainer.

It's costs an initial sum to get a card machine then you have to pay a percentage on each transaction, for some businesses it makes a huge difference, you're also far more likely to tip if you have cash on you.

Could it be that people are more likely to tip if paying cash? I've sometimes tipped by saying 'keep the change'.

for some businesses it makes a huge difference,

It really doesn't make a 'huge difference' to a business turning over £100+ in one transaction.

Actually it does cost 2% per transaction, debit or credit card for a small business plus the several hundred a year for the credit card machine. So on your £108 charge, the hairdresser will pay £2.16 plus I think it is about £30 - £40 a month just to have the machine. So if the hairdresser does 5, £108 haircuts in a day, 5 days a week, she will lose £54.00 to charges without taking into account the charge for just having the machine in the first place.

No they’re not avoiding tax. Well they might be, but retailers are charged a fee for every credit or debit card payment they run through their machine. Many retailers say they’ll only take cards over a set amount, or not at all.

For many years we all paid cash for everything, taxes got paid. There is no reason to think the hairdresser is on the fiddle.