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.

They

I declare all my earnings and pay tax in full. However I like cash. If we don't keep using it it may be abolished and people will lose that ability not to have the big state machine following them at every turn. Also traders are charged an arm and a leg for business banking.

I hate cash, its a real pain for the company i work for as we have no bank nesrby to bank it

Did you only find out it was cash only when you got to the till? Surely they would have a sign up? If not then YANBU, however if they do have a Cash Only sign at the till and on the window then YABU.
It costs a whole lot more than the per transaction charge.

Card service providers don't like to advertise openly how much they charge because they prefer to actively negotiate each deal (ick) but there is a set up charge, a charge for hire of the terminal, a dedicated landline to buy (or optionally mobile with a different type of terminal), and a monthly payment if charges are below the agreed level.
www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/Terminals/index.asp

Ive been to a hairdressers that only takes cash. Was a pain as I had to walk home and back with some, but I chose not to return as I dont normally carry cash

I would vote with my feet.

I don't go to places that only take cash. I'm sure they lose more money that way than they would have to pay out in card fees.

My hairdresser is another one who doesn’t take cards, though he does take cheques. I always just pay by cheque. It’s a bit of a faff but he’s amazing so would never go anywhere else.

FYI - Business owners are charged for every single card transaction and they are charged an even higher rate for refunds.
My hair dresser is mobile so only accepts cash but I think if a business is small / new it's reasonable for them to only accept cash too, I would expect a sign or something in the window though to give you warning before receiving your treatment.

FYI - Business owners are charged for every single card transaction and they are charged an even higher rate for refunds.
My hair dresser is mobile so only accepts cash but I think if a business is small / new it's reasonable for them to only accept cash too, I would expect a sign or something in the window though to give you warning before receiving your treatment.

FYI - Business owners are charged for every single card transaction and they are charged an even higher rate for refunds.
My hair dresser is mobile so only accepts cash but I think if a business is small / new it's reasonable for them to only accept cash too, I would expect a sign or something in the window though to give you warning before receiving your treatment.

I stop going to cash only places, too inconvenient

It wouldn’t bother me if I knew in advance and could take the money out before I went, but I suppose it is mildly irritating.

I know there are others but this one sumup.co.uk/credit-card-processing-pricing/ costs £29 up front and then 1.69% which I think for a business would mean they don’t lose their cash refusniks and win in the long run.

All the barbers around where I live and a lot if the hairdressers and beauty salons only take cash.
Not only that but on Monday my car needed 2 tyres +Mot and that was £165.00 and that was cash only.
I hadn't been to an atm in about 15 years and had to ring DSto ask him where the nearest one that was free was!

I stop going to cash only places, too inconvenient
Sometimes you don't know until it's too late!!!

If the chairs are rented, then there's no one in overall charge of the place and the money isn't going to one account.

On top of the rent, there's a charge for the machine and a charge for each transaction.

It makes sense to take cash to the bank at the end of the day and then be charged for a single transaction.

This pisses me off too.

It's much less convenient for me, the customer.

Who carries cash these days?

Not I.

My salon doesn't take card payments because of the cost. It's the cheapest (£58 for a full head of highlights, excellent cut, and blow dry) and best in town. Almost all the customers are regulars, and they have a significant contingent of elderly ladies who pop in for their weekly shampoo and set, who are very used to using cash, and there's a cash point right opposite.

It doesn't bother me in the slightest.

They've changed how it gets billed for card use. It used to be a fixed amount, so sometimes you would see 'no cards under 10', now they pay a percentage of the amount so they lose out on big amounts now too.

What is annoying that supermarkets factor it into the cost of your shop - even if you don't use card! Check the bottom of your receipt as they have to declare it.

I don't really understand why people keep trying to justify why the business might not take cash. OP's question wasn't 'why don't they take cash', it was 'AIBU to not go back and tell them why?'. And the answer to that is clearly no. It doesn't matter how good their reason is: hairdressers who take cash do exist and OP is absolutely allowed to choose one of those instead. I also think it's quite helpful to tell them why, as either they already know that some people avoid them because of it, in which case it makes no difference to them, or they don't, in which case this is useful information.

My expensive but small local hairdressers doesn't take cards but you can pay by PayPal either when you book or afterwards & there is a cash machine over the road at the post office.
I asked him why and he says that the overheads on the card machines are just too high to make it a viable option. Most clients are repeat business and are quite used to it.

What is annoying that supermarkets factor it into the cost of your shop - even if you don't use card!

The supermarkets will negotiate with the card processors to enjoy a very low fee, simply because they have bargaining power and can threaten to us a competitor card processing firm. The small corner hairdresser has no bargaining power and "it's take it or leave it" for them.

The average charge for a big supermarket will be just a few pence per transaction, for a hairdresser it could be several pounds.

If the chap I buy coffee from each morning can accept a card payment, a hairdresser charging £100 for haircuts definitely can. I’d stop going - or I’d insist on paying by cheque.

As a small salon owner myself let me tell you that it costs £150-£450 to buy a card machine and anywhere from 1% per transaction (credit or debit) to upwards of £50 per month to have this facility. We are really torn at the moment as we know many customers would rather pay by card but to have this in our salon would mean putting our prices up (during a recession when everyone is asking us for discounts), or losing some of our already very small profit, which would mean I would struggle to pay my mortgage, honestly. Margins are so tight. The rents have gone up recently, our business rates tripled in April (thanks Tories). So we aren't taking cash only as a tax fiddle, far from it, we are just trying to keep our small family business and family life afloat.