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

My hairdresser relies on her Penshioner trade, who don't want to pay by card (I heard these conversations whilst in there). She would be having to put her prices up if she switched.

I don't see that as any different to my small local taxi firm, or a Hackney taking cash only.

Not everyone is upto no good.

Come to think of it. I'm my city shopping centre (St John's Liverpool) one owner owned two shops, both clothing, but different styles. If you wanted to pay by cars, a Staff member would take you to the other shop, with your goods, to pay there, because he couldn't afford a card machine in both shops.

Which was a good move because he did have to finish one of the shops.

Birdsgottafly, but those type of pensioners will become fewer and fewer, in 10 years time i will be a pensioner and wont want to pay cash

Yes. Card transactions cost businesses money (my business pays 35p for each debit card transaction and around 2% for a credit card). But that’s how it is and you factor those expenses into your costings as not accepting cards is a PITA for your customers. So if a hairdresser can’t absorb a couple of quid (at most) of a £100+ bill, there’s something wrong with their business model.
I’d go elsewhere.

sugarcoma
Why on Earth have you brought gossip and gender into this?
I read from your post that according to your hairdresser it's almost certain that hairdressers who take cash must be money laundering. Your hairdresser has made a large broad sweeping statement, that's what I was challenging.

Is it because you assumed the hairdresser was a woman and therefore unreliable and full of gossip

What are you going on about? Please can you tell me why I would think a woman is a gossip and unreliable? I really want to know why you added that comment.

Knowing many hairdressers that take cash I would highly doubt that.
I'm not saying it doesn't go on, of course it does,but to suggest that the OPs hairdressers is on the take is unfair without evidence.

Hairdressers are an ideal sort of business for money laundering. That doesn’t mean that all cash-only salons are laundering, by the same token there isn’t any guarantee that a salon that accepts card isn’t laundering money. If they seemed blasé about booking and retaining actual customers and they were quiet already I’d be quite suspicious. I don’t see how a salon that serves very few customers can be viable unless they are running extra cash through their tills and creating fictional appointments.

notacooldad Because your comment was very snide.**

And it’s sex, not gender, I brought into it.**

< sigh> ok sugar
Why did you bring sex into the mix?
But you still haven't answered this

Please can you tell me why I would think a woman is a gossip and unreliable? I really want to know why you added that comment
I am genuinely curious to why you think I have that perception and how you came to that conclusion.

It's an interesting point about money laundering, tax avoidance etc. I'm generally suspicious about tradespeople etc who only accept cash as I wonder if they are declaring all their earnings and I don't think hairdressers are any different. It may cost a small amount to accept debit cards but this is nothing compared to the potential loss of custom if they insist on cash so I would question why they anyone would do it.

If the littke coffee shop at our station will accept cards for nearly all under £5 transactions , then hairdressers who probably average over £20 a go should be able to afford it or build into their fees

If you found a hairdresser who you were happy with, and you only go every six weeks (say) would you really not go there because you had to go via the cash machine?

Its always more convenient for me, as the customer, to pay by card, but if the hairdresser was good at the price was low, I'd assume that she does this by being careful with ehr overheads. On the other hand, if it was a big expensive chain, i'd expect to use my card.

Hairdressers are a cash business - or they were until i read this thread - so money laundering is always a possibility. However, that doesn't mean that all hairdressers are a front fro organised crime! I'd expect them to be a bit better off if they were doing that!

I can understand cash only for small transactions and indeed do so myself, but for the amount concerned I would be suspicious about tax dodging. The other thing is that by doing so they are making themselves more vulnerable to burglary.

more vulnerable to burglary

that's true, and also higher insurance premiums.

The problem msall businesses have is that you either have a card facility or you don't. If most of your transactions are under £20, and you get the odd one at £100, then its a finely balanced decision.

I suspect that cafes that have machines do so in order to be able to get away with charging £4 for a cup of coffee. If you had to actually pay cash, then you might notice how ridiculously expensive it is, but put it on a card and they can charge an extra 50p to cover the card cost without you even noticing. A second benefit for them is that they don't have to wash their hands all the time if they haven't handled cash.

Mmzz
It doesnt charge £4 a coffee, its an independent kiosk with 2 staff in the morning at our station, so nearer £2 somethingtakeaway only with a choice of biscuits or a takeaway porridge type thing.

I suspect that cafes that have machines do so in order to be able to get away with charging £4 for a cup of coffee.

I'm in a fairly affluent part of London, and I sometimes order poncy coffees like soy or almond-milk ones that they often charge extra for, and I have NEVER paid £4 for one. Where on earth do you live, mmzz?

Mmzz It doesnt charge £4 a coffee, its an independent kiosk with 2 staff in the morning at our station, so nearer £2 somethingtakeaway only with a choice of biscuits or a takeaway porridge type thing.

Same at my station. £1.50/£2 a coffee.

I wouldn't immediately think they're avoiding tax, but I will definitely be bummed out if a place I regularly go to is cash-only. Card/Apple Pay/Samsung Pay is so common these days cash-only feels very archaic and inefficient.

We run a small business and don't take cards, although people can book online via a card. For us, it's more to do with the cumulative costs than anything else - online booking through an OTA = 15-20% commission + card fees to card company.

If we took cards for people paying us direct it would mean monthly hire of card machine, % commission on every transaction, including debit cards, and payment of annual compliance fees to ensure we are storing card details correctly (we do still have to pay compliance fees on a lower level for 3rd party card bookings, even though we never have access to client card details, which is yet another rip-off small businesses have to put up with).

Also. and I know I sound a bit cynical and maybe even like a junior member of the tin foil hat brigade, paying with a card all the time means card companies, shops etc are building up a very nice picture of our every move, our spending habits etc. I'm not interested in 'targeted offers' etc.

Was also listening to a radio programme earlier this week regarding spending and research shows people spend more and more randomly when using cards - paying with cash seems to concentrate the mind more!

I'm not a luddite by any means, but I do think we are walking blindly into a 'big brother' set up which benefits big business while purporting to make things easier for the consumer.

Coffee shops will pay less for the card processing fees as they're far less vulnerable to fraud and chargebacks.

Less frequent, higher value, transactions will always cost more as there's far more chance of a chargeback and far more chance of fraudulent use.

You really can't compare the processing costs of a shop/coffee bar with a hairdresser or other higher value business.

I never drink coffee. Its horrible stuff, IMO! I have a theory that the reason everyone seems to be looking for the perfect coffee is because it fundamentally tastes so bitter. So, I'm only speaking of the prices on the menus and thinking of the queues I see at the tills.

I'm only speaking of the prices on the menus

It was a serious question, mmzz: where are you that you habitually see £4 for a coffee on a menu? (whether you drink it yourself or not.)

It may be a serious question, but I deliberately didn't answer it as I don't want to say where I live. Its not the sort of thing I'd write on a forum.

Sorry about that, but I hope it doesn't matter, even though you've asked twice now.

OK, I'll reword: do you genuinely live somewhere where coffee costs £4, or were you exaggerating for effect?

I wouldn't have needed to ask twice if you'd said that the first time.

Mmzz you could say a general area e.g. I can say I'm from Merseyside you wouldn't have a clue where I live?

Just pay in cash. So what if they're avoiding tax? Big corporations do much worse.