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

[Inappropriatefemale]

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?

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.

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

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

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

The good old days of taking 4 different currencies to Europe

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

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.

NameChange my friend bought her daughter a £700 iPhone with cash for her Christmas one year, she gets paid in cash which would be why.

Personally I thought she was off her head spending this on a phone when she could have gotten a contract but there you go.

I think it’s a massive stretch to say only dodgy people buy expensive things with cash, cash is there to be spent.

Personally I thought she was off her head spending this on a phone when she could have gotten a contract but there you go.

I always buy my phones outright up front for ‘cash’ (on a card but you know what I mean). It’s cheaper, but you need £700 up front.

It’s not necessarily cheaper buying upfront once you include the cost of your monthly tariff.

Got my iPhone XS from Vodafone on contract, when it was first released. Gave me 40% discount on the line rental (inc 50GB data & Spotify premium) which took it to £40 per month - which is overall under the retail cost of the device. They also have given me £100s in account credit due to complaints so I’m barely paying for my phone.

At £40 a month, assuming it’s a 24 month contract minus the cost of my tariff, unlimited data and texts, is still more than the cost of my XS.

As a rule I find it cheaper, but there are some good deals.

Love it. I never carry cash.

On holiday recently in Queensland I was refused a $4 coffee as I only had cash. The waitress said they were a ‘cashless establishment’. It was a place straight off the beach. I would have thought most beach goers would avoid taking bankcards to the beach.

I expect that people buying £700 phones with cash is part of their reasoning for going cashless. Having that much cash in the register isn’t desirable.

Kmc1111
You are right.
When company I worked with dealt with cash like that
It will need someone other than salesman to count it and check notes in front of customer.
Then no more than 5k kept in safe over night
Banking of more than 3k needed 2 people to take to the bank which in our case was the other side of town with limited parkng
The bank then charge 70p in £100 to pay In cash.
It is logistically a big problem
My latest accounts job is cash free and I love it.

I pretty much always pay in cash, it seems to confuse cashiers as they aren’t expecting it, so it is on its way out.

It’s far too easy to just tap your money away. If you’ve cash in your pocket, when it’s gone. It’s gone.

Isn’t the money laundering laws £4000, so we are talking big purchases, not your £50 in tesco

A few places where I live are cashless so I’m getting used to it, however the shops that do have it clearly highlighted in the window or door and near the tills or dotted around the shop so you know before you queue up or make a purchase.

At a minimum a business that is cashless should be making it clear they are cashless given that it’s not the norm yet

Cashless makes things more expensive because the card issuer skims a little off the top of every transaction. The provider of the goods doesn’t absorb the cost, it’s added to the price. Once cash is not an option, the banks will be able to increase their charges as we will have no choice but to pay. Fine if you trust the bank to do the right thing and look out for our interests. Because they usually do, right.

Cashless makes things more expensive because the card issuer skims a little off the top of every transaction.

This is true but using cash isn’t free. The banks take a percentage when processing cash, insurance premiums are higher if you have cash (especially if you are a pub where you will have that nights takings on the premises overnight) and the cost in time of cashing up and taking the money to the bank.

But not all cash taken needs to go to the bank. Anyone with a convenience type store probably uses a lot of it at places like the cash and carry and for their own personal wages. Taking it to the bank might not take any time at all, eg if they drop it off in the night safe on the way home.

I can see the advantage of being card only, but change takes time and it's very much a new thing to be able to pay for purchases under £5 with a card. Even 2 or 3 years ago, that would have been quite unusual.

Agree that the banks are not to be trusted on this, they are likely to whack up the fees and they need to stop parking providers charging extra for card payment especially as such a system is massively advantageous to them as they don't need to go round collecting all the cash and can probably monitor meter functions remotely.

I think it will be a very gradual process as I imagine it's quite costly to change all the bank notes to polymer - I think £20 notes are changing relatively soon ( and presumably adapt cash or payment machines to accept the new ones and reject paper ones)

I’m surprised by the amount of you on here that know so many places that don’t take cash, I have only personally experienced this with Vodafone, maybe it’s a regional thing?

I’m in Scotland and the majority of shops take cash, cashiers in Tesco aren’t surprised up here when you give them cash!

I am expecting money to be fully obsolete in the next 10 years.

Cashless makes things more expensive because the card issuer skims a little off the top of every transaction.
Our bank used to charge 70p per ,£100, the cash part of the bank charges was by far the biggest even though it was only a small part of the turnover.
There is also extra insurance for having cash on the premises. We very rarely needed petty cash , so 95% of cash had to be paid into the bank.
Other garages/dealers such as Gates have already gone cashless

Do you think that when cash goes then will you still have the option to withdraw cash?

It will be illegal one day to have a business that doesn’t take card, I know of so many black cabs up here that as soon as you jump in the driver will say ‘no cards cash only’ and I think a lot of them just refuse to be paid by card because they don’t get paid for 3 days, well this is what other drivers have told me why they think some drivers don’t allow it.

@WhippityStourie I would think most beach goers would only take a bank card to the beach. Where would you keep coins and notes in your swimmers???

Also if you lost cash, it's gone forever usually. If you lose your card you just get a new one.