Food places and cafes not accepting cash

[Annoyedtiger]

Yes I understand covid and I normally always pay with my card but today I accidentally left it at home and I went to three cafes including Cafe Nero which wouldn’t take my cash.

We know covid is airborne and everything is mostly back to normal.

AIBU to think everywhere should be tasking cash now?

I've always travelled with at least 2 cards in different places, just like I used to go abroad with cash split into two different places. That way if you get your purse stolen, you can use your backup card/cash.

Travelling with a single card is just as useless as travelling with a single wad of cash - you need a back-up plan, especially if you're going to somewhere remote - that's just as vital with a card as it is with cash. I certainly remember one of my first foreign holidays in the early 80s where we found ourselves back at the airport on the way home with just a few coins left to our name and could only afford one coffee and a packet of biscuits to last several hours and the return flight. Not pleasant, but that was down to a lack of planning/foresight by us for not keeping enough cash aside for contingencies (in the days when airports didn't have cash machines inside the terminal!). Lack of planning/plan B will happen whether you deal in cards or cash.

Retailers know what they are doing, and will have added in potential issues such as technical faults preventing payments, and loss of ' cash only' customers.

Daft thing is, it's the lack of places that do both that is confusing.

There's a few pubs / establishments in my city that are Cash Only. Black Cabs in my city are still cash only if not pre booked on an app. If you go to a village fair or gala, you need cash. My kids classes are pay as you go, cash only. You still need a couple of fivers tucked away in your phone just in case.

I think most people aren't stubborn or arrogant enough to insist on paying in cash - there really isn't any excuse - old people included - for not wanting to pay on card. Preferring to pay by cash is sheer bloody mindedness and smacks of some sad form of rebellion against a ' woke' conspiracy that doesn't exist.

Excellent post!

My local takeaway cash only few hair places the same. Most places are card now

Preferring to pay by cash is sheer bloody mindedness and smacks of some sad form of rebellion against a ' woke' conspiracy that doesn't exist.

What on earth is 'woke' about it?

Yes I am being bloody minded in now trying to only use cash. I am not going to be told I have to pay by card. I will choose how I pay thank you.

Lots of elderly prefer to pay by cash and find it easier and we should not be accepting the use of it taken away from us.

@mydogisthebest good luck! But cash is fast disappearing.

Most cafes here dont. Because theres only a lloyds bank to take it to. Post offices close before the cafes cash up at the end of the day.
Too much hassle

if one or two people have issue with the fact that I won't be accepting cash in my bricks and mortar than they are welcome to shop elsewhere, I really don 't care, they can drive for 40mins to get the next shop that sells the same thing I do if they like

Isn't it wonderful that your business is doing so well that you can afford the luxury of turning customers away because they dare to inconvenience you with their pesky cash? Let's hope you continue to be so successful in years to come (you may not be, judging by your attitude)

I think most people aren't stubborn or arrogant enough to insist on paying in cash - there really isn't any excuse - old people included - for not wanting to pay on card. Preferring to pay by cash is sheer bloody mindedness and smacks of some sad form of rebellion against a ' woke' conspiracy that doesn't exist

Why are you accusing cash users of being stubborn and arrogant but card users are fine? Both groups have a preference, one is not more worthy than the other.

I have no idea about conspiracies, but those who believe that having cash in your hands is no different from a bank controlling access to your money are very ignorant. And yes, access to funds can be used to control behaviour, it's very naive to believe otherwise.

Also, does anyone remember the financial crisis of 2008 and banks going bust by any chance?

Why is there a need to remove a perfectly valid alternative?

just as expensive to take cards. Fees, line hire, machine hire, regulations compliance.

We need to prevent becoming a cashless society.

Paying by cash is a rebellion? That’s hilarious.

some people just prefer cash. Get over it.

Yes Tax dodgers prefer it.

There's no other reason to not pay by card.

These old folks moaning are probley the same kinda people moaning when the car overtook the horse 😂

if one or two people have issue with the fact that I won't be accepting cash in my bricks and mortar than they are welcome to shop elsewhere, I really don't care, they can drive for 40mins to get the next shop that sells the same thing I do if they like

and what happens when your card reader stops working?

I suppose the same as if the till jammed? You deal with it.

I get paid in cash.
i also pay tax,NI etc.

Which banks went bust? Some were taken over but no UK bank went bust.

if you had money in Lehmans that’s sad but I doubt you did.

They only didn't go bust because we gave them billions of our bloody money. But they were, essentially, fucked.

Didn’t go bust though. No one with a current or savings account lost money.

And even if they had the cash lovers on this thread would have be equally fucked unless their mattresses were stuffed with twenties.

What annoys me is that it takes much longer to get into an event such as the theatre as the usher checks tickets on phones. It is much quicker to check paper tickets. They are supposed to be scanned, but only half of them seem to scan properly.

Loads of banks only avoided going bust because the government could not let them fail.

And I see there is still a failure to recognise that plenty of basic bank accounts do not provide a debit card. Many very poor people can only get a basic bank account. So not paying by card is not a choice.

I help to run an annual event for a small local charity and this year for the first time, we sold tickets online and online only. It was a huge success. Not having to carry money when people pay for tickets was a huge help and not having to pay to get tickets printed saved more than the cost of payment processing.
We also estimated that scanning tickets 'saved' us a whole volunteer, we were able to manage with 2 of us rather than our usual 3 leaving that person free to do marshalling duties. We did have a thorough rehersal before the day, so we knew how it all worked and we tested the system with various phone tickets and print off tickets. We also made sure we had a list so if all else failed we could 'tick' people in.

The real beauty was that 5 days after the event, all of the money was automatically deposited in our account, no trouble or hassle, no totting it all up and collecting it from multiple sellers. We had a number of complimentary comments about how much easier it was to get in than previous years and no negative comments about the buying or gate proceedures.

This ^^
I'm in my mid-60s, my husband's in his late 60s, we're perfectly happy with tech and were probably early adopters for contactless, fintech or anything online.

My neighbour is 79 and rapidly came up to speed with tech from a standing start 5 years ago. She now uses a laptop and smartphone to do most things. This is in contrast to another couple in the street who are 78 & 79. For the last 10-15 years they've said they "don't need" a computer or a mobile phone. Now they're always complaining they can't get a repeat prescription without hanging in the phone for hours, get their co-op points, use one of the local cafes or find out local information. Even when you tell them they can actually still access these things but in a slightly different way, they're still not happy. Basically they're lovely but they don't want any change at all. I do think it's important to try to see advantages and to embrace change as it happens, it's always harder to try and catch up.

Is this for real? I'm in Ireland and anyone can get a revolut account or an n26 account quickly through an app, both with cards. I set up a bank account with the post office a few months ago from the comfort of my sofa and got a card within 3 days. They didn't ask me if I am rich or poor. Even credit union accounts can have cards if you want and they positively encourage poorer people to join.

Is it really impossible for some to get a card in the UK?