Starbucks don't take cash

[CoastalWave]

AIBU to think this is ridiculous?

Took DS yesterday for a treat after school with his birthday money. We only spent £8 but as he handed over his £10 we were told, sorry we don't take cash anymore, card payments only.

Is this just the start of the slippery slope down to a cashless society ?

Really annoyed me!

Yes, they can. People misunderstand what "legal tender" means, it has a very narrow definition.

Legal tender means that if a court determines that you owe money to someone, you can deliver the money to the court. If the money is legal tender, the person you owe the money to has to accept it, or the debt is no longer valid. If they don't accept your legal tender payment, you no longer owe the money.

Legal tender does not mean shops are obliged to accept cash in payment for services. There's no requirement for them to accept coins, notes, stamps, gold bars or anything else.

It really is a slippery slope. Like most of us I'm fine. I have the choice of my main bank card, back up credit and debit cards if those fail, or Apple Pay. The vulnerable, as I mentioned earlier, including the elderly and those on the lowest incomes.

Yes, it may not be easy for some businesses to handle cash, and all that entails, but if a minority are now using cash the sums involved will be smaller. Rather than make it inaccessible to the most vulnerable.

What's the difference between Starbucks and public transport? In London buses don't take cash and it's been that way for some time. If you don't want to go to Starbucks go somewhere else. I very rarely pay with cash these days, although I agree it's good to have the option.

The vulnerable, as I mentioned earlier, including the elderly and those on the lowest incomes don't.

Sorry, hadn't finished my sentence there.

But some costs of handling cash are fixed, regardless of the volume/amounts involved.

Such as business insurance. For some providers, one of the questions on the proposal questionnaire is "do you have cash sales", and obviously if you answer yes, then the premium rises steeply straight away. It's not just the theft of the cash that increases premiums, it's the increased likelihood of burglary/robbery which increase risks and costs of a claim, i.e. repairs to the property, safe and/or till, compensation to the staff member attacked, etc. A business that local scroats know accepts cash is going to be more of a target when it comes to Friday night and they have no cash for drugs, than the shop next door who they know don't carry any cash!

Whilst you may have meant to be helpful, your assertion that 'there are lots of apps and bank accounts that limit any issues in cases like your DS's' is very presumptuous.

How do you know that those apps and bank accounts will limit any of the poster's DS's issues?

It may well be that the poster has already checked out such apps and bank accounts and concluded that they don't, in fact, limit the issues faced by their DS when it comes to managing money.

Yes I know that @Kazzyhoward I thought I'd caveated that by adding 'and all that entails'.

Our family business accepts cash, though card payments (also a cost for accepting these obviously) are the method use by the absolute majority. Yes, it can make you more vulnerable to attempted break-ins, but so can your stock or product depending on what that is.

Totally disablist. Should be illegal.

Agree, and also to some degree, ageist ( waits for posters to tell me about their 103 year old grandmother who mines bitcoin and pays for everything with her Apple watch).

Which is a nice sentiment but in reality completely impractical.

If you don't want to use a card, then vote with your feet. Simple.

If you don't want to use a card, then vote with your feet. Simple.

Not helpful if you can't use a card but need to.

It is not a nice sentiment. I think this is disability discrimination and illegal.

It is discrimination and it creates inaccessibility to the most vulnerable.

You stated it as if it's a fact, you back it up.

Loads of places don't take cash. It's up to them.

You can't just decide to ignore the law because you want to. Disability discrimination is illegal.

It's not though, in reality. Not accepting cash is not discriminating against any protected characteristic.

Yes, it may be true that elderly/disabled people are statistically less likely to have credit/debit cards but not accepting cash is not directly discriminating against these groups.

Some people with early-stage dementia and learning difficulties who live independently can not manage a bank account. Some manage by having a certain amount of cash each week to spend.
Not allowing this adaptation is disability discrimination.

I had my 'lockdown stash' in my purse for absolutely ages too 😂

The point being is that Starbucks (or whoever) do not have a sign up saying they refuse to serve people with early-stage dementia, do they.

Yes, moving to a cashless society clearly presents problems for such people but it's not direct discrimination. It's just not.

You do not understand discrimination law. It is indirect discrimination and illegal.

Good luck taking that case to court!

Yeah, it's not. Sorry about that.

I'm in SE London and off the top of my head most park cafes are card only.

It's not uncommon to walk into other businesses and see a sign saying 'we are cashless' or something similar

It is incredibly rare where I am. Only in hipster style places.