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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be annoyed that lots of companies won't take cash

334 replies

sicknote26 · 29/12/2022 01:20

Hi,

Been to lots of places that don't take cash, but starting to get really annoyed at not having the option of paying by cash.

Been to a couple of places today, first a well known activity place and a well known restaurant. Both completely cashless.

Aibu or is this a sigh of the times now.

What about the older generation who prefer to pay with cash.

OP posts:
sst1234 · 29/12/2022 01:22

The older generation will have to get used to it. Change happens. Using a debit card isn’t rocket science.

DairyDiary · 29/12/2022 01:22

YABU. There’s literally no downside and about a million upsides.

BungleandGeorge · 29/12/2022 01:24

I agree with you, they should take legal tender. And there are definitely disadvantages to a cashless society

mrstnov13 · 29/12/2022 01:28

Yanbu to be annoyed. It annoys me too.

ILoveeCakes · 29/12/2022 01:29

It's all super clever until the machine goes down. Which it does at least once per week..............

ComtesseDeSpair · 29/12/2022 01:31

The same is true of cheques, but we’ve just all had to get used to them no longer being widely accepted. It’s safer security wise to have no cash on the premises and makes closing up easier. The “older generation” who haven’t gotten used to using cards is increasingly tiny: even my grandfather who died at the age of 83 almost 15 years ago, whilst preferring to pay in cash, would take his cash out at an ATM, so was well aware of the process for using a card and entering a pin, replicable in shops and restaurants.

KousaMahshi · 29/12/2022 01:34

I know large numbers of more than one older generation and they all have debut, credit cards, as well as Revolut.Some of them even have google and apple pay.
Why does this idea persist that anyone over 55 can't cope with what is, after all, not at all new technology?

Bonjovispyjamas · 29/12/2022 01:38

@ILoveeCakes Exactly! I was in a co op a few weeks ago when the machines went down, it was complete chaos, with everyone shouting at the staff, felt so sorry for them, it wasn't their fault after all. Everyone was rushing off to try and find a cash machine, one guy even tried to just walk out with his shopping without paying, stating that he tried to pay but couldn't, the security guard stopped him. Bet everyone wished we weren't heading towards a cashless society that day.

ILoveeCakes · 29/12/2022 01:44

Bonjovispyjamas · 29/12/2022 01:38

@ILoveeCakes Exactly! I was in a co op a few weeks ago when the machines went down, it was complete chaos, with everyone shouting at the staff, felt so sorry for them, it wasn't their fault after all. Everyone was rushing off to try and find a cash machine, one guy even tried to just walk out with his shopping without paying, stating that he tried to pay but couldn't, the security guard stopped him. Bet everyone wished we weren't heading towards a cashless society that day.

All the time, I feel I have 2 separate conversations:

  • People who proudly tell me they dont carry cash
  • People moaning that the card machine was down

Do these sets of people never meet?

I don't buy lots but I experience a "card down" situation at least once a month........so I always have cash.......... Is it just me? Feels like it sometimes!!

sashh · 29/12/2022 01:49

sicknote26 · 29/12/2022 01:20

Hi,

Been to lots of places that don't take cash, but starting to get really annoyed at not having the option of paying by cash.

Been to a couple of places today, first a well known activity place and a well known restaurant. Both completely cashless.

Aibu or is this a sigh of the times now.

What about the older generation who prefer to pay with cash.

My dad is mid 80s, he had credit cards in the 70s.

That generation have coped with the money changing to a totally different system, the change from imperial to metric for buying groceries and most have managed foreign holidays where they have used different money.

Don't underestimate 'the older generation'.

CheesesandWines · 29/12/2022 01:52

I remember taking traveller's cheques abroad to Asia when going away in the 2000s and findings a western union to cash them into local currency. Feels like another age now.

ComtesseDeSpair · 29/12/2022 01:54

ILoveeCakes · 29/12/2022 01:44

All the time, I feel I have 2 separate conversations:

  • People who proudly tell me they dont carry cash
  • People moaning that the card machine was down

Do these sets of people never meet?

I don't buy lots but I experience a "card down" situation at least once a month........so I always have cash.......... Is it just me? Feels like it sometimes!!

Show quote history

I can’t remember the last time I went somewhere and systems were down / I wasn’t able to use a card, and I must use my card on average at least three times a day for something or the other spread across the week. I’m not particularly proud of not carrying cash, I’ve just never been anywhere where I needed to use it for so long that I’ve just lost the habit. Also I’m in London, I’m never more than a five minute walk from an ATM perspective on the offchance.

Mercurial123 · 29/12/2022 01:56

DairyDiary · 29/12/2022 01:22

YABU. There’s literally no downside and about a million upsides.

Of course there are downsides. I was shopping a few weeks ago and the card readers were down. Everyone had to pay in cash. I had to leave my basket, find an ATM and go back to pay.

lljkk · 29/12/2022 02:30

I know more businesses that are cash only than card only.

JudyGemston · 29/12/2022 02:33

I’ve never encountered a situation where the “machines were down” and I use Apple Pay or contactless for just about every transaction I make. I’m in a busy part of London and I have no use for cash.

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 29/12/2022 02:34

YANBU.

My grandad is 88 and fairly savvy but he os visually impaired and can’t see the numbers of the chip and pin machine. So he goes into the bank once a week and takes enough cash out to last him. He’s very sad that increasingly he can’t enjoy places because they won’t take his cash.

I always think places that do this are run by privileged people who don’t think of those who may not be able to always pay by card and that they must alienate so many potential customers

Jasmino1o · 29/12/2022 02:41

I personally don’t mind because I tend to pay with Apple Pay, however, I have worked in retail
in the past where there have been older customers forgetting their pin at the checkout and then blocking their card, or who have asked me to type in their pin for them because they couldn’t see the keypad, this could potentially put them in a vulnerable position.

My GM has her pin written in a little book that she’ll take in her handbag if she’s taking her debit card with her, so if she had her handbag stolen then the thief would have access to all the money in her bank (we live in a rural area so not able to quickly pop into the bank to cancel the card), whereas if she was shopping with cash she wouldn’t be carrying all her bank account’s contents.

BashfulClam · 29/12/2022 02:43

I haven’t carried cash for about 6 years now and have never experienced the ‘machines being down’. Where are people shopping that this happens weekly or monthly?

BashfulClam · 29/12/2022 02:45

Jasmino1o · 29/12/2022 02:41

I personally don’t mind because I tend to pay with Apple Pay, however, I have worked in retail
in the past where there have been older customers forgetting their pin at the checkout and then blocking their card, or who have asked me to type in their pin for them because they couldn’t see the keypad, this could potentially put them in a vulnerable position.

My GM has her pin written in a little book that she’ll take in her handbag if she’s taking her debit card with her, so if she had her handbag stolen then the thief would have access to all the money in her bank (we live in a rural area so not able to quickly pop into the bank to cancel the card), whereas if she was shopping with cash she wouldn’t be carrying all her bank account’s contents.

Contactless is now up to £100, does she spend more than that regularly?

WhereYouLeftIt · 29/12/2022 02:46

I was at a food festival this year, lots of stalls set up in the town square and stallholders just couldn't get their handsets online, possibly overloaded with so many additional devices. Only people who had cash could buy food.

There's also been a few big Denial Of Service attacks in the past couple of years with 'ransomeware' disrupting computers. I think it's quite naive of us to move towards a cashless system. People put too much faith in computers.

Jasmino1o · 29/12/2022 02:47

BashfulClam · 29/12/2022 02:45

Contactless is now up to £100, does she spend more than that regularly?

Show quote history

Not often, but there are certainly m times when she spends more than £100 at one place.

namechangenumber296 · 29/12/2022 03:09

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 29/12/2022 02:34

YANBU.

My grandad is 88 and fairly savvy but he os visually impaired and can’t see the numbers of the chip and pin machine. So he goes into the bank once a week and takes enough cash out to last him. He’s very sad that increasingly he can’t enjoy places because they won’t take his cash.

I always think places that do this are run by privileged people who don’t think of those who may not be able to always pay by card and that they must alienate so many potential customers

How visually impaired is he? If he still has a lot of vision remaining, I wonder if something like Apple Pay with Face ID or Touch ID might work for him. One of my older mates is losing her sight and Apple Pay is great for her (no need to re-enter PIN as with contactless cards).

Waynettaaa · 29/12/2022 03:12

I vote with my feet if they refuse cash.

Flaunch · 29/12/2022 03:15

I’ve been almost completely
cashless since we got the ability to pay for things on our phones. I’ve never once had the situation arise that the “card machine was down”.

Judgyjudgy · 29/12/2022 03:36

DairyDiary · 29/12/2022 01:22

YABU. There’s literally no downside and about a million upsides.

Downsides quickly off the top of my head: if you want to give DC cash to spend of they are our with others, cash as presents, if you are a tourist, if you want to pay a portion towards something while out, easier to budget etcetera. I use 99% of the time, but it's nice to have options. Oh and plus literally everything you spend on a card is being tracked