Tesco ditches cash payments at 40 cafes

[sunnydaytoday0]

I was reading this article (can read for free via Yahoo link) that Tesco are going card only in 40 of its cafes and customers will have to pay by card at self-service machines. I know it's something a lot of fast food places do already although I'm not sure how many give you no other choice but to use them. Would you be bothered by this or if all cafes (maybe even restaurants) eventually went the same way?

I don't mind self service tills when shopping in general although not for more than a few items. Interesting decision given recent news about different supermarkets deciding to actually put more staff on tills.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/tesco-ditches-cash-at-cafes/
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/supermarket-customers-forced-order-cuppa-134836134.html

YABU: I don't mind if I had to use these ordering screens in a cafe, and it being card only.
YANBU: I prefer the option of ordering via a person and/or having the option to pay by cash.

Why are you accusing someone of being angry for expressing a view?
🤔

Lots of folk agree with my comments, so perhaps you're interpreting them a certain way.
I'm not sure if you mean to be quite so patronising, but it's there in black and white.
I'm not angry.
I accept there are other views, but feel strongly that cash also needs to be an option - if not in every location then at least in society in general.
Have a nice weekend.

I don't even carry a wallet 90% of the time now, lose my phone it's protected by a pin and Face ID.

The "cash is king" people

Cash is king doesn't mean what you think it means and not a single person here has said those words.

Going completely cashless wouldn't bother me, barely have it on me anyway and often have to go elsewhere if I come across somewhere that only takes cash

I would much prefer an ordering system without the need to tell someone what I want, a lot quicker and easier.

We should still have choice and where establishments don’t take cash it should be made clear.

I posted a while ago, after taking my family out for a pub lunch, I was informed after the meal they don’t take cash. Since that’s all I had on me, they agreed I could pay with notes but not get any change. Nice way to pocket an additional £18.

I'm the same now tbh.

I do still like a paper receipt from shops though and will fight that as long as I can. I have a spam/ junk email address I give out if necessary though.

I use both: I make a point of using cash where I can, and I tend to avoid places which say "we are cashless".

If we as a society go any more cashless than we already are, this may well bite very hard one day. We've already seen what can happen if big computer networks go down for a day. And yes, I am very concerned about every transaction being traceable. Remember the madness of "you must not buy Easter eggs because doing so would kill granny"? Under a completely cashless society, especially if it develops into one that tracks not only the amount spent, but what it is spent on, which would be the next step, enforcement of such draconian rules could become a reality. Slippery slope. I bet a Cobra meeting or two contained the line "if only we were a truly cashless society".

I visited a small tourist attraction on New Year's Day, which had big signs saying "we are cashless": but the staff were looking sheepish, saying "actually, we can only take cash today, our internet is down". I bet they lost a lot of money that day.

Yes, cash can be stolen, and keeping vast amounts of cash under your mattress is ill-advised. But I don't think it should be abolished completely, and I intend to keep using it, so that the statistics show that people still use it.

You will be surprised that many of the elderly withdraw all their pension and put it all in their purse/wallet. Seen how much cash they have at work

With the combination of large amounts of cash, slow reactions and impairment of hearing and/or sight, the elderly are prime targets for getting purse stolen by pickpockets

Cash is a PITA, I use Apple Pay where ever I go.

i did go to our usual soft play though last week and saw a big notice on the door saying “We’re now cash only”

yet they used to always accept card…

when I queried this with them and explained many people don’t carry cash these days and there was no mention of this on their fb page etc, she reluctantly pulled out the card machine 🙄

That's what manipulative people say when you make a valid point.
That wasn't an angry post, it was a question.

No, I'm not suprised some people do that, my point was that using cash doesn't have to mean that.

There definitely should be a choice, and changes be clearly advertised.
I'm not against cards or apple pay or whatever, I just feel cash needs to be an option too.

You could have refused and settle the debt later to the exact amount. I understand why you probably didn’t - it can be difficult in the moment - but they don’t have a way of forcing you to do it the way they prefer after you’ve eaten.

Overall I’m in favour of cashless and can see how a cashless system has its benefits. However, after spending time as a support worker in the NHS, when taking service users out on community leave, those who were assessed as lacking capacity often didn’t have access to debit cards and could only access their funds through the patient bank - giving them cash to spend.

Going out for a bite to eat and then getting turned away as it’s card only is so disappointing for a person who has to spend most of their week on a locked ward, and can even lead to a deterioration in their presentation.

Perhaps a little leeway needs to be allowed for the time being before cashless is the only option.

Most people that use cash have bank accounts, I have 2 and several credit cards, all paid off I'll add, I pay by credit card or Apple Pay generally, and still use cash sometimes so hope that option remains open for many years to come. The fools are people that only have one bank account and only use their debit card or have that on their phone to pay for everything.

Surely you always wash your hands before eating?

I’ve never set foot in a Tesco’s cafe, so maybe they are different, but I’ve always thought the way staff in some cafes switch between handling cash and handling food or drinks without washing their hands in between horribly unhygienic.. So the less cash the better as far as I’m concerned!

As an aside, does anyone actually know an ‘old person’ that doesn’t use cards or contactless as an everyday means of payment? It seems that it’s only on mumsnet than anyone over 60 loses the ability to do anything! My parents are fast approaching their 80s, but as a result have used debit and credit cards since they existed. They’ve used mobiles and laptops since they existed too. Speaking to them, all their friends are the same. They are not in the slightest bit anti technology at all - their generation and invented most of it 😂

The concept of legal tender has nothing whatsoever to do with paying for something in a Tesco cafe though.

Yeah, I’m not the sort of person that could have that argument in a packed pub especially in front of my family.

The person on the till won't be the person prepping the food - food handlers will have completed food hygiene training or at least be under the supervision of someone who has completed it. When I worked in a large store cafe we all had to complete hygiene training and there were rotas for specific duties (food prep, drink prep, till, clearing, washing etc).

I have found a lot of places that we visit on holiday prefer cash, usually Yorkshire Dales, places like that. We do usually take a 'wad' of cash to use there, 'wad' being about £200

I prefer my DCs to learn to use cash because it helps them understand how much money they have, what things cost.
They are unlikely to be eating at Tesco cafes though, and if we're at McDonald's they'd be with me, though one of them might go with friends soon so I guess that's a conversation to have.

I've already quoted the example of my older sister (in her late 70s) who does not use card payments or have access to the Internet.