Hairdresser only taking cash

[Snowleopardsspots]

I live in London and have my colour done every 6 months. It costs £265. Hairdressers is nice enough, the lady who runs/owns it/does my hair is an Albanian woman.
when I started going 2-3 years ago, they kept saying oh the card machine is broken, can you pay cash? There is a card machine next door. Now my daily limit is £50 so I would have to visit the cash machine six times leading up to the appt. I am disabled and do not go out every day. When I first went They gave me the bank details and I paid straight into the account. Just had my hair done and said do you still have the same account? She said oh we are a cash only salon now. You can transfer the money today but in future we are cash only. I heard them telling a few people on the phone when making appointments ‘it is cash only’ and a couple of people actually left and came back with cash. Is this a common thing? Is it time to find a new hairdresser?

I suspect as you do not all money is going through the books.
I'd find another salon

Yes, time to find a new hairdresser, sounds like they're not paying tax but they are charging you the tax. We're not talking small amounts here.

What does her being Albanian have to do with it?
£265 is too much to expect in cash. Either insist on bank transfer or find another hairdresser.

A daily limit of £50 is bizarre. You need to open up a normal bank account.

Don’t go to the hairdressers if you don’t want to pay cash.

I moved to a new area and have tried a few local salons. One place did the same to me- but didn't bother to tell me it was cash only till I was trying to pay. Nearest cash machine at the other end of a very long high st. I'd find somewhere else.

Have you spoken to your bank to get your daily limited increased. I thought most banks allow up to £800 a day now?

Report them to the Inland Revenue. Tax dodgers.

I would find this too much of a hassle, and probably change hairdressers.

I have set the limit at £50, in case my card is stolen. I don’t want an £800 limit! I doubt I spend that much cash in a year.

I don't use any business that requires me to pay in cash. Not because I suspect them of anything dodgy (sometimes they are simply doing this to avoid hefty banking fees) but because it is inconvenient.

It’s not really a limit then if you’ve set it yourself then, it’s your own choice.
Either way you don’t have to use the hairdresser if you don’t want to, but the convoluted going to the cash machine over 6 days is weird when you clearly don’t need to do that.

If OP has set a limit on cash withdrawals it’s still a limit

Personally I try to avoid places that just take cash, especially for big transactions as I hate carrying large amounts of cash around.

Id find a new place.

Why did you feel the need to state where she’s from in this post?

As long as you report the loss of your card promptly you'll get the money back.

And what's more of a hassle? Having to visit a cash machine 6 times to get the money out, or having to report your bank card as stolen in the unlikely scenario that it is?

But that is besides the point. If the business insists on cash (and it could very well be for legitimate reasons) then you either take cash or go somewhere else.

What does her being Albanian have to do with anything?

Mentioning her race makes it sound like race baiting.

Who cares if OP said the woman is Albanian? It must be exhausting being so easily offended.

I prefer to use cash so it wouldn’t bother me but if it’s an issue for you OP it’s time to find a new hairdresser.

Always makes me laugh the outrage on MN for small businesses that accept cash only. It’s up there with receiving an evening wedding invitation 😂

Sounds like a tax dodger.

I tried a local salon that is always recommended on local facebook and on my first visit when I went to pay I was told that the machine was out of order and could I do a bank transfer - the Post-It I was given stated it was a Personal account. I find it inconvenient doing bank transfers when I could pay in a matter of seconds.

It was obvious that it was a tax dodge as the hairdresser was flitting between three of us constantly, I wasn’t offered a hot drink and biscuits like the other two women had, and he washed, cut and dried my hair in 25 mins (wasn’t a good cut). It felt like I was a ghost client so he could pretend I had never been there. I never went back and cannot understand why people recommend them, unless it’s their mates doing it.

What is your actual AIBU?

If you don't want to pay in cash, find another salon?

Or are you just trying to tell us you think your Albanian hairdresser is a tax dodger?

Doesn’t sound that small a business if in London and charging £260 per hair cut!

So would I.

Surely if you have set the limit yourself, you can change the limit for one day the week before, then change it back after you have the cash?

I do think it’s odd as it would put off people who don’t have lots of cash/don’t want to carry cash, but that’s up to them.

If they are avoiding tax then that’s also up to them isn’t it

I think she's evading tax and I wouldn't be paying cash but I agree that her ethnicity isn't relevant.

I have a small business. I don't take cash. I declare all my earnings and I make no apology for objecting to other people not doing so. They're thieves.

Not necessarily.

My old hairdresser was a very small business and only took cash. I think he wanted to avoid bank charges if they took card payments. However I am pretty sure it wasn't a tax dodge because, after COVID, he said they had managed OK on the payments given to self employed people. This was based on the income you had declared in previous tax years and since he had always put everything through the books he was fine.

That hairdresser has since retired and I have now found another. They also do cash only.

So cash to hairdressers seems normal to me. However, I never spend those sums of money.

I agree that £50 sounds like a very low limit.