Cashless Society

[Hymie]

I’m making a claim today (for a UK first) in terms of the UK becoming a cashless society.

At lunchtime today I was unable to buy a drink; I had cash, I had a credit card, I had a debit card, I even had a gift card for the pub chain – but my Nokia 3310 is not compatible with the required app to order away from the bar. Staff refused to serve me, not having an acceptable (to them) method of payment.

Anyone going to claim this has happened to them before today?

[Buenchico]

>>> You can order from 2m away from the bar

No you can't O_G (unless you're sitting down to do so). Pubs are only allowed to serve customers who are seated at tables:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518

[alavahalf]

It's a simple solution.. an up to date phone will drag you kicking and screaming into todays smart phone society.
It will even allow you to see your Covid19 app in all it's glory !
More importantly it will allow you to get a pint !
Hymie.. if I seen a guy in distress such as you.. honestly I would have done the right thing and bought you a pint.
Using my phone of course !

[Peter Pedant]

no - - most pubs know the reputational damage this sort of thing does

[Hymie]

The UK first that I am claiming is that the establishment would only accept payment by App – no other method (cash/credit/debit or gift card).

[zebo]

I don't have an app to yet another excuse to avoid my shoes sticking to a carpet!

[Peter Pedant]

yeah but
this occurred in Manchester and lasted 7 d
(so they took a variety after that - I always give a tip cash and they er got over any reservations )

[Peter Pedant]

The Hopf app is pretty damn crap to be honest
yeah hopf as in torque vorticity

[Old_Geezer]

Then take your chair with you.

[sevenOP]

alavahalf ~ "When men were men."

That has no relevance. Slips, trips, spills occur regardless of power and Health and Safety and alarms, sensors, lighting, ovens, pumps are not a necessity for limited functioning e.g. if NO power do you think everyone would just stay at home and starve?
Mobile phones are not edible.

[alavahalf]

Sorry I dont know where you are trying to take this, but I suppose I am obliged to answer. Come on you are plucking something from history and trying to compare it to todays standards and as for quoting how people managed in 1972 is irellevant. Back then you were still 11 years away from having to wear a seatbelt. What I am trying to point out is that today the health and safety of your customer is paramount and if you disregard this as a service provider, you will soon know about it when someone gets injured due to a lack of power in your premises !
Our local 'Spoons' is a place I have visited once and that was enough. It was a dark, dingey place with threadbare carpets that you actualy stuck to the soles of your shoes. The toilets had no natural light and access involved climbing a set of stairs to the first floor! .. are you telling me that there is no liability on the landlord should he stay open in a powercut ?

[retrocop]

Down to your Wetherspoon manager.No one else's fault. My wife and I were in our local wetherspoon yesterday celebrating. We were asked at the door if we were cash or app. We chose cash and were seated at the rear of the establishment where we were served at the table by roaming staff. If we chose to use our apps we would of been placed in a different area where we still would have our drink/order brought to us. A crazy system. We had to don our masks to walk to the toilets and back so why couldn't we just don our masks and queue at 2m intervals to purchase our drinks at the bar as usual?
All other covid rules were followed. Track and trace card filled in in front of door staff or scanned on phone and invited to use hand wash before being seated.All staff wore masks but customers didn't need to when their order was brought to the table.

[Hymie]

According to Peter Pedant, it looks like my claim fails in that somewhere in Manchester tried it for a week.
I’m old enough to remember when the only acceptable form of payment in shops/pubs was cash.

[Jackdaw33]

Some of the larger stores accepted cheques. You had to write your name and address on the back in case it bounced. This was before the introduction of cheque guarantee cards.

[divegirl]

The problem with a card only vendor, like the one I work for, isn't a power cut it's internet outage. Our systems are apparently linked via the shop wi-fi and when that went down we were told to give free [goodwill] coffee but could not sell any other goods.
They lost a lot of trade in those two hours.

[vulcan42]

I was walking through my local town yesterday and noticed a takeaway fish & chip shop had a sign saying, no credit cards accepted, cash only.

[Jackdaw33]

Quite right too. It costs businesses money to take payment by card. It is illegal to charge more for using a card so this cost is factored into the price. The result is that cash customers are paying over the odds to subsidise card payers.

[SparklyKid]

At w/spoons you can order and pay at the bar, we do. Can't be doing with these app thingies.

[lankeela]

I met a mate of mine in a McD's car park, swapped some 'merchandise' and handed over a wad of cash - simples - then went into McD's for a take away and got a look of scorn when I handed over a twenty pound note to pay. (And no I'm not a drug dealer, it was dog disinfectant!).

[piggynose]

Yeh these contactless cards rely upon a strong wifi signal. This can be a benefit. Well it was for us while on our hols recently. Ordered 2 pricey capachinos in a posh bar. After waiting 20mins to pay, they said dont worry its on the house. : )

[sevenOP]

alavahalf: "are you telling me that there is no liability on the landlord should he stay open in a powercut ?"

No.
People need to shop for food to survive, even in a prolonged power outage. If hard cash abolished and all money is electronic, in a no power situation that is extremely problematic.