Friday, October 18, 2019

A JOLTING SURPRISE

     A long time ago, on this blog, I wrote about becoming a cashless society. I pointed out that some places in Europe do not accept cash. There are many reasons to go cashless and it is coming.

     Now yesterday I got a big surprise when a parts place said they do not accept cash. I had ordered a part and drove across town to pick it up. Now we only take the credit card when we plan to pay with it. We use the card on all big items. This item was less than $40.00 .  

     The business was very accommodating. They let me take the part home and phone my card number in. They even gave me a receipt before I walked out of the business.

    Now this incident was a big shock for me. I hadn't heard about any businesses going cashless. It's the best plan for this business as they are a wholesaler and deal with large orders. It's much less work for them to deal with credit cards rather than have to account for cash. Computers look after your money for you.

    It got me thinking about a cashless society again. Have I been unaware of certain businesses not accepting cash? I look around in restaurants and rarely see people paying with cash.

    Do you use much cash anymore?

     Have you found businesses that don't accept cash?

35 comments:

  1. ...in my world cash talks!

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    1. Here it's cash but I think about half use credit cards.

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  2. I mainly use cash nowadays whereas formerly I used my debit card only and sometimes credit card. I do not like this move to a cashless society but I saw in yesterday's news that the Bank of Canada is considering virtual currency.

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    1. There will be changes. Cash is too expensive to handle.

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  3. I am not aware of any businesses that don't take cash but then I nearly always use my debit bank card now. The only time I use cash is for very small purchases usually under $5.00. I remember when years ago my son told me how you did not need cash anymore and he was just using his card and I thought that was crazy! Now I am doing it and I do like it for the convenience.

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  4. yes I still use cash. Strange that they would not take cash...some people do not have credit cards...what then...lose a customer I guess:)

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    1. Many people don't have credit cards like the homeless.

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  5. Goodness Red, when I read the title I thought you had been sticking a fork in the toaster..
    There is always talk about the forthcoming cashless society.
    We had a local upmarket butcher who stopped taking cash payments 5 years ago. There are a lot of advantages in not taking cash.
    On the other hand there are many small food outlets here where you cannot use a card AT ALL!
    The Taxation Office takes an interest in their income from time to time.
    Myself, I still use cash and my card is used for bigger purchases.
    Alphie

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    1. Not taking cash is much less cost of doing business.

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  6. I use cash every day, but much less than I once did. At the coffee shop, I almost always pay with cash because there is a surcharge if you want to use a card for less than $5. I like having money in my pockets. And I haven't yet found a place here that doesn't accept cash.

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    1. Credit cards also cost businesses fees .

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  7. I still use cash, but mostly for small purchases, like a hamburger at a drive through, or to tip waitpersons at a restaurant. I have thought for a long time that our society would go to a thumbprint. I still think that is going to happen. I rarely use checks..so that may be the next extinction...but cash? geesh I hope not.

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    1. Yes, I think checks are on the way out.

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  8. Hello,
    I have seen many places offering discounts if you pay with cash.
    I like using my credit cash just so I can get a bonus, I use it toward the bill. I saw bathroom in Iceland where you needed to use a credit card to use the loo. I know some tools booth in Maryland are now going cahsless. They will send you a bill if you do not have the ez toll pass. Enjoy your weekend.

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    1. We also use the credit card to get points.

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  9. Now that you ask, yes, there are three places in town where we can't use cash - the Bell Aliant (telephone) office, a funeral home (for donations) and Canada Post (which I think might have been a one-day-only situation but it wasn't clear). So yes, I have run into it. It's a shock, isn't it? My mother likes to use cash and she now holds a grudge against the telphone office!

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    1. The jolt for me is that I didn't know about it and would have had to go home to get my card. They were nice to me.

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  10. I mostly use cash but know there are shops here that don't at all.

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    1. There are probably other businesses here that don't accept cash.

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  11. I use my card most of the time... it seems like only craft shows and farmers' markets don't always take cards. But "swipe" is making a headway into this marketplace.
    The only places I've seen that don't accept cash have been coffee shops and small food shops.

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    1. The cost to a business is quite high when they use cards.

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  12. I use cash and cards. I never heard of a place not accepting cash. Kind of crazy, I think.

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    1. Well , I thought it was crazy for a while but it makes sense for a business to not have to account for the cash.

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  13. I haven’t run into a cashless business yet. In fact, I have run in to a couple that do not take credit cards, check or cash only. Once was when I got my hair cut. They trusted me, too — to drive home and come back with a check. What could they do, though — they had already cut my hair!

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    1. In my case they could have kept the part but they were very nice.

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  14. I almost never use cash, and I am surprised when I see people using cash for loads of groceries. But then I realize that some people don't have credit cards or credit, and don't even have banks and checking accounts.

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    1. Yes, many people cannot get credit cards.

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  15. I hardly ever use cash and actually got quite confused the other day when I tried to count out the correct change to pay for a small item. I read that there are even some pubs near here that are cashless. It makes good sense for many reasons - it's quicker than paying with cash, especially when change has to be given, it's more hygienic than having barstaff handling coins, it saves the staff "cashing up" at the end of a long shift.

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    1. Cashing up is a big expense The touch or tap rally makes things easy and we don't have to worry about pin numbers.

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  16. I haven't come across one here. More often than not our local artisans can't do debit payments, but that, too, is getting more rare.

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  17. Small businesses having the ability to take cards is expensive.

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  18. First I hear of this. I've run across businesses that don't take credit cards but I've never run across a business that doesn't take cash. That is quite interesting!

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  19. More and more I find myself making contactless payments with my debit card. Last night I even paid for two pints of beer with my card when I visited "The Greystones" pub.

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  20. Wow! I have never run into a business that doesn't accept cash. I thought it was more economical for them to receive cash because then they don't have to pay the credit card companies.

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