Want to pay cash? That’ll cost you extra

[ua_guy]

Helmets...as in like football helmets?

And if you received the goods, but the vendor never collected the payment, I think you are fine to give the money to charity.

I think a new football helmet is like $500-$600 bucks these days.

I'm going with MMA headgear. And you know what the first rule of fight club is...

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Or maybe he just wanted to donate helmets and never expected to get paid!

[Fishindude77]

I'm not a big fan of places going cashless. There are some advantages for the vendors as mentioned by other but there also are some issues with using cards for everything.
Seems pretty ridiculous to do small transactions with a card. Can't tell you how many times I've been in a convenience store where someone is buying something as cheap as a cup of coffee with the card, holding up the line delaying others, when they could of simply handed the cashier the $1.50 or whatever it costs and been on their way.
I've also had credit cards hacked on several occasions which resulted in rather significant inconvenience, concern of identity theft, etc. Never have those issues with cash.
Also have often wondered about putting tips on the credit card. I'll bet there are plenty of times where shady business owners shorted their wait staff the tips that satisfied customers wrote on the bottom of their ticket.
Poorly functioning credit card machines at the check out are a common occurrence as well, lines often get held up by these issues.

[disneysteve]

I'm not a big fan of places going cashless. There are some advantages for the vendors as mentioned by other but there also are some issues with using cards for everything.
Seems pretty ridiculous to do small transactions with a card. Can't tell you how many times I've been in a convenience store where someone is buying something as cheap as a cup of coffee with the card, holding up the line delaying others, when they could of simply handed the cashier the $1.50 or whatever it costs and been on their way.
I've also had credit cards hacked on several occasions which resulted in rather significant inconvenience, concern of identity theft, etc. Never have those issues with cash.
Also have often wondered about putting tips on the credit card. I'll bet there are plenty of times where shady business owners shorted their wait staff the tips that satisfied customers wrote on the bottom of their ticket.
Poorly functioning credit card machines at the check out are a common occurrence as well, lines often get held up by these issues.

How does tapping a card hold up the line compared to handing over cash and having to wait for change? Card transactions are way faster especially with Apple Pay or equivalent where you don’t even need to take out your wallet.

I have almost never encountered an issue with a credit card terminal not working. I have often encountered a cashier not having change and needing to wait while she got it. That just happened Friday night. We stopped at a Mexican place for takeout. They charge 10% for using credit cards (which is insane) so I paid cash, except she had no change and ended up charging me less than the bill because she couldn’t make change.

[Fishindude77]

How does tapping a card hold up the line compared to handing over cash and having to wait for change?

Have you never been behind someone in line having difficulties with the card reader, etc.?
I've seen it a lot and almost no place I go do you just "tap" a card. They insert their card, it doesn't work, they try again, it doesn't work, they swipe it instead, usually after a couple attempts and some help from the cashier they get it working or use a different card and it works.
Heck, I've paid for their small dollar stuff on a couple occasions just to keep things moving.

Also, many restaurants have you place your card in their little folding notebook thing with the check, the waiter runs back to run the card then brings you your card back and receipt.
Creates a real opportunity for fraud / identity theft when card is out of your hands.

Individuals not having the ability to make change is a whole different matter. They'll probably screw up your order too.

I appreciate that many are entrenched in the "I put everything on the card" camp, but it's not the only way and not the preferred or best way for many.

[disneysteve]

Have you never been behind someone in line having difficulties with the card reader, etc.?
I've seen it a lot and almost no place I go do you just "tap" a card.

That used to happen a lot years ago before tap to pay became a thing. Now almost every credit and debit card is tap-enabled. The only place I can think of that we go regularly that doesn't accept that is Walmart. There I still need to insert my card in the reader, but I've never encountered an issue there with the reader not working.

More and more, I see people paying with their phone or watch which is super fast, too. I use Apple Pay now and then but I haven't really gotten in the habit of using it regularly in person. I mainly use it for online payments.

[scfr]

I'm another who hopes that cash as a payment option doesn't go away. Some of our fellow humans are really best off using cash.

[disneysteve]

I'm another who hopes that cash as a payment option doesn't go away. Some of our fellow humans are really best off using cash.

Cash is the preferred option among the unbanked population. Some towns have banned businesses from going cashless because they feel it is discriminatory against the poor who may not have access to debit and credit cards.

I am perfectly fine with businesses accepting cash and electronic payment. What I'm not okay with is the growing trend to charge extra for using a card when in reality, as I said earlier, it's not actually costing the business more. It is probably saving them money overall in the form of lower operating costs and higher sales.

[myrdale]

Helmets...as in like football helmets?

Caving helmets.

A new helmet around $60 and a headlight is another $40 to $100. The club keeps several which they rent out for $5 a piece. Next weekend for example, I am renting one to take a friend on his first caving trip.

[james.hendrickson]

Caving helmets.

A new helmet around $60 and a headlight is another $40 to $100. The club keeps several which they rent out for $5 a piece. Next weekend for example, I am renting one to take a friend on his first caving trip.

Oh, I see - well that makes sense. In cave you probably want to protect your head and have illumination.