Becoming a cashless society

Murray

Ken-Dodds-Hairy-Knodule wrote:

Cheques, cards - all the same, slowing the queue down.

pay by cash and get out of everyones way!!

So, I withdraw a few hundred £'s out of a cashpoint where everyone nearby can see that I have withdrawn a wad of cash (either because they can see it or becuase I'm acting so shiftily trying to shove it in my bag). I then run the gauntlet of spotty youths in hoodies hanging around on bikes and skateboards and drinking outside the supermarket knowing that I have a reasonably large sum of cash on my person....I'd rather not if thats ok with you

woohoo_postingid

Ken-Dodds-Hairy-Knodule wrote:

pay by cash and get out of everyones way!!

This is fine for blokes but with women it would slow the process even more whilst they rummage through their bag looking for the money then spend ages rearranging the bag afterwards!

Read Bill Bryson, he has a most amusing take on the matter! :rotfl:

uktim29

Murray wrote:

So, I withdraw a few hundred £'s out of a cashpoint where everyone nearby can see that I have withdrawn a wad of cash (either because they can see it or becuase I'm acting so shiftily trying to shove it in my bag). I then run the gauntlet of spotty youths in hoodies hanging around on bikes and skateboards and drinking outside the supermarket knowing that I have a reasonably large sum of cash on my person....I'd rather not if thats ok with you

That doesn't happen when I withdraw cash!

andyrules

This is fine for blokes but with women it would slow the process even more whilst they rummage through their bag looking for the money then spend ages rearranging the bag afterwards!

wait till the manbag catches on....:D

uktim29

Murray wrote:

Most of the smaller shops local to me also have a surcharge if you spend less than £5 or £10. I was under the impression that it is against the law or some rules somewhere for them to enforce the surcharge though, maybe someone else can advise?? I certainly havent had the courage to stand my ground yet and I never have cash on me so usually end up spending more than I wanted to! Shops must love me :eek:

It's perfectly legal. It's due to the fact the retailers get charged when you use your card. The reason for the minimum spend is if below that amount and there was no surcharge they might make an entire loss on the transaction as the amount they get charged is higher than the gross profit on a transaction less than say £5.

Ken-Dodds-Hairy-Knodule

Murray wrote:

So, I withdraw a few hundred £'s out of a cashpoint where everyone nearby can see that I have withdrawn a wad of cash (either because they can see it or becuase I'm acting so shiftily trying to shove it in my bag). I then run the gauntlet of spotty youths in hoodies hanging around on bikes and skateboards and drinking outside the supermarket knowing that I have a reasonably large sum of cash on my person....I'd rather not if thats ok with you

Yeah, if you beleive the sun/mirror/mail/whatever else newspaper.

Those 'spotty youths' are too busy laughing at you acting "shiftily" (why on earth act like that?) to be bothered about your money.

Most youths aren't interested in robbing you. That paranoia would make a cannabbis smoker proud.. =]

buses7675

Hi All,

AFAIK WH Smith stopped accepting cheques altogether a few weeks back too.

The shop I work in, a small newsagents, only accepts cash or cheques (with debit card no to guarantee it), as most orders are small other than paper bills, and the cost of renting a card machine outweighs the inconvenience of still accepting cheques. That said, most of the cheques come from the same people all the time and I'm not aware of any bouncing since I've worked at the shop.

Personally I only use cheques to pay people by post or to move money into my Lloyds TSB account from A&L (as Lloyds pay interest from the day you pay the cheque in), so you gain slightly out of it!

Cheers

Steve

zappomatic

My experience working and supervising tills (supermarket and department store) is that so few people pay by cheque these days that a lot of cashiers forget how to take them, which is another factor in slowing things down. For a time I was using the same till every day and it was only after several weeks that someone paid by cheque.... it had to be written by hand as the ribbon in the cheque printer was missing!

On those particular tills the cheque had to be put into the printer the right way round (not always easy to remember), printed, then the cheque guarantee card swiped (number often had to be keyed as people paying by cheque tended to keep their card next to the magnetic clasp on their handbag....), and the cheque put back in the printer upside down to be validated. Customer then had to sign the front of the cheque, and the cashier check the number printed on the back of the cheque matched the guarantee card, write on the guarantee limit and finally sign it before putting it in the till drawer. Phew! Not to mention the printer was temperamental and would often take several attempts to take in the cheque.

IvanOpinion

They should create a separate queue for cheques, thir own personal till allowing those usinjg plastic to proceed through quicker.


Ivan

liney

And refuse to serve the people paying by cheques for 10 mins to simulate the wait of the customers who would usually be behind them!