We don't want cash!

[Gina B]

Is anyone else having this problem?

Why are businesses reluctant to take cash?

It is nearly impossible to pay for regular bills using paper money now. A couple creditors tried to charge me a fee for them handling cash.

I got stubborn a while back when buying ballet tickets. I didn't want to buy them online using a card, plus they charged a "convenience fee" of $20 per ticket. I didn't want to pay $100 just in fees, and I wanted to pay cash. They said that if you bought the tickets in advance, it would be $5 cheaper than buying them at the door and guarantee the seats, so the logical thing to do was...go to the ticket office and buy the tickets there, plus I wouldn't have to pay the convenience fee. YAY!
So we put gas in the car, get stuck in a traffic jam on the way downtown, get there, and they charged $15 per ticket for a handling fee for buying them from a human! But...they hadn't lied, there wasn't a convenience fee.

We had the same issue at the airport recently. I took cash in to pay the baggage fees. They wouldn't take it. Even though the tickets had been paid for with a card (again, no cash allowed) they still insisted the baggage fee be paid for with a card. Oddly enough, the same airline didn't charge baggage on the way back and said the first two bags are never charged on that airline...HMM but that's another story, the point is...

I don't get how any business can get away with either refusing to take cash or charging a fee to accept cash. Where I pay my phone bill, they won't even let you pay it to a person. You HAVE to pay it to a machine or they charge you. They *claim* you can pay the machine cash, but the cash part has never worked in all the time I've been a customer and they always say they can't take cash at their registers and they'll have to charge you the fee if you come up and pay them with a card, though if the credit card part of the machine won't work, they'll let you come pay at their register without paying the fee.

There's really just no way now to get along without a debit card and now that I've resigned myself to that, they're starting to make it to where you can't really get along without a credit card. If you get a room at a hotel, they'll debit a crazy amount to your card at a lot of them "in case of damage" and you won't get refunded for a while, or may have to fight for the refund as nobody will want to take responsibility for it not going through and will say the bank is the one to refund the transaction after the hold and the bank will say it's on the hotel and you'll go in circles.
Some hotels can't even be rented at all without a credit card.
You can't rent a car now without a credit card. Period. They just won't let you. I almost threw up at that when I was stuck somewhere. I had the money. Cash. They said no. I had a debit card and plenty to cover it, had car insurance, nope. Not good enough. The rules are that you have to have a credit card.

Why should we have to have all this plastic? Everywhere I go, they don't want cash, they want a credit or debit card, then when they get that they say they have to see state issued identification, sometimes two different forms to prove who I am, when all I'm doing is giving THEM my money that I didn't feel that great about parting with anyhow, then they make me feel like I have to prove I'm not some criminal and am properly government certified to be who I say I am and be all grateful that that they're deigning to accept my lowly wages for their product. WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?! Sometimes I just want to pay my electric bill or sleep in a bed when I'm away from home. I shouldn't have to be "processed" and reviewed and government approved just to be able to spend my own money in my own way in my own country!

 

[InTheLight]

A lot of these businesses don't want to deal with cash because it is ripe for employee theft. Then there is the hassle of needing cash registers. I totally understand the inability to pay for baggage fees with cash.

I do not understand convenience fees, however. How can businesses charge the consumer a fee for making the transaction convenient for the merchant? The consumer types in everything needed to complete the transaction--name, address, email, credit card info, etc. into an automated system. How is this convenient for the consumer?

 

[go2church]

Keep cash for smaller purchases, but use a debut card for everything else. Believe it or not it costs a business to handle cash. Why opposed to a debit card?

 

[Gina B]

Okay, here are the two things that created my aversion:

Fifteen years ago: I put gas in my car and paid inside with a credit card. The cashier used the receipt to gain my card number and signature and within a very short time, she purchased a number of cashier checks for herself from that gas station and skipped the state. Since she was hunched over the machine punching in the numbers, the credit card company tried to say it wasn't proof, as the cameras weren't clear on what numbers she was typing in. It's not like the card was even out of my possession or I was careless with the receipt. Anyone you hand your card to can potentially use it in that manner before you can manage to drive home.

Five years ago: Someone found a way online to hack my bank through my debit card and drained everything and then some as I had a decent overdraft at the time. It's not like I have a ton, so I have no clue why they picked me. I still haven't recovered from that as I still can't prove I'm me, which I don't get and just gave up. The credit agency insists that the only way to prove it is through a three point system of proof, and one of them is to give them a PO box in one state which I've never lived in. They even went to the hospital as me and it went into medical records that I have a kidney disease that I take lifelong meds for, so that had to get taken out. They had my social and everything, and by taking that out, the hospital got my address and...sent me the bill, which naturally is now in collections because they "proved" it was me since the social security number matched. At least they didn't have some freaky STD or something!

So yep, I'd rather just use cash and not have to hand over identification to anyone. Ever. But everyone wants debit or credit and picture identification and everyone wants a social security number for everything. You can't apply for anything without them asking for it and when I try to get around it, they go nuts even though by law, they cannot require it. They pull the "right to refuse service" stuff.

It's just wrong.

I really think that I should be able to pay for stuff with cash without it being a problem. People don't generally walk around with a ton of cash on them, but how much is someone walking around with if they're carrying just one debit card and one credit card?

 

[Revmitchell]

I have had my card hacked twice as well. It cost me 400 the first time and 800 the second. And banks do not like to work with you when it happens. They just want to accuse you and try to make you go away. It is wearisome to always make transactions and having to think of how in the world to protect yourself every time. I just want to hand them worry free cash and be done with it. And it costs the retailer money to handle debit and credit cards as well. It also costs us to use the debit card. Cash use is usually free.

 

[preacher4truth]

I've had a cc number stolen and used when we stayed in Cali and someone else used it for a very nice hotel room, nicer than the one we were staying in and at a different hotel at the same time we were there. That charged was reversed with no problems. We used another debit card to purchase directv and we believe the lady there who took our card over the phone used it to make purchases (we believe this because shortly after this phone transaction the purchases were made). Whoever used it bought cell phones, surveillance equipment and something else that I don't recall as of now. We were able to trace the address of the deliveries and the police and bank cooperated with trying to incriminate the individual(s). Anyhow, each time we've had one of our cc's used by a criminal we've had absolutely no problems with either the bank or lenders reversing the charges.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Keep cash for smaller purchases, but use a debut card for everything else. Believe it or not it costs a business to handle cash. Why opposed to a debit card?

It is an opportunity for companies to steal from you. I'm opposed to plastic of any kind...so if I cant pay cash...I am nor buying it. If more people opposed it...:wavey:

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

I have had my card hacked twice as well. It cost me 400 the first time and 800 the second. And banks do not like to work with you when it happens. They just want to accuse you and try to make you go away. It is wearisome to always make transactions and having to think of how in the world to protect yourself every time. I just want to hand them worry free cash and be done with it. And it costs the retailer money to handle debit and credit cards as well. It also costs us to use the debit card. Cash use is usually free.

If more people got it through their thick skulls that bankers are thieves,it would be a better world.

 

[Bob Alkire]

Keep cash for smaller purchases, but use a debut card for everything else. Believe it or not it costs a business to handle cash. Why opposed to a debit card?

You might know something that I don't, but I was in business for myself and with my wife for 50 years plus and I liked cash, it didn't cost me for the most part. I'll give you giving change there are some mistakes, as there is on not checking the cards as you should and the charge comes back to you. Keep in mind the cost to use plastic from the bank, it adds up.
I have had a steak house, two auto parts stores and a truck garage plus trucking and in all of these I liked cash.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Is anyone else having this problem?

Why are businesses reluctant to take cash?

It is nearly impossible to pay for regular bills using paper money now. A couple creditors tried to charge me a fee for them handling cash.

I got stubborn a while back when buying ballet tickets. I didn't want to buy them online using a card, plus they charged a "convenience fee" of $20 per ticket. I didn't want to pay $100 just in fees, and I wanted to pay cash. They said that if you bought the tickets in advance, it would be $5 cheaper than buying them at the door and guarantee the seats, so the logical thing to do was...go to the ticket office and buy the tickets there, plus I wouldn't have to pay the convenience fee. YAY!
So we put gas in the car, get stuck in a traffic jam on the way downtown, get there, and they charged $15 per ticket for a handling fee for buying them from a human! But...they hadn't lied, there wasn't a convenience fee.

We had the same issue at the airport recently. I took cash in to pay the baggage fees. They wouldn't take it. Even though the tickets had been paid for with a card (again, no cash allowed) they still insisted the baggage fee be paid for with a card. Oddly enough, the same airline didn't charge baggage on the way back and said the first two bags are never charged on that airline...HMM but that's another story, the point is...

I don't get how any business can get away with either refusing to take cash or charging a fee to accept cash. Where I pay my phone bill, they won't even let you pay it to a person. You HAVE to pay it to a machine or they charge you. They *claim* you can pay the machine cash, but the cash part has never worked in all the time I've been a customer and they always say they can't take cash at their registers and they'll have to charge you the fee if you come up and pay them with a card, though if the credit card part of the machine won't work, they'll let you come pay at their register without paying the fee.

There's really just no way now to get along without a debit card and now that I've resigned myself to that, they're starting to make it to where you can't really get along without a credit card. If you get a room at a hotel, they'll debit a crazy amount to your card at a lot of them "in case of damage" and you won't get refunded for a while, or may have to fight for the refund as nobody will want to take responsibility for it not going through and will say the bank is the one to refund the transaction after the hold and the bank will say it's on the hotel and you'll go in circles.
Some hotels can't even be rented at all without a credit card.
You can't rent a car now without a credit card. Period. They just won't let you. I almost threw up at that when I was stuck somewhere. I had the money. Cash. They said no. I had a debit card and plenty to cover it, had car insurance, nope. Not good enough. The rules are that you have to have a credit card.

Why should we have to have all this plastic? Everywhere I go, they don't want cash, they want a credit or debit card, then when they get that they say they have to see state issued identification, sometimes two different forms to prove who I am, when all I'm doing is giving THEM my money that I didn't feel that great about parting with anyhow, then they make me feel like I have to prove I'm not some criminal and am properly government certified to be who I say I am and be all grateful that that they're deigning to accept my lowly wages for their product. WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?! Sometimes I just want to pay my electric bill or sleep in a bed when I'm away from home. I shouldn't have to be "processed" and reviewed and government approved just to be able to spend my own money in my own way in my own country!

Never heard of such a thing. We pay for concert tickets with cash, pay for baseball tickets with cash, football tickets...

We even have some places around here that take "alternative currency".

The only time I use my credit cards is in an emergency or when I have no other choice.

The only businesses I've found that won't take cash are hotels and car rental places.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Believe it or not it costs a business to handle cash.

Interesting. I was involved in retail for many years and my family owned a string of restaurants when I was a kid. I'm currently doing consulting work for a couple of franchises of a national chain of hardware stores and I've never heard this. How does it cost a business? Specifically, how does it cost a business more than card processing fees?

Why opposed to a debit card?

For two reasons:

1. Because I'm more conscious of how much I'm spending when I spend cash than when I just mindlessly swipe a card.

2. Because it's nobody's business where I shop or what I buy and I don't want my purchasing habits tracked.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Never heard of such a thing. We pay for concert tickets with cash, pay for baseball tickets with cash, football tickets...

We even have some places around here that take "alternative currency".

The only time I use my credit cards is in an emergency or when I have no other choice.

The only businesses I've found that won't take cash are hotels and car rental places.

Even hotels will if you call them directly but you are correct.....Car Rental companies are owned by banks/thieves. Reminds me , I need to tell my wife to terminate or BJ's membership --- as there now owned by a bank.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

You might know something that I don't, but I was in business for myself and with my wife for 50 years plus and I liked cash, it didn't cost me for the most part. I'll give you giving change there are some mistakes, as there is on not checking the cards as you should and the charge comes back to you. Keep in mind the cost to use plastic from the bank, it adds up.
I have had a steak house, two auto parts stores and a truck garage plus trucking and in all of these I liked cash.

Of course you would....but then again, your not a bank....you dont surcharge & you dont have bank owned insurance companies & the government protecting you when you take a misstep. (BIG DIFFERENCE).

Personally Id even provide a cash discount if you pay upfront & Id make sure you are a repeat customer.....thats the difference in being an entrepreneurial run business vs a corporate held (thief) bank.

 

[Salty]

I have a dollar bill in front of me and it states "THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FRO ALL DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE"

ON the other hand, I have had folks come into my C-store, buy a soda for 85 cents and put it on debit card!

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Interesting. I was involved in retail for many years and my family owned a string of restaurants when I was a kid. I'm currently doing consulting work for a couple of franchises of a national chain of hardware stores and I've never heard this. How does it cost a business? Specifically, how does it cost a business more than card processing fees?



For two reasons:

1. Because I'm more conscious of how much I'm spending when I spend cash than when I just mindlessly swipe a card.

2. Because it's nobody's business where I shop or what I buy and I don't want my purchasing habits tracked.

Excellent answers....thank you very much for the rational answers given & from the point of view of a retailer. :thumbs:

 

[go2church]

Overall theft is less with cards then cash (for the business), accounting is easier as it is all computer generated. You'll also have quicker transactions with the bank getting your money into your account and not having to chase down bad checks. You save money by reducing steps. Stores are now processing checks like debit cards for reasons like this.

Mom and pops may not notice the difference as they generally handle all phases of the business, but larger retail definitely does.

Have you considered prepaid cards? Load them, which can be done with cash and shop for what you need, when you're done, toss away.

 

[Revmitchell]

I will just stick with cash and if businesses do not want to handle cash then I will go elsewhere. I use cards in a limited fashion but cash is better than either checks or plastic.

 

[HankD]

Setting up an online account for your credit and debit cards adds another dimension to identity theft.

However being diligent in checking them will go a long way in catching the thievery.

Be sure to check that the login URL says https://

The "s" means it's secure. Not 100% secure but at least the door is locked.

As an example, I caught a series of small but not insignificant charges from companies with harmless sounding names (e.g. "New World Clothiers").

It turns out that this was a scam originating in the Ukraine!

My $$ were restored and my cards redone free of charge by my bank.

I also pay for online security systems which warn me of "out of profile" events on my accounts.

Yes, it's a self imposed invasion of my privacy but I consider it a necessary evil.

HankD

 

[Gib]

I don't want cash. Cash money burns a whole in my pocket. Frankly, I don't like touching the stuff. I was a support mgr at wally world and would cover the front end when folks went on breaks. I have had too many large sweaty gals pull moist twenty dollars bills out from under their bosom. I don't think whoever coined the phrase "Keep your money where your heart is" meant it literally.

 

[Gina B]

GIB! I'm going to go bleach my money now! YUCK YUCK YUCK! :laugh: That's just a nasty, nasty, nasty word picture you painted, you cruel man! You fight dirty...