KFC - Cash only payment option

laughter189

Went to a local KFC today for a change and we were a bit short on cash .

This KFC branch only have one payment option and that is cash only .

There are no ATM's in the vicinity and this meant that we did'nt have enough cash to buy dinner plus dessert .

Is there any obligation on this business to offer other payment options ?

dudara

In short - no.

It is of course better customer service to offer different payment methods, but they are under no obligation to do so.

partyatmygaff

No. They're at perfect liberty to specify their accepted forms of payment, even down to what forms of cash they'll accept.

syklops

Why would there be?

Requiring business to have alternative methods of paying would only make doing business harder, and its already very hard.

Remember having a credit card terminal costs money, and that particular outlet maybe be in an area where it is not cost effective to have a terminal as most people pay with cash, e.g. its near a university or something.

laughter189

syklops wrote: »

Why would there be?

Requiring business to have alternative methods of paying would only make doing business harder, and its already very hard.

.

My own opinion would be the opposite - I believe that offering a variety of payment methods , should make doing business easier , especially for the hard-pressed consumer .

Anyway , in the present economic climate , dealing in cash seems to be the preferred method of payment to most business'es today .

The Minister for Finance is not too happy with this though .

Nody

laughter189 wrote: »

My own opinion would be the opposite - I believe that offering a variety of payment methods , should make doing business easier , especially for the hard-pressed consumer .

Anyway , in the present economic climate , dealing in cash seems to be the preferred method of payment to most business'es today .

The Minister for Finance is not too happy with this though .

Between charges for terminals, per payment, bounced payment options & disputed claims; not likely for a business doing mainly small value transactions.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

laughter189 wrote: »

My own opinion would be the opposite - I believe that offering a variety of payment methods , should make doing business easier , especially for the hard-pressed consumer .

Anyway , in the present economic climate , dealing in cash seems to be the preferred method of payment to most business'es today .

The Minister for Finance is not too happy with this though .

:rolleyes: Eh, we're talking about a cheap takeaway, right? You are having a laugh I bet. Prefer them to take Credit Cards or maybe Travellers Cheques? Come off it.

laughter189

Roland Helpful Bedtime wrote: »

:rolleyes: Eh, we're talking about a cheap takeaway, right? You are having a laugh I bet. Prefer them to take Credit Cards or maybe Travellers Cheques? Come off it.

Nope - Not having a laugh - It ain't funny when you arrive at a food outlet with no cash and want to feed a family of 4 .

You park / queue for 10 minutes , only to discover that the premises will only accept cash .

Another KFC outlet 30 miles away will accept cash/laser/ mastercard/visa .

And the food is not cheap - minimum meal deal is €6.69 per person , which is €26.76 total / 4 people .

ScouseMouse

Then plan ahead. Walking into any shop without money is silly. What if the phone lines were down? It could happen to any store.

Forest Master

laughter189 wrote: »

It ain't funny when you arrive at a food outlet with no cash and want to feed a family of 4

Yeah, I agree - that's definitely not funny - a bit dumb, actually.

laughter189

Forest Master wrote: »

Yeah, I agree - that's definitely not funny - a bit dumb, actually.

Think about cards my friend , - I have a healthy laser card and a healthy credit card .

There is more to life than cash .

compsys

Irish consumers have a higher dependency on cash than almost every other European country. And it's not surprising when you read some of the comments on here. Most advanced Western European countries are reducing their reliance on cash. It's a very Irish thing for major shops to only accept cash or expect customers to pay in cash. I totally feel for the OP here.

If you go to places like Japan people would have no problem swiping their card (or even their mobile phone!) for any type of purchase. I personally can't wait until we live in an almost cashless society and everywhere accepts cards.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily agree that it's in a shop's best interest to only accept cash. Having lots of cash on the premises can be a real headache for some shops and also makes them more attractive for robberies etc.

Also, while the charges on credit cards can be high for merchants, it's not the same for debit cards.

4-age

If you go to places like Japan people would have no problem swiping their card (or even their mobile phone!) for any type of purchase. I personally can't wait until we live in an almost cashless society and everywhere accepts cards.

That`s not exactly true. While you can use credit cards, and eddy (through card, or phone) Japan is very much a cash society. Many places do not have credit card facilities, and it is not uncommon for resteraunts to only accept cash. Also it is not uncommon to see someone withdraw 500 to 1000 euro a go at atms. In Japan cash is still king.

ArphaRima

In Japan cash is still king.

VERY much so. All of Asia is like that. They might herald all of the new technologies but the uptake is quite low.

Wads and wads of cash are the only way to do business almost everywhere in Asia. I see people piling bricks of cash (not insignificant notes) into their bags every day at the bank counter. I do the same.

Even in Ireland I use my card for things I want to measure, like fuel, shopping, major purchases and bills etc. Cash is for day-today expenses and drinking. But I would still make sure I have between 100-550 euro in my wallet at all times.
This is for the plain reason that some places simply dont use cards. Especially in busy bars. Many will have 1 out of 3 floors accepting them.

Cabaal

compsys wrote: »

Irish consumers have a higher dependency on cash than almost every other European country. And it's not surprising when you read some of the comments on here.

While you may no like it there is a benefit of using cash to the consumer,
Using cash helps many consumers keep track of things,

if you've ever paid 900e on a credit card you#'ll know how easy it is to pay it.

However if you've ever handed over 900e in cash you'll know that it has a more material feel that you are loosing something as you can physically see that 900e.

In short it makes people appreciate money more and as such using it more wisely when compared to credit and debit card usage where it is nothing more then a number

So don't be too quick to wish for cash to disappear as it comes with downsides too.

maxer68

laughter189 wrote: »

Went to a local KFC today for a change and we were a bit short on cash .

This KFC branch only have one payment option and that is cash only .

There are no ATM's in the vicinity and this meant that we did'nt have enough cash to buy dinner plus dessert .

Is there any obligation on this business to offer other payment options ?

Maybe KFC should send you a reminder to your phone to bring cash if you are buying some food off them?

Have we reached a stage that everything is always someone elses fault and we bear no responsibilty at all for our own actions?

They're ATM facilities on nearly every street corner and KFC are not exactly local village eateries and are always in decent population centres. - My guess is there was an atm 500 yards away but the OP couldn't be bothered and would prefer to "blame" a corporation for his error.

Personal responsibilty is somthing a lot of people need to start learning and stop moaning about little things in life.

ScouseMouse

laughter189 wrote: »

Went to a local KFC today for a change and we were a bit short on cash .

This KFC branch only have one payment option and that is cash only .

There are no ATM's in the vicinity and this meant that we did'nt have enough cash to buy dinner plus dessert .

Is there any obligation on this business to offer other payment options ?

Which KFC is this exactly?

laughter189

KFC Wexford town is cash only - KFC Waterford do accept plastic as well as cash .

ztoical

laughter189 wrote: »

KFC Wexford town is cash only - KFC Waterford do accept plastic as well as cash .

City vs Town. A branch located in a city with a large student population is far more likely to get use out of accepting cards. As has already been pointed out it's not free for a shop to take cards, they have to pay for each transaction so it's only worth installing it if they are going to get that use out of it which for a fast food place isn't going to be that high.

laughter189

19 posts and only 3 posters are in favour of the consumer - Is it any wonder we exist in a capitalist state .

fifth

Can I just add that KFC in wexford town is empty nearly all of the time with abundant carparking spaces as it's in a large retail park. (I live nearby). There's a large petrol station directly across the road which (not sure if it has an atm for certain but) has at least got the facility to offer cashback if you're buying petrol/papers/other bits. If not, you can go 5 minutes down to Centra in whitemill and they definitely have an atm.

I must admit it used to irritate me when I didn't have cash and a fast food outlet only accepted cash, so I always - always - go to the atm first before going anywhere for food now.

The only downside to having cash, say 20/40 euro from the atm, and buying dinner with it is the change. I usually spend it on a paper or something trivial like a scratchcard just to get rid of it out of my pocket.

reprazant

laughter189 wrote: »

19 posts and only 3 posters are in favour of the consumer - Is it any wonder we exist in a capitalist state .

Or maybe most people have pointed out that a company is not obliged to provide credit card services and the consumer should be prepared for that eventuality?

Forest Master

laughter189 wrote: »

19 posts and only 3 posters are in favour of the consumer - Is it any wonder we exist in a capitalist state .

No - you assumed they would take your credit card, when it's common knowledge they don't. I'm 32 - and in my whole life I've never known McDonalds, Burger King, Abrakebabra, Supermacs or KFC to ever take anything other than cash. So if I was going to get food from any of these places, I'd bring cash - it's called executing common sense.

We're disagreeing with your assumption they take cards - not "whether or not they should".

Boggles

syklops wrote: »

Why would there be?

Requiring business to have alternative methods of paying would only make doing business harder, and its already very hard.

Remember having a credit card terminal costs money, and that particular outlet maybe be in an area where it is not cost effective to have a terminal as most people pay with cash, e.g. its near a university or something.

Well to be fair in this instance which I'm sure is not an isolated one, not having a different facility cost them money.

To answer the OPs question, no they do not have to offer more than one payment facility, but it is naive not to at least offer a debit card facility. The majority of people in the country that have bank accounts automatically got issued with debit cards in the past year or 2, it is turning quickly into the new cash.

Fast food customers are largely impulsive shoppers anyways, the impulsiveness is removed if they have to spend 15-20 minutes finding cash.

As always vote with your feet, we no longer thankfully have to put up with businesses providing the bare minimums, it's the companies who go beyond who will survive.

laughter189

As I said in my opening piece , we did'nt have enough cash to buy dinner plus dessert .

We did scramble together the cash amount to buy a very basic meal.

However , if the card facility was there , I have no doublt that we would have spent at least another 15 euro .

I assumed they took plastic , because the last time we were in KFC Waterford , they duly obliged .

ThisRegard

Forest Master wrote: »

No - you assumed they would take your credit card, when it's common knowledge they don't. I'm 32 - and in my whole life I've never known McDonalds, Burger King, Abrakebabra, Supermacs or KFC to ever take anything other than cash. So if I was going to get food from any of these places, I'd bring cash - it's called executing common sense.

We're disagreeing with your assumption they take cards - not "whether or not they should".

McDonalds have terminals, have had them for some time now. And I'm older than you so there.

Chardee MacDennis

laughter189 wrote: »

Nope - Not having a laugh - It ain't funny when you arrive at a food outlet with no cash and want to feed a family of 4 .

You park / queue for 10 minutes , only to discover that the premises will only accept cash .

Another KFC outlet 30 miles away will accept cash/laser/ mastercard/visa .

And the food is not cheap - minimum meal deal is €6.69 per person , which is €26.76 total / 4 people .

Tbh its very stupid to queue for ten minutes and not know if they take your payment method. Any business that takes cards will generally have stickers up saying what cards they take.

Chardee MacDennis

Forest Master wrote: »

No - you assumed they would take your credit card, when it's common knowledge they don't. I'm 32 - and in my whole life I've never known McDonalds, Burger King, Abrakebabra, Supermacs or KFC to ever take anything other than cash. So if I was going to get food from any of these places, I'd bring cash - it's called executing common sense.

We're disagreeing with your assumption they take cards - not "whether or not they should".

Burger king make a big deal out of accepting cards, surprised you missed it :pac:

inforfun

Cabaal wrote: »

While you may no like it there is a benefit of using cash to the consumer,
Using cash helps many consumers keep track of things,

if you've ever paid 900e on a credit card you#'ll know how easy it is to pay it.

However if you've ever handed over 900e in cash you'll know that it has a more material feel that you are loosing something as you can physically see that 900e.

In short it makes people appreciate money more and as such using it more wisely when compared to credit and debit card usage where it is nothing more then a number

So don't be too quick to wish for cash to disappear as it comes with downsides too.

Exactly the reason why you play with chips in a casino in stead of real money/cash.

I never go without cash into shops even if i plan to pay with whatever kind of card.
Happens too often that the systems are down and cash is the only way to go.

syklops

Boggles wrote: »

Well to be fair in this instance which I'm sure is not an isolated one, not having a different facility cost them money.

To answer the OPs question, no they do not have to offer more than one payment facility, but it is naive not to at least offer a debit card facility. The majority of people in the country that have bank accounts automatically got issued with debit cards in the past year or 2, it is turning quickly into the new cash.

Fast food customers are largely impulsive shoppers anyways, the impulsiveness is removed if they have to spend 15-20 minutes finding cash.

As always vote with your feet, we no longer thankfully have to put up with businesses providing the bare minimums, it's the companies who go beyond who will survive.

I am not disagreeing with you that they lost out, and I am sure if there was a demand for it, they would install a machine, but as far as I can tell, this particular KFC is in the middle of a retail park, surrounded by shops that do accept payment cards and offer cash back. So management in this KFC restaurant may be gambling with this fact in the hope of not needing to fork out for the terminals and the other costs associated with them.

Kat1170

syklops wrote: »

Why would there be?

Requiring business to have alternative methods of paying would only make doing business harder, and its already very hard.

Remember having a credit card terminal costs money, and that particular outlet maybe be in an area where it is not cost effective to have a terminal as most people pay with cash, e.g. its near a university or something.

Ztoical City vs Town. A branch located in a city with a large student population is far more likely to get use out of accepting cards. As has already been pointed out it's not free for a shop to take cards, they have to pay for each transaction so it's only worth installing it if they are going to get that use out of it which for a fast food place isn't going to be that high.

Come on folks, it has to be one or the other, you can't agree with both. :cool: