Bars in Athlone that take cards

veryangryman

Not sure why but every pub seems to not accept cards then wonders why they are empty almost every night. Surely they should be doing more to get customers. Left bank and bars around Irish town are the worst for it with no cash machines within 5 min walk

Not sure if it's confined to athlone but is it not a no brainer to help people who wish to pay for what your selling?

SilverScreen

I'm nearly sure The Prince takes cards. Not 100%.

tubos

Piano bar takes cards

slowharry

Most bars take cards, although on a busy night they may decide not too take them as it takes too long

hfallada

slowharry wrote: »

Most bars take cards, although on a busy night they may decide not too take them as it takes too long

That is hardly a decent reason. The shop I work in has the ****test card credit machine possible and its often still quicker than counting change

veryangryman

slowharry wrote: »

Most bars take cards, although on a busy night they may decide not too take them as it takes too long

The following bars do not take cards

Biddys Teach Steig
Seans
Castle
Snug

This is of the ones i know. Ive yet to see a non-hotel bar in Athlone take cards. Are we living in the dark ages?

Can anyone provide a list of places that do take them (appreciate that Piano do).

roosterman71

veryangryman wrote: »

Not sure why but every pub seems to not accept cards then wonders why they are empty almost every night. Surely they should be doing more to get customers. Left bank and bars around Irish town are the worst for it with no cash machines within 5 min walk

Not sure if it's confined to athlone but is it not a no brainer to help people who wish to pay for what your selling?

Maybe its the look of ya and the bar staff make an assumption that yer card has nothing behind it
Or its policy
Not sure which is more accurate..

yoursaviour1989

Shack take them

veryangryman

yoursaviour1989 wrote: »

Shack take them

Good on them. On the other hand, they do food as well so they (kind of) have to.

Is it just penny pinching that the pubs dont do it as a rule? How expensive are they to set up?

BoB_BoT

For a lot of them it's used to be not worth the hassle, especially when the card machines were also a lot slower. Newer broadband based terminals are very quick, so no real slow down.

The other side of it is the cost of it, if a customer uses a credit card, the pub is charged a percentage on the transaction.
If they use laser, (depending on the deal they have with their processor) they are charged a set transaction charge which can can be 20c on a transaction. Which if you look at it, is a large chunk taken out of the margin on the pint/drink.

Same reason you see in shops that unless the transaction is over a certain amount, there's a surcharge. For laser/credit card transactions.

veryangryman

BoB_BoT wrote: »

For a lot of them it's used to be not worth the hassle, especially when the card machines were also a lot slower. Newer broadband based terminals are very quick, so no real slow down.

The other side of it is the cost of it, if a customer uses a credit card, the pub is charged a percentage on the transaction.
If they use laser, (depending on the deal they have with their processor) they are charged a set transaction charge which can can be 20c on a transaction. Which if you look at it, is a large chunk taken out of the margin on the pint/drink.

Same reason you see in shops that unless the transaction is over a certain amount, there's a surcharge. For laser/credit card transactions.

Like the shops, they could simply stick a minimum €10 per transaction rule to make it worth their while using the machine. Encourage customers to get cashback, ensuring that the machine usage (and cost) is kept to a minimum. Christ this isn't hard. Pubs are stone age in this town. Should close at least half of them and get the focus on improving the rest with simple no-brainer ideas like this one.

Saint_Mel

There's a atm about a 20 second walk from Biddys! Get up out of that ya lazy lump

veryangryman

Saint_Mel wrote: »

There's a atm about a 20 second walk from Biddys! Get up out of that ya lazy lump

Last i checked, that was decomissioned. You been there lately?

Again, no excuse for not having card machines, especially where food is served.

BastardFace

veryangryman wrote: »

Pubs are stone age in this town. Should close at least half of them and get the focus on improving the rest with simple no-brainer ideas like this one.

That makes no sense. Who should close them? The owners? And focus on improving bars they have absolutely no affiliation with?

The town is a dump anyway so not worth the effort.

Oh and you can drink in McGuires. They are happy to take your card.

I said

veryangryman wrote: »

The following bars do not take cards

Biddys Teach Steig
Seans
Castle
Snug

This is of the ones i know. Ive yet to see a non-hotel bar in Athlone take cards. Are we living in the dark ages?

Can anyone provide a list of places that do take them (appreciate that Piano do).

The rent is fairly high on those machine's so probably not worth the hassle for the few who'd look to use them.

veryangryman

BastardFace wrote: »

That makes no sense. Who should close them? The owners? And focus on improving bars they have absolutely no affiliation with?

I like the UK idea where there are chain pubs. These are worked well, offering decent service, food, drink, entertainment etc at a reasonable price. Having a few good pubs is better than having alot of empty ones.

Those who run the bars could club together with their resources and experience to bring such a thing together. It couldn't be worse than whats currently being done.

As for the town being a dump, i'll leave you to your own opinion, but I'm not one for living in places that I think are dumps.

BastardFace

veryangryman wrote: »

As for the town being a dump, i'll leave you to your own opinion, but I'm not one for living in places that I think are dumps.

Haha well then you better move. Just kidding.

But seriously, I was in Athlone in December. The town looked pretty grim. A lot of the shops on main street near the shannon are either up for rent or sale. Even thoes still open, many look grimey. A powerwash of the walls and splash of paint would do no harm. The area where charcoal grill is at golden island is pretty bleak too. Most places closed up.

The pub chain idea would be nice to see. Its very popular in the states also. But I can't see it kicking off in a small town like Athlone.