Why do some places not do "Cashback"?

Lovely Bloke

I was in a bar on Friday evening, before I went to a gig, and asked for cashback, as I had no cash on me and they weren't accepting cards at the gig.

Barman refused, stating that they didn't do cashback - the cost of the round was over €20, so shirley it would make better financial sense for them to give me the cash in one transaction, rather than pay the transaction fee on the multiple card transactions I was going to have to make in the course of my visit to the establishment.

I wanted €100, so that would be two fifties, so wouldn't mean they'd be "down change" from their float in the til, I doubt if many cutomers would be spending €100 notes.

So, what is the story with this nonsense policy?

MagicIRL

I suppose it has to do with the fact that the premesis doesn't have overflowing coffers of notes to be giving out to every Tom, Dick and Harry who didn't bother to hit the ATM before showing up.

snubbleste

You obviously asked the barperson this question - what did they say?

Lando Griffin

If I was a business owner I would prefer more people like you sir, as the chances of that 100 euros straying from the till or having to keep it safe over the weekend is limited.
Chances are also that if your drunk you might buy a round of drinks with said cash.

furiousox

....and don't call me Shirley.

c_man

Probably to conserve the float. I know you said it was just fifties, but it's easier to have a standard policy on this rather than the barman having to explain that to patrons at 11 on a Friday night and no doubt getting abuse for it ("Ye only give how much?!")

Lovely Bloke

MagicIRL wrote: »

I suppose it has to do with the fact that the premesis doesn't have overflowing coffers of notes to be giving out to every Tom, Dick and Harry who didn't bother to hit the ATM before showing up.

Nope, the place was hopping, it was a Sunny Friday evening in central Dublin, said bar has an extensive outdoor area which was very busy indeed.

Lando Griffin wrote: »

If I was a business owner I would prefer more people like you sir, as the chances of that 100 euros straying from the till or having to keep it safe over the weekend is limited.
Chances are also that if your drunk you might buy a round of drinks with said cash.

I was absolutely going to spend the money in the bar, I ended up spending just over the hundred all told, I went back to the same bar after the gig too, so they've lost out because of this ridiculous, backward, policy.

It's actually worse than places that don't even take cards, in this day and age, or places that have a "minimum spend" I usually leave shops/bars like that and give elsewhere my custom.

Snake

They don't want to?

Fox_In_Socks

I'm 53, she's 31...

Cookie_Monster

aren't the transaction fees higher for a cashback transaction?

Mr. CooL ICE

I'd hazard a guess that they have had issues in the past with disputes with drunks over missing cash.

Drunk customer pays by card and gets cash back, spend all the cash, blacks out, looks at balance the next day and claims barman robbed him.

c_man

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

It's actually worse than places that don't even take cards, in this day and age

I worked in a bar that didn't accept any cards. Best pub to work in ever No dealing with drunken arseholes forgetting their pin, being 'funny' and running off with the keypad, no holding up a load of customers (nothing worse than that), no panic when the connection fails... Even though it's years since I left, I'm glad to say they still have that policy.

donegal.

it doesn't make much sense.

a busy pub doesn't need €50s for float , if you for €2coins x 50 you'd understand them saying no.

And the money in the till has to end in the bank. Theres two options, 1- lodge cash = expensive 2- offer cashback=less expensive.


maybe its a security thing .They don't want their, possibly drunk, customers been seen handed wads of cash.

gugleguy

OP you make Cashback sound like an extra nice to have accessory for a business establishment to have. If there are any bar owners there reading this thread that don't offer Cashback then I believe none of these will feel swayed to facilitate people like you. Bad bar owners. Mean old coots!

jjbrien

Since you were in the center of the city im sure there were a good few ATM's around.

My brother works in a bar in town when their tills get to a certin point they drop any excess cash into a drop safe which the staff dont have access to. Could be the case with this bar that the barman or manager on duty had dropped the cash into the safe which they cant open.

knucklehead6

they might have an ATM on site. My local petrol station doesn't give cash back because there is an ATM 30 feet from the till.

4zn76tysfajdxp

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

I went back to the same bar after the gig too, so they've lost out because of this ridiculous, backward, policy.

How did they lose out if you went back after the gig?

willows

Dunno why they dont do it because it reduces the store owners cash processing charges. The more cash they can hand out the better. Tesco always ask do you want cash, they do this to reduce their cash charges.

I guess these venues have their reasons. They dont do it to annoy their customers.

blackbird98

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

I was absolutely going to spend the money in the bar, I ended up spending just over the hundred all told, I went back to the same bar after the gig too, so they've lost out because of this ridiculous, backward, policy.

If you went back, they didn't lose out!!

However, I do agree that you would expect most premises to offer cashback, even from a security point of view. Lidl don't offer it either.

Lovely Bloke

Rayna Scruffy Syllable wrote: »

How did they lose out if you went back after the gig?

because for every transaction I made on my card, they were charged by their bank instead of getting charged for one transaction at the start of the night.

I was going to spend the money there one way or another, so with this insane policy, they are costing themselves money.

Lovely Bloke

blackbird98 wrote: »

If you went back, they didn't lose out!!

I've already explained this twice now.

Snake

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

because for every transaction I made on my card, they were charged by their bank instead of getting charged for one transaction at the start of the night.

I was going to spend the money there one way or another, so with this insane policy, they are costing themselves money.

There was no charge to them as a merchant

Maximus Alexander

knucklehead6 wrote: »

they might have an ATM on site. My local petrol station doesn't give cash back because there is an ATM 30 feet from the till.

Petrol stations in particular also get robbed so often that they are very strict about keeping minimal cash in the tills. I worked in one for years and they were very serious about keeping your till as close to the initial float as possible, there was a chute beside the till that went straight into the safe and we were constantly popping cash into it.

There would never have been enough on hand to give cash back.

NormalBob Ubiquitypants

I saw the word 'cashback' and can't stop thinking of this beauty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6IDO6M4Occ

donegal.

GrayFox208 wrote: »

There was no charge to them as a merchant

merchants pay every time you use your card. (although they pay more if you use cash)

4zn76tysfajdxp

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

because for every transaction I made on my card, they were charged by their bank instead of getting charged for one transaction at the start of the night.

I was going to spend the money there one way or another, so with this insane policy, they are costing themselves money.

Are you, as the customer, charged per transaction as well?

Jimjay

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

because for every transaction I made on my card, they were charged by their bank instead of getting charged for one transaction at the start of the night.

I was going to spend the money there one way or another, so with this insane policy, they are costing themselves money.

If they pay a percentage of each transaction in processing fees how would it cost them any more if you made 5 transactions or 1? Isnt 1.95% of a €100 the same if you made 5 transactions or spent the 100 in one go? I suppose if it was a debit card (rather than credit) and they are paying a fixed processing fee the fees would be higher but you are talking a couple of euros over 5 transactions.

Shakespeare's Sister

Customers who complain about something as if it's only in place to annoy them personally (and no other reason) are funny.

OldNotWIse

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Nope, the place was hopping, it was a Sunny Friday evening in central Dublin, said bar has an extensive outdoor area which was very busy indeed.


I was absolutely going to spend the money in the bar, I ended up spending just over the hundred all told, I went back to the same bar after the gig too, so they've lost out because of this ridiculous, backward, policy.

It's actually worse than places that don't even take cards, in this day and age, or places that have a "minimum spend" I usually leave shops/bars like that and give elsewhere my custom.

and look at you like you've two heads when you produce a card...

ash23

I think there's a % charge on using a debit card. It's lower than the % charge on a credit card. That's why some places accept debit cards but not credit cards ( a place I worked in was like that).

So if the bar gives you €100 cashback plus a €20 round, they are paying something like a 2% charge on that. You then might take the €100 and spend it elsewhere. Business loses out.

Wishiwasa Littlebitaller

I had the opposite problem in the Woolshed during the World Cup.. they insisted I had cash back as my purchases was lower than €15.

Lapin

snubbleste wrote: »

You obviously asked the barperson this question - what did they say?

In fairness, being a Friday night, the barman probably has better things to be doing.

How would you feel if you were stood there waiting to be served while the barman was explaining the ins and outs of the publican's cash back policy for debit & credit cards to another customer?

Fred Swanson

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robinph

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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They also might not have signed up for the facility to be able to offer cashback with debit cards.

gugleguy

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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not Entitlement either.

murpho999

ash23 wrote: »

I think there's a % charge on using a debit card. It's lower than the % charge on a credit card. That's why some places accept debit cards but not credit cards ( a place I worked in was like that).

So if the bar gives you €100 cashback plus a €20 round, they are paying something like a 2% charge on that. You then might take the €100 and spend it elsewhere. Business loses out.

No that would apply to credit cards only.

When I had a business I paid 25ct for every debit card transaction. Flat fee and no % costs.

Fred Swanson

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ash23

murpho999 wrote: »

No that would apply to credit cards only.

When I had a business I paid 25ct for every debit card transaction. Flat fee and no % costs.

Depends on the bank surely? I know for certain that my previous employers paid something like 5% on credit and 2.5% on debits (not sure of exact % but debit was cheaper).

We could physically take credit cards but the decision was made to just accept laser as it was cheaper.

Ranchu

Busy pubs shouldn't accept cards. It slows the whole operation down.

robinph

Ranchu wrote: »

Busy pubs shouldn't accept cards. It slows the whole operation down.

But contactless cards speeds things up for small value transactions.

Fred Swanson

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Ranchu

robinph wrote: »

But contactless cards speeds things up for small value transactions.

Not if the pub only has one or two handsets and there's six or seven bar staff serving.

robinph

That will change as people become more familiar with the concept of contactless cards. It is still a bit new and I don't see many other people using them yet, but it is becoming more common.

They have just started a trial of using regular bank contactless cards for some people on London Underground and buses (rather than preloading an Oyster card), and presumably that also gives the option of using certain phone handsets as well that have the NFC facility built in.

Steodonn

Its dosent matter how busy a place they'll want to keep as little money in the till as possible last place I worked we didnt even have 50s in the till they went straight into a locked box. If three or four people asked for 100 cashback near each other the till could end up empty

cletus van damme

LordChessington wrote: »

I'd hazard a guess that they have had issues in the past with disputes with drunks over missing cash.

Drunk customer pays by card and gets cash back, spend all the cash, blacks out, looks at balance the next day and claims barman robbed him.

a lot of places get you to sign the receipt for cash back or at least initial it.
would put an end to any outrage the next day

veryangryman

Is it just landlords being too mean/backward to invest in the technology (penny wise pound foolish) in the same way a lot of bars refuse to give you the free Guinness even though they have posters for the app.

nicowa

It might also be easier for businesses to operate in a way that keep them mostly using cash. Waiting on credit to come in might put them in a bind (90 days waiting?)


Edit: sorry, I know that's only credit cards but if people are using a mix of three (credit, debit & cash) it does make sense to stay as cash solvent as possible - esp in today's market.

Fred Swanson

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Campingplaces

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Nope, the place was hopping, it was a Sunny Friday evening in central Dublin, said bar has an extensive outdoor area which was very busy indeed.


I was absolutely going to spend the money in the bar, I ended up spending just over the hundred all told, I went back to the same bar after the gig too, so they've lost out because of this ridiculous, backward, policy.

It's actually worse than places that don't even take cards, in this day and age, or places that have a "minimum spend" I usually leave shops/bars like that and give elsewhere my custom.

A minimum spend on card transactions makes perfect sense. I work in a busy shop and the amount of people who come in and try to buy a 10c Lolly on their card and ask for cash back is ridiculous. Hence the need for a minimum spend. That transaction would cost the shop more money than they would make, not to mention that it slows the whole queue down

OldNotWIse

Campingplaces wrote: »

A minimum spend on card transactions makes perfect sense. I work in a busy shop and the amount of people who come in and try to buy a 10c Lolly on their card and ask for cash back is ridiculous. Hence the need for a minimum spend. That transaction would cost the shop more money than they would make, not to mention that it slows the whole queue down

Are you sure that actually happens???

veryangryman

Campingplaces wrote: »

A minimum spend on card transactions makes perfect sense. I work in a busy shop and the amount of people who come in and try to buy a 10c Lolly on their card and ask for cash back is ridiculous. Hence the need for a minimum spend. That transaction would cost the shop more money than they would make, not to mention that it slows the whole queue down

Short sighted. Sorting a customer out might make him happy and get him back to buy more stuff at your shop. The same way that doing an loss-leader offer on something will get them into the place to buy other stuff.