On the other hand, it must be a year or so since I last had to use my emergency tenner because a pub didn't take cards.Quote:
Originally Posted by london calling
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On the other hand, it must be a year or so since I last had to use my emergency tenner because a pub didn't take cards.Quote:
Originally Posted by london calling
Yes, you're far more likely to find a pub that doesn't take cash than one that doesn't take a card - but the latter do still exist (Admiral Vernon). My local chippy only takes case as well. I've had to use my emergency cash reserve fairly frequently.Quote:
Originally Posted by NickDavies
The Little DriverQuote:
Originally Posted by Rex_Rattus
The Palm Tree
Must be an East End thing.:rolleyes:
I've had to use cash a few times recently. Some pubs have a lower limit for cards and one pint (or one half!) is below their limit, although plenty of other pubs are happy to accept a card for £1.70. At one recently there was a £10 lower limit, and when I asked (in a friendly rather than challenging way) I was told that the card machine operator charges 0.75% on each transaction. Now that doesn't seem a lot to me - a £20 transaction would attract a charge of 15p. My pint of Peak Bakewell Best Bitter 4.2% was £4.10 (and worth every penny, I can tell you), so the charge would have been 3p or thereabouts - is that such a deal-breaker for them that they're going to make a fuss about it to every customer like me having just a pint? I should have said "charge me £4.20 and put it on my card"!Quote:
Originally Posted by NickDavies
They have to pay up to 1% to pay in cash, and it costs to obtain change too. And rural pubs have the hassle of going to the bank miles away every day or two. The cost of card transactions is hardly prohibitive.Quote:
Originally Posted by sheffield hatter
Remember the advert, "American Express says more about you than cash ever can"? Quite. Cash says nothing about you. If you're a small business it can be useful to keep some funds away from the prying eyes of the VAT man, the brewery, the pubco, your own accountant...
A mate sent me a photo of the 16 handpumps in the craft beer co clerkenwell with only 2 beers on.he posted underneath. Sad!.
I remember during my first job we were looking at getting a card machine and the bank charges were something like 3% at the time for credit cards, and a fixed fee of 25p for debit cards (per transaction). Plus there was a monthly fee for the terminal usage, and potentially upfront costs too. There may still be some of the big banks that get away with high charges such as these, but shopping around you can get a few different makes of basic terminal for a low one off cost for the equipment and then 0.75% charge per transaction. With those kind of rates, a minimum spend for taking card payments doesn't make sense - if someone buys two pints at £6 (optimistic I know, but bear with me) then you are losing 4.5p in card transaction fees. If buying a half pint at £1.50 then you lose 1.125p. The percentage of the hit you take is the same, so having a minimum amount makes no sense, unless of course you are aiming to steer people away from tying the card reader up for lots of smaller transactions, or you're just trying to push customers towards a larger spend. Of course, under the old system if someone paid by debit card on a £1.50 transaction then you lose 25p of that right away - which is a much bigger dent in the profit margin and may even make the transaction unviable if the margins are slim to start with.Quote:
Originally Posted by sheffield hatter
A regular pub of mine prefers cash and pay as you go but if paying by card they run a tab until you've finished your session then paying in one transaction, of course this offers up the chance of someone (non regular) doing a runner, I don't think this has happened yet, though a couple of locals have wandered off home forgetting to pay, they are of course reminded upon their return the next day
day.
I much prefer the pay as you go model whether paying by card or cash, as I like to know I am free to leave when I like without having to hang around and settle a tab. That was one of the downsides to compulsory table service when that was a thing under COVID rules, it really slowed down the ability to move along if you were attempting any kind of crawl.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mobyduck
Agree with that but in this case being a small pub and being a local, normally sat at the bar (frowned upon in some circles) I just pay up as I get my last pint/ round.Quote:
Originally Posted by RealAleRobUK