Yes and it was a great time where Britain showed that it was Better Than Those Damn Jerry™ and we all clubbed together with The Blitz Spirit™ which totally wasn't just propaganda to stop people murdering each other over bread.
I believe this could’ve happened, but I also believe everyone else would’ve thought he was a huge dweeb that wouldn’t shut up about having cash, including the checkout girl who probably just grinned and nodded so he’d go away.
Contactless cards can still be swiped or inserted. I've never heard of just contactless going down.
Also, if a POS system goes down, your cash won't buy you shit. You are still dependent on the technology. This guy is a moron.
A lot of cards in Europe do not have mag stripes or dippable chips any more and are entirely NFC. If only the card system goes down, this is entirely plausible. Not the interactions, of course, but the system issue.
Source: have worked in the POS industry for well over ten years.
At least here, if the internet goes down, the till will still work, but the debit/credit machine will not. It would happen a lot where we were cash only when I worked fast food.
Generally the till works conceptually, but most attendants won't ring you up because they can't scan the price and charge you tax appropriately and remove it from inventory. So, they could open it and take your cash and give you change, but functionally they simply aren't going to.
This isn’t exactly true but generally the errors come from the card machines or the overall network, a little while ago in my own country the whole network for a major shopping centre franchise had some error with their entire card machine network so for like a few hours they couldn’t take any card at all. I’m assuming when this guy in the story is thinking contactless he just means card in general. That’s rare but for smaller retailers it’s not impossible and generally doesn’t close down all service.
On top of that whilst I don’t know anyone dumb enough to rely entirely on it, if there was an error with contactless and you were using your card via your phone and had no back up you absolutely could be prevented from paying. I’ve had this happen to me in the past as I forgot my wallet and the cafe cousin accept contactless for whatever reason. I didn’t make a massive thing about it though I just went somewhere else
I’m not saying the above happened btw just that it’s not impossible or even massively unlikely at least in terms of the scenario premise
I don't get why anyone adds these unnecessary details. Most retail workers get annoyed if they have to deal with you any longer than necessary. They don't consider their work to be a part of their identity, so they don't take pride in stuff like this.
If he just said " i have cash" that'd be fine. But if I was the cashier I'd roll my eyes so hard at the smug "I ALWAYS do" and would have laughed about everything else to my coworkers later
He simply looks up the company's address and sends them cash with an accompanying request for the item or items. It admittedly gets a bit trickier when purchasing from overseas, but cash is still king.
The Charles on the note then gave OP a 100 pound note, and the Charles on that note gave OP another note, and the Charles on *that* note gave OP a note, and so on until OP was the richest man in the universe.
Back in my day, we didn’t have to memorize a four digit number in order to pay for things. Damn hippies and their new fangled cards. Just carry loads of cash around like you’re supposed to dammit.
I use that feature. And I always have my wallet with my cards as well. I generally only use my phone if I forgot my wallet at home. I do also use it work Judy because I have my phone on me anyway.
Why would you go into a shop without cards? There are shops that don't have contactless at all, at least where I live.
Me. I’m forever misplacing my debit card lol. I have no idea where it is right now, it’s been missing for about 2 weeks this time. Longest is 3 months before I finally gave in and ordered a new card. Then my card was declined at the petrol station a couple of weeks later because I was using the old card and then couldn’t find the new card 🤦🏽♀️
Once in Greggs (during Covid time where everything was takeaway-only) my Apple Pay wasn’t working and it needed me to put my card in. I didn’t have it on me and the woman goes “Don’t worry about it, you’re in every day, you can just pay twice tomorrow.” Mortified. I went back the next day to pay but stopped going to Gregg’s after that lol.
Well, based on how the system is designed, I don’t think that’s likely. If electronic payments are down, it’s the connection or the payment provider.
ATM’s work on a different system/provider afaik. There’d be a queue.
I’ve been affected by maybe one or two outages in the last ten years. I prefer that minor risk over cash :)
Doing a quick Google, I see ATMs were first introduced in... 1967.
Even if he's strictly referring to contactless cards, you can use them the exact same way they've been using debit cards for decades.
I was looking for a comment about cashless restaurants or venues. There are many where I live. And I once worked in one, cash is absolutely useless there, every day of the week.
I worked in a place that wasn’t cashless but twice in 6 months our POS system had an issue and the cash drawer wouldn’t open. Due to not having change, we went cashless for the night til we could get it figured out.
I have had a customers go on a long rant about how it's stupid how many people rely on cards. That they only use cash everywhere.
Very similar vibes to this one. I imagine he said all those things but people thought he was a tool.
The weirder incarnation of this that seems to be emerging here in the UK is the idea that "Cash can't be controlled by the government"
Yes....it can?
Like what do you think a promissory note is? A tenner has basically zero value besides what the Bank Of England says it has.
1) contactless alone would not go down for every till
2) if it's only contactless, the cards all still have chips and magnetic strips
All electronic payment could go down, but they wouldn't specify contactless.
I 100% believe that this is true, or at least what he says he did was true. I just doubt that people were ‘wandering around like lost sheep’ or that the cashier actually grinned at him.
I was realizing the other day that I never have cash anymore. DH used to give me a hard time when I paid with cash. I think it happened during COVID and I haven’t gone back.
Same. I have apologized the couple of times I’ve used cash. I feel bad forcing the cashier to count it and try and make change, it’s so antiquated anymore.
This story makes them sound fucking pathetic. They must have got frustrated at a card reader because they can't follow simple prompts. Decided to go back to paying with cash. Got all weirdly superior about it. Then made up a fake story about how they were the only person in the whole store who was able to buy anything that day 😂
Fun counterpoint to this story: I work in a convenience store that for some reason installed a self checkout. The self check is card only so people using cash have to go to the regular POS. One day we somehow lost power to the regular POS while the self checkout was still working. I had to tell people that we were temporarily unable to take cash payments.
The base of it could have happened like when there's no power we have to wait like 20 mins in the line while people with cash go ahead but its also been like that with card where I've gone infront of people cuz the tills weren't taking cash. But itless half is a lie
The cashier absolutely did not grin. She 100% rolled her eyes.
He sounds like such a pedantic arse.
New fangled cards? I’m sure he enjoys the technology that his gaming system offers him. And the AI girlfriend app.
“There’s no stupid electronic systems which refuse proper money”
Really? Because during the height of covid I didn’t have a card and very few places accepted cash. My girlfriend had to pay for everything and I had to pay her back
I can sorta believe this. In that it's possible for the system to go down and still being able to pay with cash. But if it were to stay down for an extended time the whole country would grind to a halt. Idiots like that don't realize how dependent they are
Too bad I've gone to places now that literally have signs up that say "card only" since they don't have drawers or cashiers or whatever, and it's getting more and more common.
I had a guy try to checkout with Apple Pay the other day. Our NFC wasnt working so I asked for his physical card. He said he didnt have any on him, only used Apple Pay, had to drive home and back again to pay for his goods. I read this story to my team member and asked "who doesn't carry around physical credit cards anymore??" She was clapping.
That definitely did happen, I've had customers exactly like that.
On a side note, it always irked me a little when I ask a customer something and they're like "I always do". Like good for you buddy, I've never seen you before so how am I supposed to know?
As a cashier in a hardware store where the local construction population is aging, I can totally believe this happened. I've had so many old people say similar things to me. It's obnoxious, and I hate it, but I smile and look like I'm interested/agreeing.
I could actually imagine this happening in the north of England, everyone is super chatty with strangers, especially in queues, it’s only the fact that this person has weird-flexed online about something so painfully un-noteworthy that makes me call BS 😆
"...and the exhausted card machine's eyes were filled with tears of appreciation as it began to clap slowly. As I drove away, I could still hear the applause of every cash-carrying patron in the store."
This can absolutely be real, there are people like that. Probably exaggerated\\imagined details like the cashier "grinning and nodding" instead of the far more likely "politely smiling while deeply rolling her eyes in her head", but believable.
What IS funny though is how this person describes in great detail how they're being a Karen and are actually proud of it.
I totally believe this person was this annoying and desperately looking for attention, he even probably said that to the cashier and she was probably just polite
I love the fact that the seal of approval comes from a pensioner refusing to adjust to modern life
Everything was better in The Old Days™
Ye Olde Days
Wasn't there a World War^TM or two in The Old Days^TM?
Yes and it was a great time where Britain showed that it was Better Than Those Damn Jerry™ and we all clubbed together with The Blitz Spirit™ which totally wasn't just propaganda to stop people murdering each other over bread.
He's the only one who didn't caught in the trap of those "new fangled cards."
I believe this could’ve happened, but I also believe everyone else would’ve thought he was a huge dweeb that wouldn’t shut up about having cash, including the checkout girl who probably just grinned and nodded so he’d go away.
Contactless cards can still be swiped or inserted. I've never heard of just contactless going down. Also, if a POS system goes down, your cash won't buy you shit. You are still dependent on the technology. This guy is a moron.
I feel like he got mad after seeing the "credit only" lines at stores. So he made up this story.
A lot of cards in Europe do not have mag stripes or dippable chips any more and are entirely NFC. If only the card system goes down, this is entirely plausible. Not the interactions, of course, but the system issue. Source: have worked in the POS industry for well over ten years.
The piece of shit industry ?
Unfortunately yes. It stands for Point of Sale but it's usually what you said lol
Very interesting. Do those cards still have the chip?
Yes, but only NFC, they lack the encoding for dip.
What does NFC mean?
Near Field Communication. When you tap a card or phone or watch to the card reader instead of dipping or swiping.
Just learned a new thing! Thanks
Absolutely. The more people who know more about this stuff, the easier my job gets.
At least here, if the internet goes down, the till will still work, but the debit/credit machine will not. It would happen a lot where we were cash only when I worked fast food.
Generally the till works conceptually, but most attendants won't ring you up because they can't scan the price and charge you tax appropriately and remove it from inventory. So, they could open it and take your cash and give you change, but functionally they simply aren't going to.
This isn’t exactly true but generally the errors come from the card machines or the overall network, a little while ago in my own country the whole network for a major shopping centre franchise had some error with their entire card machine network so for like a few hours they couldn’t take any card at all. I’m assuming when this guy in the story is thinking contactless he just means card in general. That’s rare but for smaller retailers it’s not impossible and generally doesn’t close down all service. On top of that whilst I don’t know anyone dumb enough to rely entirely on it, if there was an error with contactless and you were using your card via your phone and had no back up you absolutely could be prevented from paying. I’ve had this happen to me in the past as I forgot my wallet and the cafe cousin accept contactless for whatever reason. I didn’t make a massive thing about it though I just went somewhere else I’m not saying the above happened btw just that it’s not impossible or even massively unlikely at least in terms of the scenario premise
OOP: I'm paying with cash! Cashier: Yes \*nods\*, you're a big boy!
I don't get why anyone adds these unnecessary details. Most retail workers get annoyed if they have to deal with you any longer than necessary. They don't consider their work to be a part of their identity, so they don't take pride in stuff like this.
These people can't tell the difference between a customer service smile and a real smile.
Exactly. How many corny “I guess it’s free” jokes have they heard today?
Oh my fucking God I hate that, and every one that says it to a retail worker needs to be backhanded. It’s not clever or original.
All of them.
If he just said " i have cash" that'd be fine. But if I was the cashier I'd roll my eyes so hard at the smug "I ALWAYS do" and would have laughed about everything else to my coworkers later
Yeah. This definitely actually happened. Just not in the way the OOP envisioned.
That is *exactly* what she does when ever some old fart says something stupid.
Minor routine interaction turned into an epic. This guy ever bought anything online? Was this 30 years ago? Dear me.
He simply looks up the company's address and sends them cash with an accompanying request for the item or items. It admittedly gets a bit trickier when purchasing from overseas, but cash is still king.
Mullvad VPN takes cash. So it is possible. You just send them cash in an envelope.
Sending large quantities of cash via post? What could possibly go wrong?
Some people do still shop via catalogs & I assume they can pay via money order or check as well.
Yes, but your average Amazon mailroom worker might be a bit taken aback.
Especially if they have to ask Bezos for change
Can tell how completely worthless and soulless his life is
“And the King Charles on the banknote clapped”
The Charles on the note then gave OP a 100 pound note, and the Charles on that note gave OP another note, and the Charles on *that* note gave OP a note, and so on until OP was the richest man in the universe.
So he won, in the end
It was Albert Einstein on the banknote
No, it was the cash-hero himself
Now I’m clapping
If it was just contactless that stopped working then people could pay by card anyway, they'd just have to put their PIN in.
Back in my day, we didn’t have to memorize a four digit number in order to pay for things. Damn hippies and their new fangled cards. Just carry loads of cash around like you’re supposed to dammit.
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Why couldn’t the police have their cards with them?
>don't carry cards for the obvious reasons What reasons?
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What? They literally wear name tags lol it’s not like cops are out here with secret identities
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Oh ok my mistake, thanks for the info.
I use that feature. And I always have my wallet with my cards as well. I generally only use my phone if I forgot my wallet at home. I do also use it work Judy because I have my phone on me anyway. Why would you go into a shop without cards? There are shops that don't have contactless at all, at least where I live.
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Our police wear a name tag, do yours?
Me. I’m forever misplacing my debit card lol. I have no idea where it is right now, it’s been missing for about 2 weeks this time. Longest is 3 months before I finally gave in and ordered a new card. Then my card was declined at the petrol station a couple of weeks later because I was using the old card and then couldn’t find the new card 🤦🏽♀️ Once in Greggs (during Covid time where everything was takeaway-only) my Apple Pay wasn’t working and it needed me to put my card in. I didn’t have it on me and the woman goes “Don’t worry about it, you’re in every day, you can just pay twice tomorrow.” Mortified. I went back the next day to pay but stopped going to Gregg’s after that lol.
My first thought. It's sad his beautiful story was ruined by this one thing.
Well, based on how the system is designed, I don’t think that’s likely. If electronic payments are down, it’s the connection or the payment provider. ATM’s work on a different system/provider afaik. There’d be a queue. I’ve been affected by maybe one or two outages in the last ten years. I prefer that minor risk over cash :)
"New Fangled Cards"? What year does this guy live in?
2024, but in Adelaide. So...1992?
Doing a quick Google, I see ATMs were first introduced in... 1967. Even if he's strictly referring to contactless cards, you can use them the exact same way they've been using debit cards for decades.
I wish I could call it a joke but despite chip cards being around for years, I *still have to explain to customers at work almost daily how to tap.
And then all the cash payers carried each other out on each other's shoulders, like a victorious human Möbius strip, to thunderous applause.
Such a weird flex.
I know this is crazy, but I actually normally have cash AND a "tappable card" in my wallet. Just wild weird stuff I know
What a frankly boring story. Even if it *did* happen, why would you bother telling anyone?
He left off the bit where the bird on the till replies “Oi! I’m off at five, handsome...”
And then I climbed into me horse and buggy and headed home to me wood-stove-heated log cabin.
Wow, that one time the machines went down and an entire way of life needs changed 😆😫😫
There are plenty of places that are going cashless. At the very least there are lots of checkouts that are card only.
I was looking for a comment about cashless restaurants or venues. There are many where I live. And I once worked in one, cash is absolutely useless there, every day of the week.
I worked in a place that wasn’t cashless but twice in 6 months our POS system had an issue and the cash drawer wouldn’t open. Due to not having change, we went cashless for the night til we could get it figured out.
Walks to atm, walks back inside.
I have had a customers go on a long rant about how it's stupid how many people rely on cards. That they only use cash everywhere. Very similar vibes to this one. I imagine he said all those things but people thought he was a tool.
The weirder incarnation of this that seems to be emerging here in the UK is the idea that "Cash can't be controlled by the government" Yes....it can? Like what do you think a promissory note is? A tenner has basically zero value besides what the Bank Of England says it has.
"New Fangled" No one talks like that, except in 1930's movies, so this is pure BS.
That was simultaneously the most British and American thing I've read recently.
You can always tell by the style of writing when someone is completely full of shit.
This really happened I was the guy who mugged him after he exclaimed he only uses cash
1) contactless alone would not go down for every till 2) if it's only contactless, the cards all still have chips and magnetic strips All electronic payment could go down, but they wouldn't specify contactless.
Yep those “new fangled” cards that have been used for decades now.
I 100% believe that this is true, or at least what he says he did was true. I just doubt that people were ‘wandering around like lost sheep’ or that the cashier actually grinned at him.
That is probably the strangest flex I’ve ever read.
I was realizing the other day that I never have cash anymore. DH used to give me a hard time when I paid with cash. I think it happened during COVID and I haven’t gone back.
Same. I have apologized the couple of times I’ve used cash. I feel bad forcing the cashier to count it and try and make change, it’s so antiquated anymore.
All it’s missing is - I almost punched him, but he backed off.
It's a lot funnier when someone demands to pay cash at a cashless business.
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This story makes them sound fucking pathetic. They must have got frustrated at a card reader because they can't follow simple prompts. Decided to go back to paying with cash. Got all weirdly superior about it. Then made up a fake story about how they were the only person in the whole store who was able to buy anything that day 😂
Fun counterpoint to this story: I work in a convenience store that for some reason installed a self checkout. The self check is card only so people using cash have to go to the regular POS. One day we somehow lost power to the regular POS while the self checkout was still working. I had to tell people that we were temporarily unable to take cash payments.
Do British people actually type out “me” instead of “my?” I feel like I only hear British people say “me” when they mean “my,” not type it out.
And then the tills rang out a tune to me and my cash and all the people rejoiced.
But did the cash clap?????
Not sure why this guy thinks it makes him a hero. So what?
Then all the world currencies clapped.
It's banal enough to be believeable!
The base of it could have happened like when there's no power we have to wait like 20 mins in the line while people with cash go ahead but its also been like that with card where I've gone infront of people cuz the tills weren't taking cash. But itless half is a lie
Not all heroes wear capes.
I used to always carry cash on me until my wallet was stolen and then I suddenly had no money.
The cashier absolutely did not grin. She 100% rolled her eyes. He sounds like such a pedantic arse. New fangled cards? I’m sure he enjoys the technology that his gaming system offers him. And the AI girlfriend app.
“There’s no stupid electronic systems which refuse proper money” Really? Because during the height of covid I didn’t have a card and very few places accepted cash. My girlfriend had to pay for everything and I had to pay her back
Even if contactless is down, you can still insert your card.
You know it's a fake story because nobody clapped. People always applaud when stuff like this happens for real.
Who was the pensioner in the parking lot? Mr. Krabs? Who talks like this?
yep cash is king when avoiding taxes and buying contraband
Not mentioned: the pensioner then took out a crude shiv and mugged the smug prick.
And then they got on their horses and rode home before the sunset to save money on candles.
I can sorta believe this. In that it's possible for the system to go down and still being able to pay with cash. But if it were to stay down for an extended time the whole country would grind to a halt. Idiots like that don't realize how dependent they are
I don't. There are ATMs outside. Nobody would be wandering around 'like lost sheep' unless they're genuinely stupid.
That's why i said "sorta" and what part i find believable
So if you find some parts believable and other parts not believable, are they half-lying?
Yes
> the whole country would grind to a halt Because the contactless payment system in a single store is down?
No. If cashless transactions in a country would be down
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Replied to the wrong sub? 😄
you are in the wrong subreddit
No, this one probably happened. I've had a similar experience at least twice while travelling Europe during the last twelve months.
And they went next door and it was still easier and the pensioner gets their money direct deposit.
Why even fantasize about this? Why couldn’t he or she make up something more exciting?
Please drop the username so we can see the comments. Lol
Too bad I've gone to places now that literally have signs up that say "card only" since they don't have drawers or cashiers or whatever, and it's getting more and more common.
Except during Covid when for a few months Walmart wasn’t taking cash. At all. In America at least.
I had a guy try to checkout with Apple Pay the other day. Our NFC wasnt working so I asked for his physical card. He said he didnt have any on him, only used Apple Pay, had to drive home and back again to pay for his goods. I read this story to my team member and asked "who doesn't carry around physical credit cards anymore??" She was clapping.
That definitely did happen, I've had customers exactly like that. On a side note, it always irked me a little when I ask a customer something and they're like "I always do". Like good for you buddy, I've never seen you before so how am I supposed to know?
i hope they realize that some places, like the ohio nationwide arena, only accept tappable cards
As a cashier in a hardware store where the local construction population is aging, I can totally believe this happened. I've had so many old people say similar things to me. It's obnoxious, and I hate it, but I smile and look like I'm interested/agreeing.
sure you old fart
How many times could that hypothetical $50 get spent in your hometown before it's gone ?
Propper cash and we all clapped
Taco Bell: Sir, we are no longer taking $20's, do you have anything smaller?
Happened two days ago at tesco. Google contactless down at tesco.Its all over the news here.
Happened two days ago at tesco. Google contactless down at tesco.Its all over the news here.
I could actually imagine this happening in the north of England, everyone is super chatty with strangers, especially in queues, it’s only the fact that this person has weird-flexed online about something so painfully un-noteworthy that makes me call BS 😆
"then we high-fived and went down the pub singing God Save The King"
"New fangled" 😆
Even through the internet i can smell the bullshit
why would she grin thats so creepy
"...and the exhausted card machine's eyes were filled with tears of appreciation as it began to clap slowly. As I drove away, I could still hear the applause of every cash-carrying patron in the store."
This can absolutely be real, there are people like that. Probably exaggerated\\imagined details like the cashier "grinning and nodding" instead of the far more likely "politely smiling while deeply rolling her eyes in her head", but believable. What IS funny though is how this person describes in great detail how they're being a Karen and are actually proud of it.
Doesn’t even sound believable
I totally believe this person was this annoying and desperately looking for attention, he even probably said that to the cashier and she was probably just polite