Is the use of cash dying out?

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Do you also object to picking your own goods from the shelves? Many supermarket chains which will do that for you and you just have to collect your purchases from the designated place outside. They'll even deliver them to your front door (or tradesman's entrance) for a modest charge. You do have to place your order and pay online though.

Picking my own goods is performing a task of choice that gives you goods of your own personal preference. A trolley takes no effort to push around a supermarket.

 

[Dai Corner]

Picking my own goods is performing a task of choice that gives you goods of your own personal preference. A trolley takes no effort to push around a supermarket.

How many goods vary enough to worry about which particular example you get? Loose fruit and veg, cuts of meat?

 

[DelayRepay]

SmartShop is I find a bit cack-handed, e.g. if it crashes you have to rescan everything rather than them having the sense to record it in a database rather than on the phone. So I'm not enthused to use it, and the requirement to do so in order to get discounts is fairly riling to the point I may stop shopping there.

On the other hand if they fix the reliability issues on the app and allow me to pay through the app using Apple Pay and I won't object. It is fairly handy going round with bags in the trolley and putting stuff into the right one.

I've never had it crash on me. Perhaps I've been lucky. If it did crash during a big shop I'd probably just go to the checkout and let them deal with it.

Standard cheque books now only have about seventeen cheques in them, rather than the old twenty-five. More annoyingly, a new book is no longer automatically ordered when you get a certain way through: the user has to ask for a new one to be sent.

The genuine reason they have fewer cheques is that the bank saves on postage costs by making the envelope weigh less.

And you get people like the chap I saw last week in the bank. He was on holiday and paying for every thing by card, but had messed up his PIN number when it asked him for it because it was the xth contactless transaction and wasn’t happy that his card was cancelled: he only had a bit of loose change for parking machines and didn’t know how he was going to get back to Chorley. (Most of the details from interjections by his wife.)

This wouldn't cancel the card. If you remember the PIN, you can go to an ATM to unlock it. If you don't remember the PIN but use mobile banking some banks allow you to view or re-set the PIN there.

Does your bank not let you just set the contactless limit to 0 even if the card technically has it? Mine does, or you can set it to something still useful but not going to clean your account out*, such as £20 as it originally was. I thought most banks now allowed this since the maximum was increased to £100.

Things have moved on, but originally this functionality was only available on MasterCards, not Visa.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

How many goods vary enough to worry about which particular example you get? Loose fruit and veg, cuts of meat?

Some particular branded goods are far superior to others, taste-wise. I say this from personal observation. I am fortunate enough to not worry about the cost of items.

 

[gg1]

How many goods vary enough to worry about which particular example you get? Loose fruit and veg, cuts of meat?

Any product with a short use by date. If I buy sliced bread I want it to last at least 4 days, milk at least 10 days, meat by however many days between the dates of purchase and consumption, etc etc. That can't be guaranteed if you're relying on someone else doing the picking for you.

 

[DelayRepay]

Any product with a short use by date. If I buy sliced bread I want it to last at least 4 days, milk at least 10 days, meat by however many days between the dates of purchase and consumption, etc etc. That can't be guaranteed if you're relying on someone else doing the picking for you.

And also products that are out of stock - which seems to be increasingly common. I would rather choose my own alternative, because my choice might be to have a completely different meal rather than something that the supermarket worker or their computer thinks is similar.

 

[Phil56]

And also products that are out of stock - which seems to be increasingly common. I would rather choose my own alternative, because my choice might be to have a completely different meal rather than something that the supermarket worker or their computer thinks is similar.

Yep, we used click n collect or deliveries during covid, but we've gone back to buying our own as the stock shortages and crazy substitutions were getting ridiculous, not to mention short dated items being picked.

We ordered two pieces of meat for a family Sunday lunch, one being pork, the other chicken. The pork was out of stock, so they substituted it with an identical chicken to the one we already had ordered. We ordered different meats to give our guests a choice!

We went weeks and months during 2021 with only the odd missing item or substitution, but it got to a ridiculous stage of between 5-15 items being unavailable a few months ago. Even staples like Milk were missing as out of stock! How can a supermarket run out of milk? Funny thing is that when we actually go into the supermarket, there are very few shortages, so must be the time they do the picking, i.e. before the early deliveries have been put out?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I have found that farm shops, especially the more rurally situated ones, do offer some excellent produce.

 

[Bikeman78]

It won't cost them much. I'd write them a letter stating 'The chances of this being a success are so remote and, in any case, will only lead to years of strife with both your remaining employees and with most of the sentient population if they retain a choice of shopping destinations, just ditch it now and do us all a favour. Please reimburse me for the postage stamp used.'

Just been reading today's Sunday Times. An article in the magazine by a young, trendy male whose name was Matt something (isn't it always?) which started with his experience of The Queue which quickly became obvious was about his experience at his local Sainsbury's self-scan tills, made much worse since the human tills were halved recently. In fact, because of 'technological issues', only one was in use. He quite rightly analysed the reason why it can take so much longer to use self-service, even if you don't need to wait for an employee to verify your age at some stage, and even if there's sufficient space to deal with a trolley full of shopping. As he says, once you've scanned something it has to meet what he called the 'paranoid Android' test i.e. the scales have to agree that any suspicion you're trying to defraud them hasn't happened on this occasion, and this adds precious seconds with every item before you continue. He's now going to Aldi for his shopping. Then Rod Little, always worth reading imo, with his take on such things. The worm is turning.

I tend to use scan as you shop rather than scan things at the self service till. My son loves it, and he can find the barcodes faster than me. They barely existed when I was his age. I agree that self service can be a pain, especially if I try to pack the items in a rucksack because the bagging area can't cope. I end up having to pack them all after I've paid.

 

[gg1]

And also products that are out of stock - which seems to be increasingly common. I would rather choose my own alternative, because my choice might be to have a completely different meal rather than something that the supermarket worker or their computer thinks is similar.

That too.

We did dabble with online grocery shopping in the first Covid lockdown but gave up after 2 or 3 goes. One particularly annoying substitution was swapping a 900g leg of lamb (the smallest available but still two days worth for the two of us) for a 2.5kg one.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I tend to use scan as you shop rather than scan things at the self service till. My son loves it, and he can find the barcodes faster than me. They barely existed when I was his age. I agree that self service can be a pain, especially if I try to pack the items in a rucksack because the bagging area can't cope. I end up having to pack them all after I've paid.

I hadn't really thought of it (not having kids) but I have long been of the view that if you are going to take the whole family shopping you really do need to entertain the kids otherwise they just shout, run around and moan. Getting them to do the scanning is a great option.

 

[Hadders]

All SmartShop really does is shift the time spent scanning at a checkout (where you are in no one’s way) to time spent trying to scan in while blocking other shoppers’ access to the shelves (was particularly noticeable when it was new to most people using it!)

SmartShop is much faster than a self checkout or manned checkout because you can pack your bags as you go round the shop. No need to get everything out of the trolley at the till and then pack it into a bag.

 

[gg1]

SmartShop is much faster than a self checkout or manned checkout because you can pack your bags as you go round the shop. No need to get everything out of the trolley at the till and then pack it into a bag.

I agree it's much faster than self checkout (mainly due to absence of 'unexpected item in bagging area') but not convinced it's faster than a manned checkout unless there's a lengthy queue.

Totalled up over the course of a large shop, the time for me to scan each individual item then bag it as I go definitely seems considerably greater than the time it takes a checkout operator to scan whilst I'm simultaneously bagging.

 

[birchesgreen]

I agree it's much faster than self checkout (mainly due to absence of 'unexpected item in bagging area') but not convinced it's faster than a manned checkout unless there's a lengthy queue.

Totalled up over the course of a large shop, the time for me to scan each individual item then bag it as I go definitely seems considerably greater than the time it takes a checkout operator to scan whilst I'm simultaneously bagging.

I always use the self scan at waitrose, maybe it is a few microseconds slower per item to pick up item - scan - put in bag than pick up item - put in trolley but its then just takes you a minute or so at the checkout. And you can load your bags strategically from the off instead of having to rush while the operator throws things at you at the end.

 

[DelayRepay]

You can also easily keep track of how much you're spending, without the need for mental arithmetic. And it's easier to spot items where the price being charged is more than the price on the ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Sep 2022 ==

That is fairly hard to do by accident, you can see if a trolley is empty or not.

When I worked in a supermarket, people would occasionally forget to scan a large item (e.g. bag of compost or 6x2 litre bottles of water) if they'd put it on the shelf under the main trolley. Or sometimes items hung on the little hook by the child-seat, like big packs of loo roll. Our checkouts had mirrors so we could see if there was anything they'd missed.

But in my experience, often if we missed something, the person would realise when they got to their car and come back to offer to pay. We used to thank them, not call the police!

 

[Mag_seven]

A reminder that the topic of this thread is "is the use of cash dying out". If anyone wants to discuss supermarket checkouts then please use this thread:

Supermarket Self Service Tills

Moderator note - posts #1 - #13 originally in this thread: How critical is the return of passengers and busy trains for railway jobs? | RailUK Forums (railforums.co.uk) The way I look at it, if you're going to have staff anyway, you may as well give them a computer and all the relevant...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Bald Rick]

My new debit card arrives with the contactless facility. I then go into the bank and get them to send me a second new card without contactless. When it arrives I then destroy the first new card and validate the second, non-contactless one. Even though I do this each time, I can’t have a standing instruction to be sent a card without contactless. To validate it I don’t need to buy something: checking my balance in the machines in the bank will do.

Does your bank not let you just set the contactless limit to 0 even if the card technically has it? Mine does, or you can set it to something still useful but not going to clean your account out*, such as £20 as it originally was. I thought most banks now allowed this since the maximum was increased to £100.

* This will be refunded if it happens but I can see why some don't want the stress.

Or disable contactless or the card entirely via their app. I definitely can with both of mine.

Or just use contactless! It makes everything so much easier

 

[najaB]

Or just use contactless! It makes everything so much easier

I agree it's easier (and couldn't imagine going back to just chip-and-PIN) but that doesn't mean it's right for everyone.

 

[philthetube]

on topic but not following the current subject, what happens with fruit machines and casinos, I cannot imagine gaming machines ever being allowed to accept cards.

 

[Bald Rick]

on topic but not following the current subject, what happens with fruit machines and casinos, I cannot imagine gaming machines ever being allowed to accept cards.

it is allowed, but there are fairly strict regulations about it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

on topic but not following the current subject, what happens with fruit machines and casinos, I cannot imagine gaming machines ever being allowed to accept cards.

Credit cards no, but as you can gamble online by debit card I can see no reason you couldn't have a contactless pad on a fruit machine. Or in casinos or seaside penny arcades you could tap your card for a quid's worth of pennies*/tokens/whatever - I'm almost certain I've already seen that, possibly in Southport.

* If they were abolished, you could just get them and use them as tokens. My Dad has a large bag of 1/2p coins from when they ceased to be legal tender, he worked for a bank at the time and was allowed to just take them home for us to "play shop".

 

[DelayRepay]

Credit cards no, but as you can gamble online by debit card I can see no reason you couldn't have a contactless pad on a fruit machine. Or in casinos or seaside penny arcades you could tap your card for a quid's worth of pennies*/tokens/whatever - I'm almost certain I've already seen that, possibly in Southport.

I have seen an arcade somewhere that has old fashioned machines that take pre-decimal pennies. You obtain them from a machine in exchange for a £1 coin, or from the assistant by tapping your card. If you win you can change them back to current money with the assistant although I expect given we are talking pennies most people just play the machines til there's nothing left.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have seen an arcade somewhere that has old fashioned machines that take pre-decimal pennies. You obtain them from a machine in exchange for a £1 coin, or from the assistant by tapping your card. If you win you can change them back to current money with the assistant although I expect given we are talking pennies most people just play the machines til there's nothing left.

With them mostly being aimed at kids, I reckon rather than paying out in money they'll have a tat shop for them where you can buy sweets, cuddly toys etc. A lot of arcades seem to issue bonus tickets that already do that.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I admit to not being averse when on holiday in UK resorts to buying a plastic tub full of 2p coins from the lady in the change kiosk to play the machines that work on the same basis as the "Tipping It" TV programme.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I admit to not being averse when on holiday in UK resorts to buying a plastic tub full of 2p coins from the lady in the change kiosk to play the machines that work on the same basis as the "Tipping It" TV programme.

It's actually "Tipping Point", but that's close enough!

 

[WizCastro197]

I have only recently realised how much people don't want cash anymore. My Mum was trying to order pizza from different places and was confused when no one wanted her money? She kept saying Cash is obviously King. After all that fuss just decided to settle with good old Marks and Spencer Pizza so was all was happy in the end.

 

[Gloster]

For those who think everything should go online, please look at today’s Grauniad where there is an article on how the parking payment system in Worcester took contactless payments multiple times, in one case up to £600.

It may not happen often, but for some people such an error, or even one of £60 (or even £6), could be catastrophic. I know.

I can’t do a link, but it is in the Motoring section, but at time of writing on the front page in Headlines, starting Worcester / Parking glitch drains...

 

[DelayRepay]

Worcester parking glitch drains money from drivers’ bank accounts

Contactless cards were repeatedly debited by council’s payment machines, in one case up to £600

www.theguardian.com

Here's the link to the article mentioned above.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

This week, I have had cash accepted at the hairdressing saloon (also with a separate £2 coin for the tip), the local hardware store, the Co-op store, the artisan bakers and the local butchers...all with no problems.

 

[Bald Rick]

For those who think everything should go online, please look at today’s Grauniad where there is an article on how the parking payment system in Worcester took contactless payments multiple times, in one case up to £600.

It may not happen often, but for some people such an error, or even one of £60 (or even £6), could be catastrophic. I know.

I can’t do a link, but it is in the Motoring section, but at time of writing on the front page in Headlines, starting Worcester / Parking glitch drains...

errors happen - of course they do. They happen with cash too. I once had a £2k cash argument with a builder. I had paid him. He said I hadn’t. No electronic record of course …