Notice more and more restaurants taking cash only

[Andy A]

Anything to do with tax man you think?I wish i was an all cash business

I think it definitely has to do with the tax man and it is one of my pet peeves. I usually steer clear of establishments not accepting credit cards. I see it as a "cost of doing business" and a convenience for customers. Whether it is perceived or not, I still feel the tax man is being shorted and I don't like it.

 

[SGB]

My Visa/MC/Discover fees went from about 2% last year to as high as 4.8% recently and it is killing us on the CC sales. I don't want to go all cash as this makes it difficult for some patrons, but I am considering charging a $.50 to $1.00 fee to cover my added cost, if a customer chooses to use a CC. Do you think customers will gripe about this? Our small restaurant can't keep eating the cost. Opinions wanted?

Shea at Flip Flops.

Maybe you could get an ATM machine for all the shops where you are? I know the CC fees really are hard on some of the smaller locally owned businesses so we try to use cash when we can and understand when it's cash only. The bill at Flip Flops usually doesn't add up to a huge amount, so perhaps people would have enough cash on hand, and if not, could use the ATM. What percentage of your sales are with CC now? I'm not sure how the tourists would react. We're kind of used to cash only at certain places here, but they wouldn't be.

 

[Andy A]

My Visa/MC/Discover fees went from about 2% last year to as high as 4.8% recently and it is killing us on the CC sales. I don't want to go all cash as this makes it difficult for some patrons, but I am considering charging a $.50 to $1.00 fee to cover my added cost, if a customer chooses to use a CC. Do you think customers will gripe about this? Our small restaurant can't keep eating the cost. Opinions wanted?

Shea at Flip Flops.

I would gladly pay a $.50 fee in order to use my CC as apposed to a "cash only" set up. I do patronize places that accept checks but I still feel taxes, in many cases, enter into the picture.

 

[jodiFL]

I don't recall pickle factory or mctigues taking checks. I thought cash only.

McTighes accepts checks. even out of state ones, with proper ID.

 

[jodiFL]

My Visa/MC/Discover fees went from about 2% last year to as high as 4.8% recently and it is killing us on the CC sales. I don't want to go all cash as this makes it difficult for some patrons, but I am considering charging a $.50 to $1.00 fee to cover my added cost, if a customer chooses to use a CC. Do you think customers will gripe about this? Our small restaurant can't keep eating the cost. Opinions wanted?

Shea at Flip Flops.

Or you could do what most places that accept CCs do.... just jack the prices up on everything by 5-10%, therefore placing the bill with the persons that pay with cash also. Because the majority of customers will gripe about it if they know about it.

 

[Green Knight]

My Visa/MC/Discover fees went from about 2% last year to as high as 4.8% recently and it is killing us on the CC sales. I don't want to go all cash as this makes it difficult for some patrons, but I am considering charging a $.50 to $1.00 fee to cover my added cost, if a customer chooses to use a CC. Do you think customers will gripe about this? Our small restaurant can't keep eating the cost. Opinions wanted?

Shea at Flip Flops.

Visa does not allow this as of June 1.....your best bet is to come out with "new" menus and "hide" the cost in a price increase...customers won't complain about this but if you try to add anything on to a bill like a transaction fee most go nuts

 

[Smiling JOe]

Long as the place as an ATM on site I have no problem with this policy..The 3 Percent Visa and Mastercard take and the 4 to 5 Percent AMEX takes can really be the difference whether a place can survive or not in this economy...I know of several places that stopped taking Visa on June 1 when their new policy went into effect that the business could no longer add on 2.95 Percent of the Bill to cover the Transaction Cost...

My Visa/MC/Discover fees went from about 2% last year to as high as 4.8% recently and it is killing us on the CC sales. I don't want to go all cash as this makes it difficult for some patrons, but I am considering charging a $.50 to $1.00 fee to cover my added cost, if a customer chooses to use a CC. Do you think customers will gripe about this? Our small restaurant can't keep eating the cost. Opinions wanted?

Shea at Flip Flops.

I didn't know about the new Visa policy. Sounds like a business would not be able to add on the fees to cover the added cost of the retailer.

Here is a thought: maybe we shouldn't be buying food and drinks if we can't afford to buy it with cash. I know the Red Bar has an ATM in the back, and even though I've been going there for 7 years on a regular basis, and know most of the servers, they still remind me every time they present the menu, that they accept cash or checks only and have an ATM machine in the back if needed. If you don't have cash, it is available in the back room if you insert your credit card. BTW, that machine may run out of cash, but the Red Bar has the controls on it, and will fill it each time it runs out, so no one is without cash availability, unless the power is out or if the machine breaks, but I've never heard of it breaking.

 

[gmarc]

It won't fly charging $10 for a burger and fries if you include cc charges. The cut off for a burger and fries is around $8.50-9.00 Max. Thats what shorties and red bar charges. I agree with the other posters and think much of the cash is about not paying taxes and that irks me.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Visa does not allow this as of June 1.....your best bet is to come out with "new" menus and "hide" the cost in a price increase...customers won't complain about this but if you try to add anything on to a bill like a transaction fee most go nuts

One potential problem of this is that people remember when a restaurant's prices seem high. Raising menu prices can be a killer to a restaurant already on the high end of the pricing, unless they have locked in customers, such as Baytowne or Seaside. For many of our local businesses, a key is keeping locals coming back, because locals are always being asked, "Where is a good place to eat?" If the locals aren't going to a restaurant, they most likely won't be including the establishment on their recommendation list to tourists.

 

[Lynnie]

My Visa/MC/Discover fees went from about 2% last year to as high as 4.8% recently and it is killing us on the CC sales. I don't want to go all cash as this makes it difficult for some patrons, but I am considering charging a $.50 to $1.00 fee to cover my added cost, if a customer chooses to use a CC. Do you think customers will gripe about this? Our small restaurant can't keep eating the cost. Opinions wanted?

Shea at Flip Flops.

Go cash or check only. I am sensitive to merchants getting dinged by these fees. With what the cc cos. are doing, we are quickly migrating to a 'cash society,' which IMHO is a fabulous thang!