# Cash only lanes needed. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714 "2012-11-02T23:19:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714/41 "2012-11-08T03:23:10Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I wish more stores would have just one line. Then when you’re at the front of the line, you just get called to the next available cashier. This way you don’t have the problem of getting stuck behind some dumbass who argues for minutes over 10 cents. We tried to have one line at our self-checkout area (two rows of three scanners each) for the longest time for this exact purpose. We even had a queue set up with ropes and everything. People just walked around the ropes and insisted on forming a line in front of each row. Then, when they got stuck behind three people who were technologically challenged, they would try to hop over to the other row and grab the next register, cutting off someone who had been waiting in that line. Eventually, we gave up on the single queue and reconciled ourselves to breaking up the screaming matches that resulted from two lines. Apparently, some people really, really do not like the idea (or more likely the visual appearance) of a long line. They would rather form several shorter lines, even if the single line is far more sensible. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714/42 "2012-11-08T04:37:42Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > Apparently, some people really, really do not like the idea (or more likely the visual appearance) of a long line. They would rather form several shorter lines, even if the single line is far more sensible. That’s where the second amendment comes into play. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714/43 "2012-11-08T11:20:57Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > My current discover card never seems to take when I swipe it - and I always feel a pang of sympathy for the people behind me. I swipe it twice, then hand it to the cashier. Call the 800 number on the back and request a new card. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714/44 "2012-11-08T21:26:43Z")
The only place I have been that tries the one line thing is Fry’s. I hate that place. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714/45 "2012-11-08T21:46:04Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Indeed. Reading complaints about too many people using cheques at the checkout is like reading complaints about too many people smoking in the grocery store. In my experience as a cashier, about nine out of ten check-writers are senior citizens who’ve been paying for their groceries with checks since the Crimean War and ain’t got no nevermind for no electification nohow, consarnit. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714/46 "2012-11-08T22:03:49Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Internet mail order. > > Problem solved. Wouldn’t shipping cut into this (if you weren’t an Amazon Prime Member)? (with big orders or if things can be now shipped refrigerated) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714/47 "2012-11-08T22:26:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You can put up all the signs you want that say no checks, no cards, no coupons, etc., but one way or the other, some people will fail to see them. > > Which brings us to point #2: enforcement. What happens when that customer who fails to read the sign gets to the register, gets rung up, and presents the wrong kind of payment medium? The business has two options; accept the payment anyway, or void out the order and make them stand in another line for however ungodly long the lines are at this store. > > Option #2 risks provoking a fight with the customer and/or losing the sale and possibly their future business entirely - doubly so, since people who have a bad experience with a retailer are more likely to tell others about it than if they had a good experience. Making that particular register incapable of accepting that kind of payment medium doesn’t make a difference to the customer who just wants to pay for their stuff and go home. Except, any store with “ungodly” lines which is considering the various approaches mentioned in the thread is probably already losing customers by the delay in _all_ its lines. So it’s not clear that losing a slow or illiterate customer, the kind that holds up the others, is a _net_ loss. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714/48 "2012-11-08T22:30:40Z")
I think there should just be time limit lines. Once the cashier says the total is X, you got Y seconds to complete the transaction. If you exceed Y your shit drops down a trap door and you get flung out of the store by a catapult. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714/49 "2012-11-08T22:54:18Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Indeed. Reading complaints about too many people using cheques at the checkout is like reading complaints about too many people smoking in the grocery store. It is that way in the US from what I can tell. I almost never seem people writing checks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-lanes-needed/639714.md?page=2)