So here I am at work, wallet full of greenbacks, and I look for a place to deliver some grub to me…and struck out completely. Every damn one of them wanted the money electronically magicked to them before they would start my order. Cash is no longer king.
Not even pizza?
It’s a bitch. I walked into KFC and wanted this special I saw advertised. Couldn’t get it unless I ordered it on “The App”.
I was standing in the goddamn place, ready to spend. Nope. Walked the fuck out.
Not even pizza.
I brought three beaver pelts to the Golden Corral but they turned me away from their all-you-can-eat buffet! What is this world coming to when people won’t accept fur in trade?
Stranger
Yup. Businesses can set whatever rules they want for taking payment, so if they have done the calculations and think they’ll make more money by limiting payment to certain methods, while losing your business and the business of others like you, I guess that’s just the way it goes.
But I am sad to report a similar situation with bacon salt - a beloved SDMB substance made by a company that was recently sold. I’ve been a loyal customer for years, but when they sold out and I went to buy something from the new owners, they wouldn’t accept payment except through PayPal, Venmo, and maybe one or two other payment systems I don’t use. Paying via credit card was not available.
So no more bacon salt products for me. No doubt it’s the economically smart decision for the new owners, but … damn.
If they’re forcing you to use an app, then it’s not just your money they want, it’s your personal data. You were right to walk away.
'Zactly. The special was simply them enticing you to install the app so they could [insert evil thing here].
At least the $2 or whatever they were offering you as a de facto coupon is more than they gave to most of the folks who install the app on other days.
An embargo on fur in trade can happen when trade imbalances become very large. See: United States, 1807.
Yeah, me too…I would be really mad that they don’t accept payment in fur—If fur was the official legal tender of the country.
I’m not so sure that the apps are about collecting data. They can be, but both Android and iOS would require you now to opt in to that sort of collection.
INstead it could just be a way to get the app on your phone so you will be more likely to use them. They will generally have permission to show notifications by default. And, even if you shut that off, the app is still there, sitting among your other apps, ready to use. You’re more likely to think of them first.
In other words, it can function more like a loyalty card.
Except for the extremely low-fi variety (e.g., collect 10 proof-of-purchase stamps to get a free coffee), loyalty cards are also all about collecting data. As long as the card has some unique identifier, the merchant can and probably does use it to track the holder’s purchases. And if you had to give your name, phone number, or other personal information in order to receive the card in the first place, so much the better for them, since now that card is tied to a specific person whose spending habits can be cross-referenced, bought, and sold across a wider network.
And that feels creepy as all hell… but is there any more to it besides a feeling? How does the fact that some algorithm is tracking my purchases negatively impact my life?
Off the top of my head:
- Investigators can request purchase data from a given location, or from you in particular if you’re already a suspect, to see if you were near the scene of a crime, or recently bought any item of the sort that was involved in the crime. That’s bad for you if you really did commit the crime, but even worse if you didn’t and get accused of it on the basis of the data.
- Depending on local privacy laws, your purchase history could conceivably be bought by insurers, who might then refuse to do business with you (or apply higher rates) due to what they consider to be your predilection for high-risk activities (excessive unhealthy food or alcohol, extreme sports, etc.).
- Any of the various organizations holding your purchase history (possibly aggregated from multiple companies) might suffer a data breach. If you bought anything that might cause embarrassment to you, this could be exposed to blackmailers or the general public.
- Marketers will study your purchase history for the purpose of showing you targeted advertisements. You likely underestimate your immunity or resistance to such influence, and will probably end up spending more for things you don’t necessarily need.
Probably not, but we still have “cash only” places around here, which I tend to avoid, as I rarely have cash on me and I don’t feel like using their ATM or finding another one if they don’t have it. I hate cash only joints. So maybe it all balances out.
You can use your credit card via PayPal without setting up a PayPal account
We found the guy who responds to a knock-knock joke with “you know, most people just ring the bell”.
mmm
A friend of mine told me the bar/restaurant where we often met had a free appetizer coupon when you downloaded their app. We each did this and had a free appetizer.
The next time I ran into him there he got another appetizer for free. I asked him how that worked. He just deleted the app, then reinstalled it. He suggested I do the same, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Yeah, I figure any time I buy something with my credit/debit card, I’ve already given them an identifier (my name/CC#) and what I bought. Worrying about an app seems a little late. I tend to agree that the main purposes of the app are:
Drive Purchases: I buy stuff and get points. I can use those points for more stuff but in a limited way (like only one ‘deal’ per day) so I’m incentivized to spend additional money while redeeming my points. I think “Hey, I have 13,000 points at McDs, let’s get lunch” then spend 6,000 points on a free Big Mac and pay for fries, a drink and my kid’s Happy Meal.
Streamline Purchases: By ordering through the app, I eliminated the need for a cashier and remotely submitted an order that they can make and have waiting on the counter instead of me standing in a line and taking up room until my order is completed. Back to McD’s, their remodeled stores have gone from a counter spanning most of the width of the building and manned by four different people to a counter with a single register on it and a ‘cashier’ who is working the kitchen until someone actually comes in and stands there. Letting me get a free burger now and then is well worth the reduced overhead.
During the recession I found my business was getting a crazy amount of bounced checks. I didn’t do enough business by check to make a check guarantee service with the money. So I said fuck it and stopped accepting checks.
People freaked out at first, including the county district attorney, who stopped by my business and told me my refusal to accept checks was bad for the community! He had a plan he was formulating to give businesses more power to go after people who wrote bad checks.
I stuck to my business plan. People writing bad checks stopped doing business with me. My competitors got even more bounced checks. Within a year they also stopped accepting checks.
I’ll happily take your cash or credit cards. But a piece of paper that may or may not be worthless? Nah.