# I can't get food delivered for cash anymore **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2023, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836 "2023-11-29T05:04:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/21 "2023-11-29T13:39:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > But a piece of paper that may or may not be worthless? I’ll trust in your hands-on business owner experience but I assumed any place still accepting checks had one of those readers that communicated with the bank and essentially treated the check like a debit card. “Hey, Customer wants to take $19 out of Account #XXXX, we good?” “Yeah, he’s good for it” “Cool”. (Since I have plastic, the only checks I write these days are for student field trips so maybe I’m wrong about how it works) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/22 "2023-11-29T13:41:50Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > We found the guy who responds to a knock-knock joke with “you know, most people just ring the bell”. yeah, I don’t mind being whooshed. 🙂 But I am very definitely a sore loser, and still angry about my last flight thru Newark airport, where I went hungry because none of the food stands would accept my cash greenback dollar bills…you know… the legal tender. Maybe I should have offered beaver pelts…because my cell phone wasn’t working. Though I did get some “helpful” advice from the kid at the pizza counter who said he couldn.t sell me a slice, but there’s a cellphone shop right over there, so go get a phone and come back. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/23 "2023-11-29T13:42:12Z")
When I looked into the various check guarantee services available at the time, the percentage paid to the guarantor meant that I’d have to be doing 3X the dollar amount I was in checks before it became worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/24 "2023-11-29T13:43:26Z")
Makes sense. The only places I usually see taking checks are grocery stores where it’s probably worth it to them. Less so for smaller places. Which, I guess, is why they don’t take checks. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/25 "2023-11-29T13:49:58Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > 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. There’s near zero risk of this from a fast food app. > [@psychonaut](#): > > 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.). Again, I highly doubt this happens from a fast food app. > [@psychonaut](#): > > 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. This is just not gonna happen from signing up to a fast food app. > [@psychonaut](#): > > 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. Bingo! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/26 "2023-11-29T13:59:12Z")
One sad day not far into the future we will be forced to buy all the good illegal stuff with an app that demands your fingerprints to install. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/27 "2023-11-29T14:04:20Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > 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. Mostly - there are a few cities where businesses essentially have to accept cash due to local laws. Sometimes they can comply by having a reverse ATM, where you put cash in and get a pre-paid card out ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/28 "2023-11-29T14:30:04Z")
I can understand why a business would want advance payment before making up your order and sending someone out to bring it to you. But I’d love to see Congress pass a law to _require_ businesses to take cash for on-the-spot transactions up to a certain amount, like maybe under $100. People should be able to buy stuff with the nation’s legal tender in a face-to-face transaction. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/29 "2023-11-29T16:02:35Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > But I am very definitely a sore loser, and still angry about my last flight thru Newark airport, where I went hungry because none of the food stands would accept my cash greenback dollar bills…you know… the legal tender. I just got back from London and it was the same in lots of places, including where we were in Heathrow and the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. No cash, just CC and contactless payments. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/30 "2023-11-29T16:08:34Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > 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. I was in KFC about a week ago and the same thing happened to the guy who came in after me (while I was waiting for my order). He stepped aside, whipped out his phone, and (I assume) ordered it. It must have been a pretty good special. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/31 "2023-11-29T16:19:47Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > it can function more like a loyalty card. A loyalty card gathers your data. Quite possibly less of it than an app does, especially if you’re not careful about what you allow the app to do; but it still gathers your data. I have a couple anyway, for a couple of places where I buy often enough for the payoff to be worth it. But I’m not real happy about it. Things used to be on sale for everybody when they were on sale, damn it. Get off my lawn! > [@kayaker](#): > > During the recession I found my business was getting a crazy amount of bounced checks. This may depend on where you are and/or on what the business is. I tell people at farmers’ market that I’ll take checks until I have a problem. In about 30 years I’ve never had a problem – except that recently I have the problem that almost nobody is carrying a check around with them any longer. My phone doesn’t download any apps it didn’t come with; and didn’t come with anything relevant for making payments. It’s also the only phone I can find that I can reasonably carry around with me all the time and expect it to survive. I’m not going to buy an entire additonal phone plus service for it in order to be able to pay for things, or to carry a second device around with me. I do carry a credit card and some cash. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/32 "2023-11-29T16:20:13Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > In other words, it can function more like a loyalty card. > > 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. I always gave _a_ phone #, address, etc., I just never gave real information. The store got information on a customer, they just couldn’t tie it back to me. I don’t think you can do that with most apps, at the very least, don’t you need to give them a real phone # to get a setup text? . . I’ve had my own bank account since at least HS, & can’t imagine living w/o one but there are millions of unbanked in this country. I’m sure they pay more in fees that I do at a traditional bank & it’s probably harder for them to get (& payoff) a credit card but there are still a lot of people who deal in cash. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/33 "2023-11-29T16:22:12Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > This may depend on where you are and/or on what the business is. Yes, it was primarily a location thing. It is a rural county that was particularly hit hard. I got not only NSF checks, but also checks written on accounts that had been closed for years. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/34 "2023-11-29T16:26:32Z")
So exactly what types of payments do these non-cash places take? The only situation I have ever personally seen of not taking cash is gas stations after hours (the pumps are available 24 hours a day and take debit/credit cards at the pump when the main store is closed.) ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/35 "2023-11-29T16:36:21Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > > [@psychonaut](#): > > > > 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. > > Bingo! I indirectly work for a company that provides such services. They have a giant, GIANT data set that includes all sorts of information on nearly everyone over 18. A customer comes to us with their own, private data set and says, “Of this info we have, here’s what identifies our best customers. We want more people like that.” My company then crunches that data to find appropriate marketing targets in the large data set and develops campaigns around that. It’s a big business. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/36 "2023-11-29T16:38:43Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > So exactly what types of payments do these non-cash places take? Mostly cards, either directly - enter your card info at checkout or indirectly - entered your card info once when you setup the app or phone/watch-based pay. Some places will take mobile payments - Zelle, Venmo, etc. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/37 "2023-11-29T16:39:17Z")
Really anything that isn’t cash or a paper check - credit/debit cards for sure but also Venmo, Apple pay , Android Pay , Pay Pal , Zelle. I even see street carts that accept Venmo/Zelle ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/38 "2023-11-29T16:45:08Z")
Main thing (I think): - Businesses no longer have their own delivery drivers. They have DoorDash or something like it come for the food to deliver. As such, there is no mechanism to return the cash to the merchant. There is NO chance a Dasher will pay for the food with their own money and then hope they collect at the other end. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/39 "2023-11-29T17:24:55Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I went hungry because none of the food stands would accept my cash greenback dollar bills…you know… the legal tender. “Legal Tender” doesn’t mean what people think it means. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836/40 "2023-11-29T17:38:37Z")
In this area we have a lot of Old Order Mennonites. Most of them are carrying neither phones nor credit cards, and don’t go online. (They do have landline phones at home.) Some of their businesses do take credit cards; some don’t. They all take cash. So, generally, do local businesses run by non-Mennonites (or by members of more liberal Mennonite groups, who may use modern phones and the net.) I doubt, however, that the Old Order are generally trying to order Door Dash. I expect they do a lot more cooking at home than most other people now do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-get-food-delivered-for-cash-anymore/993836.md?page=3)