Burke e-mailed that photo (thank you!) and elaborated:
I stopped in at Staples in Westwood Saturday afternoon and was greeted by this sign at the entrance. No cash? Inside there were a number of similar signs and it is true: no cashbacks, no cash accepted, no change. The clerk only commented that “there was a problem!” I sometimes jokingly ask if cash is accepted, after standing in a line of folks using credit/debit cards to buy groceries. Maybe it’s not a joke anymore?
Reminds me of the time I was in Staples in So Cal and was told by the cashier that she could not staple my receipt and rebate slip together because she “did not have a stapler”. Brilliant.
Wow. Just wow. That should get posted at failblog.
It’s kinda creepy, though…I was at Morgan St Thriftway this past weekend and the checker asked me “debit or credit?” and seemed genuinely surprised when I handed her cash.
Funny. I worked at Admiral Thriftway (now Met. Market) years ago and one time I forgot to get enough change. We had no fives and ones. It was quite a problem!
I’m flabbergasted. Did they say what the ‘technical difficulty”? So weird. They sell cash boxes there, they sell calculators, pencils and receipt paper. How could you not accept cash? No wonder the economy is crashing!
Truly amazing and I’m at a loss of what to say.
Did the cashiers lose the ability to count cash or have the managers lost the ability to think of solutions for their problem?
Colour me shocked.
Maybe they didn’t have any cash to make change with. Perhaps whomever opened the store that day (or closed the night before) forgot to set up the tills.
Probably not a sign of a failing economy, or the end of the world.
The managers haven’t lost the ability to come up with a solution. The solution was to make a sign.
As WesCAddle and austin said, these things happen. Could have been as simple as running out of small bills to make change, or perhaps the shift manager lost a cash drawer key, or yes, the safe may have been malfunctioning. I’m betting on the last one, because that would have rendered employees unable to access the cash, and generally retail employees are not supposed to acknowledge the existence of a safe, similar to how they’re supposed to be fairly discreet about going to the bank to do a deposit/get change. It’s considered a security risk to talk about either one, for reasons that should be clear.
Most of the possible reasons given seem plausible, but is any of that a “technical” difficulty. The only reason that I can see that fits that word “technical” is the safe not working. Words can and do have real meanings when used correctly. “Technical difficulty” just seems to have become a phrase used for any sort of difficulty – technical or not.
My hair salon in Belltown won’t take good loe greenbacks anymore…checks or credit/debit cards only.
interesting, the taco del mar was not accepting credit/debit transactions yesterday.
as part of my ‘revised’ budget, i am trying to only pay cash instead of my debit card. this forces me to constantly notice how much $ i have in my wallet so i have found i am far less likely to blow it on small random things.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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