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As More Retailers Ban Paper Money, It's Making Things Awkward For Customers Without Plastic (wsj.com)

An anonymous reader shared a report: Sam Schreiber was mid-shampoo at a Drybar blow-dry salon in Los Angeles when someone from the front desk approached her stylist with an emergency: a woman was trying to pay for her blow-out with cash. "There was this beat of silence," says Ms. Schreiber, 33 years old. "She literally brought $40." More and more businesses like Drybar don't want your money -- the paper kind at least. It's making things awkward for those who come ill prepared. After all, you can't give back a hairdo, an already dressed salad or the two beers you already drank. The salad chain Sweetgreen has stopped accepting cash in nearly all its locations.

Most Dig Inns -- which serve locally sourced, healthy fast food -- won't take your bills either. Starbucks went cashless at a Seattle location in January, and at some pubs in the U.K., you can no longer get a pint with pound notes. The practice of not accepting cash has become popular enough to catch the attention of American lawmakers. [...] Despite the popularity of debit- and credit-card transactions, plenty of people do still pay for things with actual money. Cash represented 30% of all transactions and 55% of those under $10, according to a Federal Reserve survey of 2,800 people conducted in October 2017.


5 of 698 comments (clear)

  1. Pound notes??? by ebcdic · · Score: 3, Funny

    "At some pubs in the U.K., you can no longer get a pint with pound notes." I'd be surprised if you can find any that accept them. Pound notes were withdrawn 30 years ago.

  2. Re:paywalled by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    If only getting around the paywall was a thing.

  3. Re:Legal Tender by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 5, Funny

    Especially a Salon. That is insane... they live off of cash tips. Read: avoid taxes.

    One is explicitly supposed to report tips in tax returns. What you are suggesting is that such businesses engage in systematic and wilful tax fraud - a very serious charge, which you are putting forth without any supporting evidence.

  4. Re:Legal Tender by ewibble · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't pay and see if they say you owe them money.

  5. Re:Legal Tender by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 5, Funny

    And they actually only mean liquid assets, eg, "cash flow."

    You should store your latinum in some kind of container. Maybe gold bars? They're not worth anything but they do look neat and shiny.

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