Question of the Day, Saturday, July 15

[Winchester]

Happy Weekend!

When you go to a restaurant for dinner, do you tend to pay with a credit card, debit card, or cash? If you pay with a credit card, have you noticed any extra charges for paying with credit? Or have you noticed a percentage of the bill removed when paying with cash?

Rick and I pay cash whenever possible. We tend to have quite a few gift cards for restaurants that people give to us as gifts (Christmas, birthdays, etc.), but will pay any extra with cash. We use a gift card and then pay our extra in cash. He's gotten to the point that, if we know we're going out to dinner, he'll take extra money along for our dinner bill, just so we don't do plastic.

How about you?

 

[denice]

During the pandemic I got in the habit of using a debit card for everything.

 

[strider rose]

debit card

 

[neely]

Credit card so I get the points - they've been adding extra charges whether you pay in cash or card, not sure how I feel about it,
here is what is says:
A 2.5% charge is added to all checks to help fund programs such as health insurance,
401(k) and other fringe benefits provided to our employees.
This charge is not mandatory and can be removed upon your request.
We thank you for supporting a healthier & happier restaurant staff.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

We pay with a credit card and get cash back rewards. I haven’t noticed extra charges but maybe DH has because he usually pays the bill. I do like leaving a cash tip whenever possible.

 

[Lari]

Usually credit card.

 

[Mia6]

plastic

 

[denice]

Credit card so I get the points - they've been adding extra charges whether you pay in cash or card, not sure how I feel about it,
here is what is says:
A 2.5% charge is added to all checks to help fund programs such as health insurance,
401(k) and other fringe benefits provided to our employees.
This charge is not mandatory and can be removed upon your request.
We thank you for supporting a healthier & happier restaurant staff.

Places here started doing that. Occasionally I will get pizza from a small chain here. Their pizza costs more than the big chains but I think it is better. I don't live that far so I would order online and go pick it up to avoid the delivery charge and I feel the obligatory tip. They started adding those types of charges to pick up orders. It didn't last very long so there must have been complaints.

 

[allmykitties]

I do tend to go with cards, and there was a new restaurant in town I recently went to which explicitly listed different totals for cash or card (no distinction between credit or debit). I tend mostly toward debit card, I just don't carry enough cash to feel comfortable ordering whatever I want from a menu.

 

[game misconduct]

i always use cold hard cash its too easy t get your credit info stolen and used these days not to mention some places try to be sly and auto add a tip into your bill total. i always tip though the better the service the better the tip i will give in cash. take care of me i'll take care of you

 

[Kat0121]

Debit card

 

[Jem]

Usually cash, and only debit or credit if we don't have enough cash on us, but we always leave a cash tip rather than add it to the card. I've recently seen some restaurants start putting an automatic tip on the bill...I don't like this at all as we've been duped into paying 2 tips because we weren't told about it nor did we notice (our bad, but if it's a new practice...you should be telling your customers), so we not only paid the auto tip but also left cash. Now we need to make sure we pay attention if the tip is already included so we don't leave an extra one. And we're not cheap tippers so it really leaves a bad taste in my mouth that it's added without our knowledge.
Some places (not just restaurants) are also starting to charge a fee for using credit cards. I'm totally fine with this as I know first hand how much credit card companies charge businesses to offer credit and debit to their customers. For big box stores (who don't have a fee) it's no big deal due to volume but for small businesses, who usually don't have big profit margins, it really cuts into their profits. That small business should not have to pay for all the lovely points and cash back you collect/get for using your card. Credit card companies make plenty enough to support the programs they want to offer all by themselves.

 

[denice]

I do tend to go with cards, and there was a new restaurant in town I recently went to which explicitly listed different totals for cash or card (no distinction between credit or debit). I tend mostly toward debit card, I just don't carry enough cash to feel comfortable ordering whatever I want from a menu.

The surcharge for using plastic is starting to become more common though I haven't yet seen it here. From what I have read it is a combination of increased use of plastic during the pandemic, some businesses became cashless, and that use has continued. I guess many people are like myself the plastic became habit. Mastercard and Visa have also increased their swipe fees which businesses had paid in the past but they are now passing it on to their customers. What's bad for me because I belong to a credit union I don't live really close to a fee free ATM or a branch to get cash without paying for the privilege of getting my own money.

 

[kashmir64]

I don't eat out. Can't even remember the last time.
The reason for the charge is because the companies that run a POS (point of sale) system are now charging businesses an outrageous amount to use that convenience feature. This is passed on to the customer unless you buy a lot.
Most stores up here won't even allow you to use a debit/credit unless the amount is over $10

 

[allmykitties]

To be clear, I don't have a problem with being passed on an extra charge (I know they are charged by the processors for the cards), it's just that seeing an explicit cash/card price difference on a restaurant check was something new to me. I had seen cash/credit pricing at gas stations, but that also doesn't change my practices at the gas pump.

 

[neely]

i always use cold hard cash its too easy t get your credit info stolen and used these days not to mention some places try to be sly and auto add a tip into your bill total.

Except more and more places here won't accept cash because of robberies/store theft. It's a crazy world we live in nowadays!

 

[denice]

The self-checkout at the supermarket will rarely accept cash and early in the morning when I go the self-checkout is the only thing open. Before the pandemic that is where I got cash, I would get it back from my debit card. There was a 50-cent charge for it but that is less than the ATMs that don't belong to the credit union. There has been a push for a long time to go to a cashless society, so I guess the fees that go along with that were inevitable.

 

[misty8723]

I use credit for everything. Pre-pandemic I used cash for fast food places, credit for sit down places. I own one debit card on a little checking account that I only got so I could sign up and use zelle. I also have am ATM card if I want cash. Debit cards are a bit dangerous to use.

As to extra charges, I haven't noticed it but I haven't been to a sit down restaurant since pre-covid. I know some places tack on a bit extra.

 

[Katie M]

Debit. I rarely if ever have cash, and I don't want any credit cards.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Debit card. I only eat lunch out once a week and dinner never. I don't carry cash for general use, haven't for years.