MindComet

How Do You Pay For Stuff?

I’ve noticed something happening… There are now vendors like stores, service providers, and medical professionals who are limiting how they accept payments.  Instead of taking all conventional forms of payment such as cash, credit, debit, and checks.  They are only accepting specific payment types. For example, I was out with a friend getting an ice cream cone (yeah, I’m really a little kid at heart) and had to have my friend buy my cone because the ice cream parlor didn’t accept credit/debit cards.  It happened at Caboose’s karate school as well, they are no longer accepting credit/debit cards because the cost to the business is too high.

I understand that there are steps that need to be taken in order to preserve efficiencies on the vendor’s side, after all this is a difficult economic time.  However, is the cost of inconveniencing your clientele a price you really want to pay?  The name of the game at this point is customer satisfaction, ease of use, and experience.  Limiting how you allow people to pay may cause unnecessary stress and a customer who may or may not return.  In my case, the karate school was a necessity so I was forced to alter my habits to conform but that may not be the case for every scenario.  It has also forced me to carry around a small amount of cash, which I don’t like to do as I find it spends easier than my debit card.  The things I will do to have the occasional ice cream cone.

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Posted by Jennifer Carey on Sep. 24, 2009