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Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Mon 21 Jun, 2021 15.14
by Philip
I’ve used Apple Pay on things like train ticket machines and vending machines, but I haven’t mustered the courage to use it in a transaction with another human being. Feels a bit show-offy and I can’t bear the embarrassment if it didn’t work!

It’s pretty cool though.

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Mon 21 Jun, 2021 17.57
by BBC TV Centre
there are still businesses around which either don't take card or still have quite high minimum transaction levels (my local Chinese takeaway will not take a card below £15, with my regular order being slightly under that so I have to take cash out specially for them).
I have never understood why certain businesses have £10-15 min spend card limits in this day and age.

It sounds ridiculous they turn business away for the sake of pence, as they still have to pay fixed costs for the rent of the machine, the phone or internet connection and still get charged when they use it anyway.

If they were with square or sumup, just a fee of 1.69 or 1.75% respectively, the only upfront cost is for the reader device. Plus some form of internet connectivity, which can easily be their phone.

Back on topic, has anyone noticed that Sainsbury's doing away with the free air and water machines in the petrol stations? Maybe it is just cos ours keeps getting run overand generally being battered (and they don't want to bear the cost of fixing it yet again) and charges your card.

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Mon 21 Jun, 2021 22.53
by cwathen
BBC TV Centre wrote: Mon 21 Jun, 2021 17.57
there are still businesses around which either don't take card or still have quite high minimum transaction levels (my local Chinese takeaway will not take a card below £15, with my regular order being slightly under that so I have to take cash out specially for them).
I have never understood why certain businesses have £10-15 min spend card limits in this day and age.

It sounds ridiculous they turn business away for the sake of pence, as they still have to pay fixed costs for the rent of the machine, the phone or internet connection and still get charged when they use it anyway.
The high limits are a bit mad, but tbh even running with £5 minimum fees which is still surprisingly commonplace is still a bit bizarre these days. Even a small business on a very bad deal is going to get a small card transaction through for less than 20p (except possibly Amex, but then most businesses worried about card processing charges just don't take it at all).

With the smaller transactions, of course in percentage terms 20p on a £1 transaction is a lot but the actual pence of profit being made on such a transaction is surely worth loss leading on so the customer will remember the convenience and keep going back there for larger amounts. It's also not like cash handling is free, and the already extant costs can be worse on small transactions where someone is paying with a £10 or £20 note (which they will be if they've been made to withdraw cash specially because of a card limit) and then rinses through change which most businesses need to pay extra to get.

The other thing I can't understand making good business sense is being overly strict on any limit set. Only last week I decided to pop in to an independent bar I've not used before for an after work pint, but quickly left again as cash was required since £4.85 is not £5. I had no cash (well only some shrapnel) so off I popped to spoons. As it was I stayed in spoons for a second pint and ordered some food - all of which I would have done at the first place if I could have just bought a drink to begin with. For the sake of under-card limiting them by 15p they didn't get any business at all. Not the fault of individual staff who are of course only doing their job, but I can never see the point at a management level of not making the limit a rough guide rather than a strict barrier. Even if the EPOS system requires a limit to activate card payment then you simply tell the staff it's about a fiver and set the tills to £4. Simples. This approach might not work in a big corporate company where HR like everything to be defined in policy but that type of business won't have card limits. A small business really should be empowering their staff to take a more common sense approach on this.
Back on topic, has anyone noticed that Sainsbury's doing away with the free air and water machines in the petrol stations? Maybe it is just cos ours keeps getting run overand generally being battered (and they don't want to bear the cost of fixing it yet again) and charges your card.
Mine still has a free machine, but it seems to go out of service with alarming regularity and each time it seems to take a week or two to get fixed. I have noticed that the machines Sainsbury's has are an identical model to charging machines on Esso forecourts without the payment gubbins fitted. I would imagine they will end up making them all chargeable in the end. TBH I would take it as long as the charges resulted in more reliable machines. You can still check your pressures without paying and you shouldn't really need to be blowing your tyres up so often that the cost would be significant.

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Mon 21 Jun, 2021 23.18
by Jonwo
Sumup's card readers are surprisingly affordable and I think any business that is a mobile vendor or a market stall should adopt it or whatever Square offers as they'd attract a lot of customers who only use their phone or card.

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Wed 30 Jun, 2021 09.33
by Pete
I think I mentioned in another thread that I ended up getting a Sumup machine to take payments for the milk in the office after I got sick of everyone not having cash. The transaction fee is pennies on a fiver and it cancelled out the time I had to spent wandering round hassling people.

The only time I've ended up stumped with Apple Pay is when Argos couldn't do a refund back to it. Although in that instance I just took a gift card as it was only about £15.

Since B&Q started taking contactless that's the last place that was useless.

Generally if I'm leaving the city limits I'll make a point of taking my wallet. Otherwise I'll not bother bc I could always just nip home if it was an emergency.

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Wed 30 Jun, 2021 09.34
by Pete
actually the biggest faf with not taking your wallet is not having your driving licence when you inexplicably get IDs for booze.

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Thu 01 Jul, 2021 20.56
by Finn
Pete wrote: Wed 30 Jun, 2021 09.34 actually the biggest faf with not taking your wallet is not having your driving licence when you inexplicably get IDs for booze.
*sigh*

I remember those days ;)

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Fri 02 Jul, 2021 12.40
by Whataday
BBC TV Centre wrote: Mon 21 Jun, 2021 17.57
there are still businesses around which either don't take card or still have quite high minimum transaction levels (my local Chinese takeaway will not take a card below £15, with my regular order being slightly under that so I have to take cash out specially for them).
I have never understood why certain businesses have £10-15 min spend card limits in this day and age.

It sounds ridiculous they turn business away for the sake of pence, as they still have to pay fixed costs for the rent of the machine, the phone or internet connection and still get charged when they use it anyway.

If they were with square or sumup, just a fee of 1.69 or 1.75% respectively, the only upfront cost is for the reader device. Plus some form of internet connectivity, which can easily be their phone.

I think it's more the case that some businesses like to encourage cash sales as cash can be hidden from the taxman but maybe that's just my devious mind jumping to conclusions.

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Wed 15 Sep, 2021 19.59
by Whataday

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Wed 15 Sep, 2021 22.54
by Martin Phillp
First time this has happened to me on the Nectar app that I was able to buy the same product multiple times in a week and receive points in Sainsbury's. It happened to me buying Graze snack packets. A nice little earner considering they're on promo at £1.50.

Re: The Unofficial Sainsbury's Thread

Posted: Thu 16 Sep, 2021 19.35
by scottishtv
I find it quite ironic that the supermarket that used to encourage you to "try something new today" now rewards you with Nectar points for buying exactly the same things week after week seemingly.

Also, is this Sainsbury's "Chop Chop" app some sort of trial or something? Saw it advertised on some B&W badly printed A4 bits of paper in my local store earlier, looks like it's done with Deliveroo in my area - a few items delivered quickly at a premium delivery cost.