Avanti West Coast Shop

[dk1]

I gave up paying cash for taxis ASAP, because it removes the rampant fraud - they can only charge what the app says and can't be clamouring for a tip or conveniently not having change. The experience of taxi travel with app booking and payment is so much better than it was in the days of booking one by telephone ("5 minutes" = anything from 30 seconds to an hour) and paying by cash where the fare might as well have been plucked from a tree.

The taxi fares for me varied from £6.30-£7.40 over the last few days. Just gave them a tenner each time.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The taxi fares for me varied from £6.30-£7.40 over the last few days. Just gave them a tenner each time.

Crikey, they must love you - that's a massive tip!

Very rarely do I get a taxi journey that is good enough that I'd want to tip them 1p, let alone a tip of between 50% and 70%. I'd expect limousine style service to even consider tipping that.

 

[dk1]

Crikey, they must love you - that's a massive tip!

Very rarely do I get a taxi journey that is good enough that I'd want to tip them 1p, let alone a tip of between 50% and 70%. I'd expect limousine style service to even consider tipping that.

I'd rather not have the change. They were all very friendly. Only normally use taxis when work pay for them so don't tip then.

 

[All Line Rover]

Why is this such a common problem with the shop (at least 1 in 5 journeys ime) but not with guards selling tickets and upgrades?

 

[sheff1]

The faster cash dies the better.

You would have loved IKEA in Sheffield today. All tills unable to accept card payments due to a "technical issue". Queue for the instore cash machine was at least 50 strong. I walked straight up to a till, handed over some readies and was on my way home, stopping off at the cash only chippie - gave the cash only ice cream parlour a miss today.

 

[Gemz91]

It’s always been like that. I always carry around £50 in cash for such eventualities.

I used to always carry £50 cash on me, but rarely do now-a-days, unless I’ve been to the car boot or coast.

Last time I went into a pub that was cash only, there was one that accepted card around the corner. Don’t bother going to the chippys that are cash only, as it means an extra stop on the journey to get cash out of the cash machine. The non league football grounds I tend to go to usually accept card payments now.

As much as I like and prefer to use cash, I just find it so much more similar to use card now.

The only problem is not having change for the vending machine at work.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I used to always carry £50 cash on me, but rarely do now-a-days, unless I’ve been to the car boot or coast.

Drawing out £50 lasts me one or two months depending on the number of chippy visits! It's still handy to have it as a backup, though I can't see it being far off that no longer being necessary because shops will just close if the card machine breaks rather than going cash only.

 

[dk1]

I used to always carry £50 cash on me, but rarely do now-a-days, unless I’ve been to the car boot or coast.

Last time I went into a pub that was cash only, there was one that accepted card around the corner. Don’t bother going to the chippys that are cash only, as it means an extra stop on the journey to get cash out of the cash machine. The non league football grounds I tend to go to usually accept card payments now.

As much as I like and prefer to use cash, I just find it so much more similar to use card now.

The only problem is not having change for the vending machine at work.

I use Google Wallet 95% of the time but the Chinese and Chippy in my village are both cash only.

Our messroom vending machines are all contactless now too.

 

[Towers]

Why is this such a common problem with the shop (at least 1 in 5 journeys ime) but not with guards selling tickets and upgrades?

I don’t know, but I would hazard a guess that the revenue kit is set up to push through a transaction regardless whilst catering, being an entirely optional purchase, simply isn’t?

Data signal on trains in the UK is, frankly, rubbish. I’m sure anyone who traverses certain routes regularly will know that there is no signal between here and here, or just after leaving there, etc. On board wifi just appears to mimic this, with a slightly better connection in some places but nothing dramatically different, IMHO. I can immediately think of one significant railway station in a sizeable city where you struggle to get any data or wifi signal sitting on a stationary train in the platforms, and I’m sure there are others. Maybe the DfT aren’t being that unreasonable wanting to do away with it, given that most of us now carry a 4G/5G data connection around in our pockets and the wifi they install and run at significant cost seems to offer little extra capability much of the time.

As for catering, the answer here is surely just for the affected TOCs to identify the areas where connectivity is affected - this should be broadly the same every time - and work around it; i.e. advise customers that between A & B no card payments are possible owing to the geography, etc. It isn’t ideal, but it’s better than it seemingly being totally random when in reality it probably isn’t!

 

[Huntergreed]

My main gripe with the shop is not that the card machine often doesn’t work (which it doesn’t!) - but rather that Avanti make absolutely no effort to announce this to give passengers the opportunity to withdraw cash before boarding.

Lost count of the number of times I’ve wanted to buy a coffee travelling from Carlisle up to Glasgow only to board and for there to be no card machine (and it’s not like they didn’t know as the train has come from Euston and there’s been no card machine throughout).

 

[Bletchleyite]

My main gripe with the shop is not that the card machine often doesn’t work (which it doesn’t!) - but rather that Avanti make absolutely no effort to announce this to give passengers the opportunity to withdraw cash before boarding.

Lost count of the number of times I’ve wanted to buy a coffee travelling from Carlisle up to Glasgow only to board and for there to be no card machine (and it’s not like they didn’t know as the train has come from Euston and there’s been no card machine throughout).

Even if you're one of those younger people who don't carry a wallet any more, why not just stash a folded tenner or twenty quid note in the back of your phone case? You'd not even know it was there and you'd have it just in case. I don't spend cash where card is accepted, but a backup can still be handy.

 

[185]

The managers involved in selecting and signing off on the shoddy EPOS systems should be held accountable for the terrible amount of failures, demoted and offered positions in the shop as administrative punishment to help them realise the mess they have caused. Embarrassing that the on train ticketing kit (eg likes of envoy) - their credit card device has a failure rate of around just 1-2%.

 

[PsychoMouse]

You would have loved IKEA in Sheffield today. All tills unable to accept card payments due to a "technical issue". Queue for the instore cash machine was at least 50 strong.

A maybe once yearly technical malfunction inconvenience to me isn't enough for me to wilfully carry cash.

stopping off at the cash only chippie - gave the cash only ice cream parlour a miss today.

Cash only businesses don't get my money. I go slightly out of my way to go to a barber which takes card for example. None of my local takeaways are cash only.

 

[dk1]

Even if you're one of those younger people who don't carry a wallet any more, why not just stash a folded tenner or twenty quid note in the back of your phone case? You'd not even know it was there and you'd have it just in case. I don't spend cash where card is accepted, but a backup can still be handy.

That's far too sensible for some

 

[bcarmicle]

You'd not even know it was there and you'd have it just in case.

Assuming you remembered it was there

 

[Huntergreed]

Quite a lot of the time I get the 20:06 from Glasgow to Carlisle. This is always a double voyager (apart from this week due to Trent Valley works).

It’s often the case that one of the shops is card only and one is cash only. It’s often a bit of a guessing game as to which shop will accept card

 

[100andthirty]

Not all airlines do this, some still just process offline. Which is at their risk, but the losses involved are quite small so that's OK.

It begs the question: Why can't Avanti do this? Perhaps train passengers aren't as trustworthy as airline passengers

 

[AlterEgo]

It begs the question: Why can't Avanti do this? Perhaps train passengers aren't as trustworthy as airline passengers

The airline has your passport and all your personal information and can take action like an actual enforceable ban.

 

[Gemz91]

Even if you're one of those younger people who don't carry a wallet any more, why not just stash a folded tenner or twenty quid note in the back of your phone case? You'd not even know it was there and you'd have it just in case. I don't spend cash where card is accepted, but a backup can still be handy.

Once you’ve spent your £20 note, it’s remembering to go to the cash machine to replace it that’s the problem.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Once you’ve spent your £20 note, it’s remembering to go to the cash machine to replace it that’s the problem.

See the phone you've just taken the note out of the back of? When you've spent it, set a reminder on it to replace the note for a time when you'll likely be near a cashpoint, eg on the way to work.

 

[Egg Centric]

Crikey, they must love you - that's a massive tip!

Very rarely do I get a taxi journey that is good enough that I'd want to tip them 1p, let alone a tip of between 50% and 70%. I'd expect limousine style service to even consider tipping that.

Really? Taxis (as opposed to Uber) usually very decent when I use them or alternatively absolutely bat**** conspiracy loon which also has its charm. Now that said I usually only take taxis on expenses, so what I usually do is ask them to write me a receipt for a certain amount somewhat more than the meter and funnily enough they've always done this so far!

 

[Mainline421]

As a slight aside, do any other TOCs than Avanti accept cash for catering?

I get the feeling Grand Central might, and have no idea about Greater Anglia. Otherwise I'm pretty sure no one else does.

Suspect most TOCs probably, certainly Greater Angliado, likewise CrossCounrty.

 

[dk1]

As a slight aside, do any other TOCs than Avanti accept cash for catering?

I get the feeling Grand Central might, and have no idea about Greater Anglia. Otherwise I'm pretty sure no one else does.

Greater Anglia were one of the first to restart catering during the pandemic & reluctantly accepted cash at that time but did not give change as hosts did not carry a float. Obviously that’s all changed now & all accepted payment methods (inc cash) are taken on Norwich services. I also cannot recall the last time I heard of an issue with card/phone readers. It all seems to work.

 

[Gemz91]

See the phone you've just taken the note out of the back of? When you've spent it, set a reminder on it to replace the note for a time when you'll likely be near a cashpoint, eg on the way to work.

Until you typed that I never knew I had a reminders app on my phone

 

[rmt4ever]

A maybe once yearly technical malfunction inconvenience to me isn't enough for me to wilfully carry cash.



Cash only businesses don't get my money. I go slightly out of my way to go to a barber which takes card for example. None of my local takeaways are cash only.

Card only businesses don’t get my money. I NEVER use a credit card in person, unless it is an extreme emergency

 

[PsychoMouse]

Card only businesses don’t get my money. I NEVER use a credit card in person, unless it is an extreme emergency

Weird but OK.

 

[dk1]

Card only businesses don’t get my money. I NEVER use a credit card in person, unless it is an extreme emergency

Why not a debit card?

 

[jfollows]

Why not a debit card?

As this thread shows, everyone's different, and a business that can't cater for the variety of its customers isn't a good one.
In my case, I don't ever use my debit card and always use my credit card. I carry cash, but instead of withdrawing £200 roughly monthly I now find I withdraw £200 once every six months or so, so clearly my use of it has drastically declined.
But I also never use the "shop" on Avanti, I find it preferable to buy something to take with me. In the up direction I'm sad that Subway in Wilmslow has closed, but there are alternatives.

 

[Falcon1200]

Card only businesses don’t get my money.

I prefer to use cash for small purchases, say less than £10, but f I have to use a card, I will. A bizarre example of that recently was at a preserved railway, seeking to provide us with an authentic as possible experience of the past, yet whose cafe was card only!

 

[sor]

As this thread shows, everyone's different, and a business that can't cater for the variety of its customers isn't a good one.
In my case, I don't ever use my debit card and always use my credit card. I carry cash, but instead of withdrawing £200 roughly monthly I now find I withdraw £200 once every six months or so, so clearly my use of it has drastically declined.
But I also never use the "shop" on Avanti, I find it preferable to buy something to take with me. In the up direction I'm sad that Subway in Wilmslow has closed, but there are alternatives.

I'm the same (although I typically don't keep much cash around - as suggested upthread I do have a small amount in the phone case and wallet tho). Better fraud protection on the credit card, I get some points for doing so, it's interest-free (I get a new card every couple of years) and I pay it off in full when I am paid.

I have either a credit or debit card on all three major card networks so that covers the possibility of any bank or card network failure, and of course I have the physical cards and Apple Pay equivalents too.

I'd certainly find it odd to see a cash only business in this day and age, with the cost of card terminals being cheaper than ever & business bank accounts normally charging for cash processing - but that's for another thread.