PsychoMouse
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Was you excepting to pay in Shillings and Crowns?
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Avanti West Coast Shop
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Was you excepting to pay in Shillings and Crowns?
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AlterEgo
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A true ascetic writes!
nickswift99
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That would be an outrageous price. Pennies, surely?
Falcon1200
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All Line Rover
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Today the announcement was "the card machine isn't working and I have no change, so unfortunately I can only accept exact change".
Not a problem of course, as I - like most passengers - go about my life carrying at least 100 coins of various denominations (and currencies, just to be safe!).
Not a problem of course, as I - like most passengers - go about my life carrying at least 100 coins of various denominations (and currencies, just to be safe!).
Mcr Warrior
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Reckon you'd only ever need a maximum of eight coins and maybe a few £5 notes to always be able to provide the exact right change in the circumstance when the shop card machine wasn't working (= 1 x £2, 2 x £1, 1 x 50p, 1 x 20p, 2 x 10p + 1 x 5p).
Wow absolutely unbelievable
If the card machines are down and the shop is cash only. I'm pretty sure the staff onboard would not have an unlimited amount of change in which to use. If everyone is paying in notes then their change will surely deplete. Where would they be able to get more? From personal experience if a customer is asked if they have the correct money or small change, they usually do, but still try to pay using notes initially. That doesn't help in these situations.
You get £100 float but the tendency is to run it down through the day so there's less to pay in IE get home quicker. On the last trip you don't want to be carrying a big float round. Getting more change also requires getting off the train in your break time and going queuing at the pay in office, and some break times are literally half an hour before you head back. Factor in your customers boarding about 20 mins before, doing a stock check, putting away deliveries etc then the time to get change is seriously eroded
Id also ask could they not buy some change from the train manager either even if it was just £20-30 worth to start with
Id also ask could they not buy some change from the train manager either even if it was just £20-30 worth to start with
Howardh
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Bit late to the thread, so dunno if it's been asked before, if their card machine is unworkable and they want "cash only" couldn't an Avanti passenger simply use the app to order and pay that way at the counter?
Mcr Warrior
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@Starmill noted upthread in post #28 that such a workaround probably wouldn't work if the train's wi-fi system was down, this being a fairly common reason why the shop card machine wouldn't be operational.
Howardh
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So if I made an order using my own wifi, they wouldn't receive it as theirs is down, and they don't have back-up?
On aircraft, when one pays by card, I believe that the steward's card machine does not get/send a signal until landing yet the machine can still debit cards and pax can buy their produce. Not the same for trains where wifi fails?
Mcr Warrior
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Also already been discussed upthread in post #17 (and those following immediately thereafter). On air journeys, the risk of taking an offline card payment (which may subsequently be declined) is partly mitigated by the fact that they'll already have your name and address details!
I used to work onboard and this was happening way back when. Several years later and you still can't pay by card? Come on....
Get the card machine to work off a back up 4/5G signal if needed.
Also the TM used to be able to sell catering vouchers to passengers. Is that no longer an option?
If the catering sales look rubbish, if the cash paid in is very low or the overall sales I wonder how that affects the future decision to retain onboard shops and trollies?
Even with my staff discount I'd still rather go M&S/Leon etc than chance not being able to get food and drink.
Get the card machine to work off a back up 4/5G signal if needed.
Also the TM used to be able to sell catering vouchers to passengers. Is that no longer an option?
If the catering sales look rubbish, if the cash paid in is very low or the overall sales I wonder how that affects the future decision to retain onboard shops and trollies?
Even with my staff discount I'd still rather go M&S/Leon etc than chance not being able to get food and drink.
work-traveller
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I was on a later afternoon Avanti service from Euston to Liverpool last Wednesday - cash only at the shop. Some chap returned to his seat with nothing, noting to his colleague that it was cash only. The shop was doing a good trade though, so clearly plenty of people in possession of cash and happy to use it.
robert thomas
Member
GWR and TfW are both card only which causes all sorts of problems. It has worked in my favour on TfW as on 3 occasions their card machine has failed when I've come to pay for my excellent meal with wine and although I've had cash this could not be accepted and my meals & wine were free. On each occasion there were several other passengers who were similarly gifted their food.
The order at seat fucntion has to run off the train WiFi as that's the only way the app knows what train you are on.
dk1
Veteran Member
I’ve been thoroughly impressed with it on LNER. Far superior to an at-seat trolley service.
If there are constant issues with card readers, maybe the ability to purchase a catering voucher from the guard would be a reasonable back up option. Arriva Trains Wales used to do this prior to catering staff accepting card, for a while. It’s certainly a better option than not being able to eat or drink anything for (potentially) hours on a long distance journey.
Fuzzytop
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The LNER at-seat ordering is QR-code based, with the QR encoding the unit/coach number, so it works on 4G/5G too.
dk1
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I’ve found it very good & very reliable indeed.
Cloud Strife
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I'm really surprised that it doesn't work that way to begin with. At least in PL, mobile card terminals on trains are all using 2G/3G/4G, not wifi.
I'm sitting right now in rural Dalmatia in Croatia by the coast, and there's no problem getting a 4G+ signal here. It's shameful that a UK TOC cannot get a signal in England!
Amazing that certain companies can do it and do card sales yet Avanti still can't and haven't sorted the issue from Virgin
Is it an age thing?
I always carry cash as well as my cards and phone.
Some (many?) businesses prefer cash as they get a charge for card purchases, though given the prices for onboard catering perhaps the big train companies deserve a charge
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I always carry cash as well as my cards and phone.
Some (many?) businesses prefer cash as they get a charge for card purchases, though given the prices for onboard catering perhaps the big train companies deserve a charge
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Nym
Established Member
Would these be the same companies that don't value their time?
Banking cash also costs money, but most SMBs don't capture this. Floating change is even more expensive.
Banking cash also costs money, but most SMBs don't capture this. Floating change is even more expensive.
I was on an Avanti this week and just happened to board and disembark at the door where the shop is in coach C. I didn't notice when boarding but there seems to be a cubby-hole for the train manager/guard/RPI (I don't know which of those they were) there - is that where train announcements are made from?
The bit of that relevant to this thread is that if they have a float to enable them to sell tickets (not that there are any stations on the route without a ticket office at present) then wouldn't it make sense for them to share part of the float with the shop when there is problems with paying by card in it?
The bit of that relevant to this thread is that if they have a float to enable them to sell tickets (not that there are any stations on the route without a ticket office at present) then wouldn't it make sense for them to share part of the float with the shop when there is problems with paying by card in it?
Between having the card machine out, no change, and doing "stocktakes" (which on Avanti seem to happen two or three times a journey) it's a wonder anyone can buy anything at all 
It's an "office" for the person whose role is guard and whose job title/grade is train manager.
It's one of the places announcements can be made from yes.
I suspect Croatia doesn't have a massive NIMBY issue, especially the turbo-NIMBYism around cellular masts
Cloud Strife
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We gave up accepting cash in my business several years ago, even pre-Covid. It's so much more expensive and difficult to handle cash that it's simply not worth it when everyone can either pay by card or via the Polish instant transfer system, available on phones.
But if you only have 8 coins you can only make exact change once, then you need to get more coins. I had this problem when I needed to take several buses which didn't give change (before contactless bus fares became widespread) and I didn't know the fares.
And a merchant with no change should still give out change that they get, as it comes in.
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