Another outage for card payments

[Bretrick]

This will continue to decline as the years go by.
Arrived at the cricket match, payment card in hand.
"Sorry, our system is down, here is a ticket, just present it at the gate for free entry".
Never even asked about cash, which I always carry.
Though I said nowt.

 

[Kaila]

You were feeling too shy to speak at that moment?

 

[Bretrick]

You were feeling too shy to speak at that moment?

No, in my dotage I have learnt to keep my mouth shut.

 

[Naturally]

Couple of years ago I decided to go to a local high school football game. Hadn't been to a high school football game in my adult life but the local high school was playing exceptionally well and highly ranked that season.

I expected to find a booth at the stadium to buy a ticket. Instead, I was told that all tickets were sold online with some kind of app via smartphone. The way things were handled these days.

So as I turned to walk away, the gentleman said, "Hey, here ya go. A free ticket." I offered to pay cash and he just handed me the ticket with a wink and said, "Enjoy the game." It was a ticket for premier seating too.

So around here these days, you can't just show up at a high school game and buy a ticket. There is no such thing as a ticket booth anymore.

 

[Nathan]

I hate when they try to shove free stuff down my throat!

 

[IrishEyes]

Went to the rodeo here in town, the ad for it said the tickets were $15.
Got to the gate and they were $20, he then said, if you had bought them in town
in the stores they were $15, at the gate is $20. It helps us to know in advance
how many helpers we need. $20 and the bull riders were stuck in Kansas City,
that is what I mostly had went to see. What a disappointing night that was.

 

[Aunt Bea]

More and more venues in this area are refusing to accept cash at their concession stands.

The local baseball stadium has installed machines where you can get a reloadable card, for cash or credit, to use at their concession stands and gift shops.

Not handling cash does simplify things and should reduce costs.

I’m surprised that the system that you encountered didn’t have a battery backup system that allowed it to accept transactions in batch mode that could be transmitted when the power or main system was restored. Such backups are common but they are unable to verify if the card is good but it’s better than nothing.