4 ms·

From the article: > In Connecticut, Mr. Dimyan, who says he feels his $3 coffee is pricey enough as it is, vented about the electronic tip prompts in a Twitter

by pwg 8y ago

From the article: > In Connecticut, Mr. Dimyan, who says he feels his $3 coffee is pricey enough as it is, vented about the electronic tip prompts in a Twitter post earlier this month. > Square replied from its official Twitter account: “Tap `No Tip.’” Or.... Pay cash for a $3.00 item?

Finnucane 8y ago
Srsly. Is this actually a problem for anyone?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- quasse 8y ago
  Considering that every aspect of my banking is now online (including depositing checks), yeah, it is actually kind a hassle to have to keep making trips to one of my bank's ATMs just to refill my supply of small bills so that I can buy coffee.
  - Finnucane 8y ago
    Are you unable to figure out how to select 'no tip' as well? Sorry but I find this to be a triviality of overprivilege.
    - dx87 8y ago
      You replied to a comment saying that people should pay cash, someone says that they don't carry around cash, so now you're moving the goalposts and saying the person is privileged and doesn't know how to press the "No Tip" button. If you stop changing the subject every other comment, maybe you won't be so confused with people's responses.
  - pc86 8y ago
    I just get $20 cash back when using my debit card for someone every now and then.
- paxys 8y ago
  It is a problem because not tipping is seen as a massive faux pas in the US, and it is very possible to get publicly shamed for hitting the no tip button even if, like the article says, you are being handed a ready-to-go item.
  - mikeash 8y ago
    Is it really? I have never seen it happen to anyone, or heard of it happening. I'd expect it to be far more common to be publicly shamed for peering at the screen while someone else is making a purchase.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
ComputerGuru 8y ago
A lot of people just plain don’t carry cash to spend any more. To say that five years ago (with typical CC PoS systems) that would have been fine but today thanks to these startups we’ve regressed to having to pay with cash or else need to pay 15-30% more is ridiculous.
- pc86 8y ago
  Please cite an example where not using cash necessitates a 30% higher price?
  - 5874-4b22-a4e0 8y ago
    The requests for tips.
    - mikeash 8y ago
      Key word being "request." It's optional, and you can choose not to pay one.
astrodust 8y ago
How about brew your own coffee and save $2.95 on that transaction.
- thrmsforbfast 8y ago
  1. The sort of beans used in the $3 cup of coffee are probably quite expensive. E.g., the espresso beans that my local coffee shop uses retail at about $1 per espresso drink ($20/lb of beans with 20 or so double shots in a pound). Plus electricity, amortized cost of the espresso machine, and cost of milk. In the end, a home-made cappuccino of equivalent quality costs about $1.20 - $1.25 to make at home. 2. It takes me about 10 minutes to make a cappuccino and clean up the mess. And I'm pretty experienced with a nice setup. I am paid a lot more than $6/hour. Hell, my college side gig paid a lot more than $6/hour. 3. Coffee shops are a nice place to get work down outside of work (eg side projects or self-learning). Especially relevant for those with kids at home. So for a $3 drink, he's paying $1-$2 for an hour or more of shared work space and 10 minutes of saved labor time. That seems like a fair deal. And this is assuming that it's even possible for him to make the drink he wants when he wants it. If he works in an office without an espresso machine, it might just be straight up impossible for him to make the coffee he wants when he wants it. Now, maybe Folgers from a drip machine should be good enough. But if we're going to be pragmatic robots, we should really just buy super cheap caffeine powder in bulk and mix it into our free water.... Folgers is for snobby suckers. Plus, I bet you have some hobbies/mini-luxuries I don't care about and could scoff at ;-)
noncoml 8y ago
> Pay cash for a $3.00 item? Do HNers still use cash? It's been years since I carried a wallet that has a slot for cash.
- Zarath 8y ago
  For privacy reasons, yes... and cause I like to play cards.
- madamelic 8y ago
  >Do HNers still use cash? Yes. And not even for the ultra-privacy-minded people. I use cash for bodegas (small corner stores in NYC) because they have card minimums I don't want to hit.

by pwg 8y ago

Finnucane 8y ago

Srsly. Is this actually a problem for anyone?

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
quasse 8y ago
Considering that every aspect of my banking is now online (including depositing checks), yeah, it is actually kind a hassle to have to keep making trips to one of my bank's ATMs just to refill my supply of small bills so that I can buy coffee.
- Finnucane 8y ago
  Are you unable to figure out how to select 'no tip' as well? Sorry but I find this to be a triviality of overprivilege.
  - dx87 8y ago
    You replied to a comment saying that people should pay cash, someone says that they don't carry around cash, so now you're moving the goalposts and saying the person is privileged and doesn't know how to press the "No Tip" button. If you stop changing the subject every other comment, maybe you won't be so confused with people's responses.
- pc86 8y ago
  I just get $20 cash back when using my debit card for someone every now and then.
paxys 8y ago
It is a problem because not tipping is seen as a massive faux pas in the US, and it is very possible to get publicly shamed for hitting the no tip button even if, like the article says, you are being handed a ready-to-go item.
- mikeash 8y ago
  Is it really? I have never seen it happen to anyone, or heard of it happening. I'd expect it to be far more common to be publicly shamed for peering at the screen while someone else is making a purchase.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

ComputerGuru 8y ago

A lot of people just plain don’t carry cash to spend any more. To say that five years ago (with typical CC PoS systems) that would have been fine but today thanks to these startups we’ve regressed to having to pay with cash or else need to pay 15-30% more is ridiculous.

pc86 8y ago
Please cite an example where not using cash necessitates a 30% higher price?
- 5874-4b22-a4e0 8y ago
  The requests for tips.
  - mikeash 8y ago
    Key word being "request." It's optional, and you can choose not to pay one.

astrodust 8y ago

How about brew your own coffee and save $2.95 on that transaction.

thrmsforbfast 8y ago
1. The sort of beans used in the $3 cup of coffee are probably quite expensive. E.g., the espresso beans that my local coffee shop uses retail at about $1 per espresso drink ($20/lb of beans with 20 or so double shots in a pound). Plus electricity, amortized cost of the espresso machine, and cost of milk. In the end, a home-made cappuccino of equivalent quality costs about $1.20 - $1.25 to make at home. 2. It takes me about 10 minutes to make a cappuccino and clean up the mess. And I'm pretty experienced with a nice setup. I am paid a lot more than $6/hour. Hell, my college side gig paid a lot more than $6/hour. 3. Coffee shops are a nice place to get work down outside of work (eg side projects or self-learning). Especially relevant for those with kids at home. So for a $3 drink, he's paying $1-$2 for an hour or more of shared work space and 10 minutes of saved labor time. That seems like a fair deal. And this is assuming that it's even possible for him to make the drink he wants when he wants it. If he works in an office without an espresso machine, it might just be straight up impossible for him to make the coffee he wants when he wants it. Now, maybe Folgers from a drip machine should be good enough. But if we're going to be pragmatic robots, we should really just buy super cheap caffeine powder in bulk and mix it into our free water.... Folgers is for snobby suckers. Plus, I bet you have some hobbies/mini-luxuries I don't care about and could scoff at ;-)

noncoml 8y ago

> Pay cash for a $3.00 item? Do HNers still use cash? It's been years since I carried a wallet that has a slot for cash.

Zarath 8y ago
For privacy reasons, yes... and cause I like to play cards.
madamelic 8y ago
>Do HNers still use cash? Yes. And not even for the ultra-privacy-minded people. I use cash for bodegas (small corner stores in NYC) because they have card minimums I don't want to hit.