Walmart not taking cash.

Zeldman

Zeldman

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jun 13, 2014
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high desert NM
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Billy
My wife went to Walmart to pickup a couple things. While checking out she was told by the cashier that they are not taking cash today. I told her to tell them, ''Thank you, but Safeway is taking cash'' and leave. And that is what she did.

What in the world could be so wrong that a place of business is NOT accepting cash.??
 
just a guess, but from myth busters:

Many objects that people touch every day are dirtier than a toilet seat.
CONFIRMED

Adam and Jamie chose a total of 8 objects to test for cleanliness: toilet seat, money, kitchen sponge, hotel room remote, computer keyboard, light switch, cell phone, and shopping cart. They swabbed each surface for 10 seconds and created Petri dishes from the swabs that incubated overnight. Their first method of measurement was to count the number of microorganism colonies on each dish. They found that the toilet seat sample actually had the fewest colonies, while the kitchen sponge sample had more than they could count:

  1. kitchen sponge (most colonies)
  2. money
  3. light switch
  4. computer keyboard
  5. hotel remote
  6. shopping cart
  7. cell phone
  8. toilet seat (fewest colonies)
However, they always wanted to account for the “nastiness” or harmfulness of the types of organisms on each Petri dish, so they had a microbiologist re-rank the samples. The list was as follows.

  1. kitchen sponge (most nasty)
  2. money
  3. light switch
  4. computer keyboard
  5. toilet seat
  6. cell phone
  7. shopping cart
  8. hotel remote (least nasty)
Finally, Adam and Jamie decided they needed a larger sample size to provide better results. They enlisted a group of biology students at UC Berkeley to collect more samples from the top five dirtiest surfaces. After collecting and analyzing these samples, the final list was as follows.

  1. kitchen sponge (most dirty)
  2. money
  3. computer keyboard
  4. toilet seat
  5. light switch (least dirty)
 
Your wife went to Walmart, got to the checkout and the cashier said we aren't taking cash today. Then your wife has to take out her phone and call you to find out what to do? While standing at the checkout?

If I was behind her that would drive me nuts, but I'm impatient and hate standing in the checkout line.

But I do agree it's strange they aren't accepting cash.
 
While there is no Federal law requiring businesses to accept cash, some states do require cashs to be accepted.

It makes sense to require businesses to accept cash... it would discriminate against certain groups of people that haven't/can't have credit or bank accounts.
 
Zeldman said:
What in the world could be so wrong that a place of business is NOT accepting cash.??
Click to expand...
FYI: 10 months ago a number of stores in my area stop taking cash because they had no change for the transaction and only took CC. Could be the same?
 
You could always try the "McMahan" approach:
(from Snopes - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/legal-tender-payment/)

Senator Chad McMahan
about 10 months ago
Notice to businesses not accepting cash, Legal Tender, in Mississippi.

I've had several people reach out to me about an issue taking place in our state. Scott, thank you for the email.
It is my understanding several companies in Mississippi are refusing to take cash as payment.
Take a look at the photos attached. This is a Federal Reserve Note, a $20 bill. This paper money, this note, is Legal Tender for all debts, public and private.
Business owners, if you refused to take cash, the debt is paid in full. If you are a business owner and you refuse to take cash, you are breaking the law.
Here is an example, if I stop by your store and I purchase $44 worth of fuel, and I try to pay you with a $100 bill and you refuse payment of cash, the debt is paid in full. There is nothing you can do to prosecute me because you have refused payment of Legal Tender, unless the business suspects counterfeit bills.
I'm asking residents of Mississippi to make me aware of companies who will not receive or take your cash. They will be receiving a call from my office, the Department of Revenue, and the Attorney General's office.

SEPARATE ISSUE
We are experiencing a coin shortage. Due to this event, some companies are requesting correct change. That is understandable and you should be able to work out any change issue since we are talking about less than .99 cents on any transaction.

My office #601 359 2886.

107800945_1668275533337826_1482028299938541392_n.jpg

107620706_1668275576671155_4859843688501633927_n.jpg


Spoiler Alert: It didn't work for him either ...
 
Have not been to a Walmart in years or Target for that matter.
 
I rarely use cash anymore aside from person-to-person transactions (Birthday Cards, Garage Sales, FB Marketplace, etc.)? Everything else is with debit/credit card or auto-draft/PayPal.
 
Wait
Zeldman said:
While checking out she was told by the cashier that they are not taking cash today.
Click to expand...
Wait... your Walmart has cashiers? Ours is all self-check. I bought a few things there the other day and as I was leaving a lady at the door asked if she could see my receipt. I told her no, I'm very confident in my work, and I kept walking. Self-security.
 
Last edited:
Lowflynjack said:
Wait

Wait... your Walmart has cashiers? Ours is all self-check. I bought a few things there the other day and as I was leaving a lady at the door asked if she could see my receipt. I told her no no, I'm very confident in my work, and I kept walking. Self-security.
Click to expand...
That's awesome! I'm going to use that next time.
 
Bob Noel said:
While there is no Federal law requiring businesses to accept cash, some states do require cashs to be accepted.

It makes sense to require businesses to accept cash... it would discriminate against certain groups of people that haven't/can't have credit or bank accounts.
Click to expand...

How do you pay for Amazon purchases with cash? They do business in all states.
 
Cash still works, and is beneficial. I met a stranger from the internet in the parking lot of a grocery store and used cash to buy gold today. The situation was such that it was a good deal for both of us.

I am typing, so I am still alive, thank for your concern.

Crypto, schmypto.
 
I'm not a lawyer (though I've been sued a couple of times), but I have to wonder: What constitutes a "debt"?

If I bring a pack of gum to the counter at 7-11, am I actually in "debt"? Seems to me there's no debt until both parties have agreed to the transaction. If the seller isn't willing to accept a $5 bill, seems to me that no transaction has yet taken place.

Now, if I pumped gas into my car before payment, then I most certainly have incurred a debt, and the counterperson is obligated to accept my $1,000 bill.

Ron Wanttaja
 
While I’d be annoyed too, I can’t think of any reason a business would be compelled to let you pay in a specific way. They just generally keep the common options open because they want money in any form(normally).

Going elsewhere would seem to be a reasonable alternative.
 
Credit transactions leave a positive tax trail. Cash transactions do not.
 
Salty said:
What does “This note is legal tender for all debts public and private” mean?
Click to expand...

Apparently not what you think it means. No merchant is compelled to take cash under federal law. As noted by @BobNoel, some states are passing statutes to require certain kinds merchants to accept cash transactions such as grocery stores and pharmacies. And it’s largely because a huge segment of the US population doesn’t have credit or debt cards (forget checks - those are virtually dead) or ApplePay or other forms of e-payment. Merchants want out of the cash business because it is expensive for them to manage it. E-commerce is way easier and doesn’t require any labor. It will be interesting to see how this all turns outs. Many stores tried to go to all e-commerce during the height of the pandemic based on public safety concerns. It was successful for them but shut a lot of people out from buying.
 
ColoPilot said:
Your wife went to Walmart, got to the checkout and the cashier said we aren't taking cash today. Then your wife has to take out her phone and call you to find out what to do? While standing at the checkout?
Click to expand...

I have her trained well...:lol:

Lowflynjack said:
Wait... your Walmart has cashiers? Ours is all self-check.
Click to expand...

Seems like some of the folks around here tend to walk out with a whole lot more than they scan. So most of the self checkouts have employees assist the folks using self check out. Cuts down on losses.

Yeah it is funny to hear Walmart here is not accepting cash. A lot of the indians come off the reservation to cash their government checks then go pay bills and go shopping. I mean a LOT of cash comes into the local economy.
 
Just finished my Annual on the Warrior and got a discount for cash...go figure...
 
Salty said:
What does “This note is legal tender for all debts public and private” mean?
Click to expand...

Oh god we already had this discussion on POA awhile back.

OP's wife was not in debt to Walmart, as she hadn't bought anything yet.
 
All the walmart casiers around here wear gloves
 
Don't expect any government assistance. They hate cash transactions, makes it hard to track the flow of money and tax it every chance they get.
 
I guess I don't understand the "outrage". I mean, if I was in the same situation, I'd realize pretty quickly that I had two options. 1) leave everything there in the cart, walk out, drive to another store, find everything again, and pay cash, or 2) just say "meh, whatever" and pay with some other method. I know which one would take around an hour of my day and which would take a few seconds, so that's a pretty easy choice for me.

I do use cash for a lot of transactions, but it doesn't bother me one bit if a business doesn't accept it, there are multiple other ways to pay. It's 2021 after all. And I've never used cash to buy anything online...
 
because everyone has the option to not use cash

right?

can anyone think of people who don't have a credit card or a debit card?

those people (no credit, no debit) don't exist, right?
 
Bob Noel said:
because everyone has the option to not use cash

right?

can anyone think of people who don't have a credit card or a debit card?

those people (no credit, no debit) don't exist, right?
Click to expand...

They do, but I would imagine they don't leave their houses often. The tin foil hat is more likely to blow off outside. Or they have no self control and can't budget.

I use my CC for everything, mostly cause its easy, and I get hotel points. It normally gets me a higher tier than I would otherwise, and gets me a few extra nights for the year.
 
My circle of people I know isn't that large. The two people that don't have a credit card or debit card can't be the only two people in the world. Neither of these people fall into the categories so ignorantly labelled as tin foil or unable to budget.

It is sad that people fail to understand that people have perfectly legitimate reasons for not having a credit card or debit card (e.g., not everyone can qualify)
 
Groundpounder said:
They do, but I would imagine they don't leave their houses often. The tin foil hat is more likely to blow off outside. Or they have no self control and can't budget.

I use my CC for everything, mostly cause its easy, and I get hotel points. It normally gets me a higher tier than I would otherwise, and gets me a few extra nights for the year.
Click to expand...
Tin foil hats have nothing to do with the topic. There are large chunks of people on the lower end of the income spectrum that don’t have ready access to electronic payment option.

I see you have subsequently stated your don’t give a crap meter is pegged so I won’t continue.
 
Zeldman said:
What in the world could be so wrong that a place of business is NOT accepting cash.??
Click to expand...
At the start of COVID, there were places around here that wouldn't take cash. I assumed it was because of perceived transmission risk. I think that theory has been debunked, but I walked by a restaurant the other day that still has the sign up. They also only do takeout. My other theory is that they don't want cash on had in case they are robbed. That said, none of these places is nearly as big as Walmart.
 
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