cashless madness - or is it??

[glenn]

Every person is entitled to a bank account with a card, regardless of financial situation. There are many banks who deal with people in arrears and debt management etc.
As said pre paid cards are available for anyone both as a visa card or similar.I

However, it sounds like.it was a knee-jerk reaction to put this cashless system in place.

It could also be the club was having money stolen by its staff, the cashless system would stop this

[sapajo]

It could also be the club was having money stolen by its staff, the cashless system would stop this

The club franchise the sale of food and drink in the ground, so if cash is stolen its the franchee that loses out not the club.

[Mark62]

I think people may have to accept that this system is in place now and you have 2 choices, Use it and maybe suggest improvements to the club, or don’t use it and get your refreshments elsewhere

[sk 88]

Disappointed personally. These are not proper card terminals but the cheap hand held ones that someone like a window cleaner or taxi driver might use. Connecting via bluetooth I did not have a particularly successful purchase ether time. The first time was at the "third half" where all three machines were struggling to pair to the "till" (a tablet), so having missed the start by now I gave up and went to the Drogolites. Two machines here were working and two were not. The two that were were very slow due to being bluetooth rather than wired in. After missing the first try (I saw it on TV at least) it was finally my turn and it went through quickly. The machines was spitting out reams and reams of paper at the poor server behind the bar, so obviously solved the issue mentioned earlier at some point. I did not try to work out which was mine.

The second time I went back to the third half again. No queue and was served quickly but the man tried to charge me for extra glasses even though I was returning mine. His argument was that I was getting new glasses! As ever they had to try on all three tablets/paired card machines before one would pair and I could pay.

What is really concerning is that these issues are not training or staff issues that get fixed with familiarity or training. They are hardware issues that are going to get a LOT worse if more than "13k", or however many were really there, turn up and want a drink.

Also side point, what is the point of having video displays rather than fixed ones and still putting the wrong beers on the menu (Carling on menu, Fosters available) with the wrong prices (they were at least cheaper)?

[sk 88]

I think people may have to accept that this system is in place now and you have 2 choices, Use it and maybe suggest improvements to the club, or don’t use it and get your refreshments elsewhere

As per my posts on this thread I have no issue with going cashless but it appears we have been penny pinching and got the cheapest card machines possible rather than ones that are actually fit for purpose.

We will have to see how it copes with a real crowd but I cannot see how it will improve as the bluetooth is not going to get quicker with another 13k people inside the stadium.

[Grimlish]

I made two payments last night. The first time the system appeared not to recognise my attempt at a contactless payment and it was only on the second attempt it worked. I noticed this happened ahead of me in the queue at least twice more and folk were resorting to the non contactless and much slower pin entry method. Second time round I followed my daughter’s advice to hold the card over the reader much longer than I would normally expect to do, which proved to work and to be much quicker overall. Whether the problem is bandwidth or the readers themselves it seems you need to wait with your card held over the reader until all the green lights appear for the contactless payment to occur. It’s a bit like the new timings at scrum engagement- it’ll take a while to get used to it and then they’ll change it again.

[mol2]

Essentially they have used a cheapo service, cheapo kit, insufficient bandwidth and didn't have the courtesy to set the system up and train the staff before match night.

And what happens if the data connection goes down....

I am happy to make cashless payments but the cash option should remain and they need a far better set up than the tin pot kit they are using.

[Mark62]

Essentially they have used a cheapo service, cheapo kit, insufficient bandwidth and didn't have the courtesy to set the system up and train the staff before match night.

And what happens if the data connection goes down....

I am happy to make cashless payments but the cash option should remain and they need a far better set up than the tin pot kit they are using.

If that is the case then I agree that the situation needs looking at and changes need to be made.
Next home game is Saints where I’d imagine both sides will be at pretty much full strength, from their available players, and would expect a larger crowd, so it’ll be interesting to see if things are any better then

[JayA]

Unfortunately the bars dont accept all types of cashless payment. We turned up at the game on Friday knowing the bars would not take cash. Unfortuantely half of our group use Contactless Payment Rings, and not cards. These were not accepted. Luckily the other half of the group had cards else it would have been a very dry game! Not impressed.

[Caerlyr Osprey]

I'm pleased to say that the £1 refund for returning my glass hit my credit card on Tuesday. All I can say is heaven help them when there are bigger crowds at the end of a game, as it took an age to actually for them to process the transaction.

[TTRITH]

How was it on Saturday?

[trendylfj]

Having started this thread and been to both home games and used the system I have to say I don't like it but can see it could work, BUT UNLIKE CASH, doesn't rely on computers working. only 2 working an hour before Saints kick off in the ABC, neither hand pulled working doesn't bode well for the future, Like the handled glasses and my mate did have a 2 pint version. My biggest issue is it has messed up our round buying organisation and we are working on how to sort out the returns.

[JGT57]

A simple solution to the glass deposit may be to buy them for cash as per programme stalls and then return them to the same after the game. Then go to the bar and proceed with you card.

Or is that too simple?

I also disagree with losing the cash option for beer and food.

[Tiglon]

Very impressed that some posters have done so much research into the equipment and systems being used by the club and conducted an in depth cost analysis to determine they are using "cheapo kit".

Or was the thought process a bit less logical and a bit more grumpy-old-man-rant?

[Mark62]

Very impressed that some posters have done so much research into the equipment and systems being used by the club and conducted an in depth cost analysis to determine they are using "cheapo kit".

Or was the thought process a bit less logical and a bit more grumpy-old-man-rant?

On here never