Conveniently Inconvenienced
Right beside my work there is a Tim Hortons that I make a point of not going to; I'd prefer to patronize the mom and pop's diner adjacent to it. The diner offers personalized service (they remember my name), friendly smiles (as opposed to pimply-faced brats working their first job), and it leaves me with a slightly better feeling of giving back to the community. But that's not really the point, today.
The rare times I do go to Hortons I often notice something quite peculiar. I'm a bit of a debit card man--not for any reason apart that I pretty much lose everything, cash included--so I tend to buy things that way. There is a sign for customers, saying, "For Tim Hortons' customers' convenience, Interac is not accepted." I guess the idea is that using Debit takes five seconds longer, and seeing as all of us are in a rush to guzzle-guzzle-munch-munch-get-back-to-work, those five seconds are precious.
The paradox is this: what if you don't have any cash? That means conveniently getting in your car, driving a few convenient kilometres down the road, to a convenient bank--most likely not your bank--which means a convenient 2.50 on top of your hasty withdrawal, and then another convenient drive back to the convenient Tim Hortons, where you can conveniently spend 2 dollars on a cuppa joe and a donut.
Thank God for convenience.
The rare times I do go to Hortons I often notice something quite peculiar. I'm a bit of a debit card man--not for any reason apart that I pretty much lose everything, cash included--so I tend to buy things that way. There is a sign for customers, saying, "For Tim Hortons' customers' convenience, Interac is not accepted." I guess the idea is that using Debit takes five seconds longer, and seeing as all of us are in a rush to guzzle-guzzle-munch-munch-get-back-to-work, those five seconds are precious.
The paradox is this: what if you don't have any cash? That means conveniently getting in your car, driving a few convenient kilometres down the road, to a convenient bank--most likely not your bank--which means a convenient 2.50 on top of your hasty withdrawal, and then another convenient drive back to the convenient Tim Hortons, where you can conveniently spend 2 dollars on a cuppa joe and a donut.
Thank God for convenience.
7 Comments:
If Tim Hurtin's would like to make it convenient for customers, they should have the Tim Hurtin Card - $10, $20, $50, etc...that way, you could just swipe it and move aside - much faster than fumbling with bills and coins. Buy your cards from a vending machine, refill it online with your visa or mastercard. Kinda like the starbucks card. Come to think of it, they should do a promo where you get a card with enough on it for a small double double in a king size pack of DuMauriers or Players Light...
dude, debit is for bitches. until recently i didn't even think men used debit.
i hate standing there while some asshole (like yrself) punches those stupid buttons...duh, whad's my pin again ? ...APPROVED...yay!
carry around a wad of cash like a fuckin' man, what do you think people did 20 yrs ago ?
hey non-bitch dude... get with the 90's, and then after youve gotten with them, get with the year 2000... debit works faster than both A)having a guy who is determined to carry around change IN HIS POCKET, pull out all his coins and then count them to find the right amount, and B) a macho guy pulling out a wad of bills from his fat wallet in his back pocket, giving the cashier a 20, then waiting for the cashier to count out the right amount of change for him...
but heres a thought... maybe the wad of cash in the back pocket and the load of coins in the front ones are more a cover-up for something else a little lacking?
in response to the angry macho coin carrying anti-debit guy: the cards i'm suggesting do not require you to punch any 'buttons' - it's just swipe, get a receipt and go: faster than debit, and no need to wait for change...was i not clear enough, or are we just a little bit frustrated...
to the first-comment-dude...
what we actually need is one of those customer cards for each store we go into... imagine the convenience... only then think about how many "convenience cards" we would have, for each store we frequent... and how long it take for people to search through their bulging-with-cards-wallet to find the right one for the appropriate store...
oh dear, there is no good way to shop. we should all just stay at home, order things online and have them delivered... a little foreshadowing into a hundred years from now??
the whole idea that when you buy something it has to be "approved" by some electronic god means it can only appeal to bitches ... but most buys are bitches these days anyways.
Guys....
1. Debit is slow. Its fine when it works right, but when you screw up the numbers, you're NSF or there is a delay in the system it pisses everyone else off behind you.
2. Hortons will not be taking debit anytime soon. Trust me on this.
3. Horton is testing a cash card (Oakville) and has been for the past year. You can charge the card at the counter and they are looking at ways to charge it over the net.
4. Those 5 seconds aren't much but when you have 10 people in line and each takes an extra 5 seconds. You get the coffee shop equivalent of road rage. Don't tell me you don't get irritated when the car in front og you order breakfast in the drive thru and takes 2 minutes at the window.
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