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2 McDonald's staff today told me they don't take Apple Pay
- Thread starter miamialley
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I was at Panera Bread yesterday and asked about using Apple Pay. The girl looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language, had no idea what I was talking about. She brought the manager out, who also had no idea. I said I'll just try it, and put my phone close to the NFC reader, and it started beeping and it worked. They were still talking about it as I walked off with my order.
My point is I bet the workers just don't know. I'll try it everywhere I see NFC capable equipment.
My point is I bet the workers just don't know. I'll try it everywhere I see NFC capable equipment.
Yea I went to put my phone on the counter in order to reach for my wallet. When I placed it on the counter it brushed by the terminal and that's when the Apple Pay interface popped up.
Pretty cool!
Yep.
I've lost track of how often I get a confused stare when I do something like hand them $3.17 for a $2.92 total... If they're frozen not knowing what to do I gently say just ring it in. When the change amount of $0.25 comes up on the register the lights go on...
Apple Pay works, just try it...
Pay works at a lot of places that are not aware of it, and also not even advertised as a merchant that accepts Pay.
For Example: I was at Home Depot, not an advertised Pay merchant and also nothing on their credit card readers say anything about NFC, no logo or any clue that the terminal would accept an NFC Payment. After ringing up all my items at self checkout I was lifting my phone toward the credit card machinie just out of curiosity when the cashier at the little help desk said "Oh, we don't take..." Just as she was in the middle of saying it wouldnt work, the phone lit up to the Pay screen and it worked like a charm.. She said "oh.. I didnt know that would work..."
Also used it at McDonalds, Cashier had no idea. When he told me my total I simply placed my phone near the reader (Most McDonalds have the bright red area with 4 indicator lights on the credit card reader)
Next thing you know he was handing me my receipt and said "Man, I gotta get that app.." I informed him it wasnt an app and all the coworkers were discussing how they had no idea it was already working...
Moral of the story.. when in doubt, try it out! it usually works...
Pay works at a lot of places that are not aware of it, and also not even advertised as a merchant that accepts Pay. For Example: I was at Home Depot, not an advertised
Pay merchant and also nothing on their credit card readers say anything about NFC, no logo or any clue that the terminal would accept an NFC Payment. After ringing up all my items at self checkout I was lifting my phone toward the credit card machinie just out of curiosity when the cashier at the little help desk said "Oh, we don't take..." Just as she was in the middle of saying it wouldnt work, the phone lit up to the Pay screen and it worked like a charm.. She said "oh.. I didnt know that would work..."Also used it at McDonalds, Cashier had no idea. When he told me my total I simply placed my phone near the reader (Most McDonalds have the bright red area with 4 indicator lights on the credit card reader)
Next thing you know he was handing me my receipt and said "Man, I gotta get that app.." I informed him it wasnt an app and all the coworkers were discussing how they had no idea it was already working...
Moral of the story.. when in doubt, try it out! it usually works...
The cashier probably thought you wanted to pay with a bag of apples. We don't barter here at McD's.
You know, I work retail.
If NFC works for everything including APple Pay, I could easily see the stores not mentioning it to their employees (you guys seem to think there is this ideal where stores bother training their employees much rather than just letting them figure it out, especially when we are talking about one change to the system). I mean that wasn't what they were hired for (even if working for Apple or Best Buy, they are hired for the people skills and ability to persuade people. Retail doesn't hire you to be an expert in what they sell, in fact in some ways it is bad for them cause they can't convince you to sell things they want you to sell). And there are plenty of people young and old who are confused or don't like it.
So when you say Apple Pay you confuse them into thinking it is something different than normal (because they've never heard of it even if they've been taking phone payments). I bet if they've already been taking payments by phone, if you just ask if you can pay by your phone they would much more likely be able to say, "yes".
I think some of you should go back to working retail, you are living in your own bubble and have no understanding that not everyone has the same interests as you so they aren't paying attention to stuff like this.
Oh, and for those asking, "They want 15 dollars for this?" Well yes, they want a living wage vs. one they can't even really make a living off of. They are taking their time to do something that they don't find fun, of course they want to get paid enough at least to get by on! On top of that, retail isn't just about working the cash registers, it's about dealing with people. And let me tell you, not everyone has that skill. And it isn't about how smart you are, it's about how patient you are. And how well you can communicate. My BF who is an engineer at Boeing fully admits he can't do retail, he simply doesn't have the patience with people enough to do it. You have to put up with a lot of *******s. And trust me, you get to see how stupid people are when working retail too (it goes both ways). Except the stupid people blame you when they can't understand something and you can't act all snotty to them like the customers will to you, you still gotta help them with a smile and try to explain stuff to them without acting like they are stupid. Or sometimes dealing with people who already assume you're stupid just cause you are working retail (without even giving you a chance). And sometimes they are the ones being the stupid ones on top of that! (and no, I'm not saying there aren't stupid retail workers either. But it shows your arrogance when you assume that they are working retail they must be stupid or not worth paying much/at least a living wage).
If NFC works for everything including APple Pay, I could easily see the stores not mentioning it to their employees (you guys seem to think there is this ideal where stores bother training their employees much rather than just letting them figure it out, especially when we are talking about one change to the system). I mean that wasn't what they were hired for (even if working for Apple or Best Buy, they are hired for the people skills and ability to persuade people. Retail doesn't hire you to be an expert in what they sell, in fact in some ways it is bad for them cause they can't convince you to sell things they want you to sell). And there are plenty of people young and old who are confused or don't like it.
So when you say Apple Pay you confuse them into thinking it is something different than normal (because they've never heard of it even if they've been taking phone payments). I bet if they've already been taking payments by phone, if you just ask if you can pay by your phone they would much more likely be able to say, "yes".
I think some of you should go back to working retail, you are living in your own bubble and have no understanding that not everyone has the same interests as you so they aren't paying attention to stuff like this.
Oh, and for those asking, "They want 15 dollars for this?" Well yes, they want a living wage vs. one they can't even really make a living off of. They are taking their time to do something that they don't find fun, of course they want to get paid enough at least to get by on! On top of that, retail isn't just about working the cash registers, it's about dealing with people. And let me tell you, not everyone has that skill. And it isn't about how smart you are, it's about how patient you are. And how well you can communicate. My BF who is an engineer at Boeing fully admits he can't do retail, he simply doesn't have the patience with people enough to do it. You have to put up with a lot of *******s. And trust me, you get to see how stupid people are when working retail too (it goes both ways). Except the stupid people blame you when they can't understand something and you can't act all snotty to them like the customers will to you, you still gotta help them with a smile and try to explain stuff to them without acting like they are stupid. Or sometimes dealing with people who already assume you're stupid just cause you are working retail (without even giving you a chance). And sometimes they are the ones being the stupid ones on top of that! (and no, I'm not saying there aren't stupid retail workers either. But it shows your arrogance when you assume that they are working retail they must be stupid or not worth paying much/at least a living wage).
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They sent out upgrade kits to all the McDonald's to lengthen the cords of the card readers so the cashiers can stick them out the DT Window so customers can use their phones.
Think there was a photo awhile ago of how silly looking the McDonald's DT worker holding the card reader out the window is.
So basically if the McD's has a NFC reader on the credit card machine, it likely should work. Sort of amazing considering some of that equipment is soo old at the McDonald's outlets.
At this point when somebody asks them "do you take this payment option?" they should say, "Lets find out."
Think there was a photo awhile ago of how silly looking the McDonald's DT worker holding the card reader out the window is.
So basically if the McD's has a NFC reader on the credit card machine, it likely should work. Sort of amazing considering some of that equipment is soo old at the McDonald's outlets.
At this point when somebody asks them "do you take this payment option?" they should say, "Lets find out."
Also, I want to add that you don't even have to tell the cashier you are using the phone. I went to McD's yesterday, I didn't even mention it to the cashier, I just put the phone up to the reader and paid. Just like you would with a card, just swipe it and let the computer do the rest.
You do realize most computer systems these days are programmed to automatically assume credit card payment if you slide a card. CC's want it to be that easy. Concurrently, if you want phone payments/NFC to take off, it needs to be that easy too, just hold the phone up and the computer does the rest (and I found at least with McD's it is that easy). No having to explain to the cashier that they need to do something special to use the phone. NFC would never take off if they made it that complicated. People get pissed off if you want them to show you their ID (not cause of privacy but because, "you mean I have to take two seconds to pull my ID out?!").
Hell, I hardly ever have people tell me how they are paying these days cause most systems are good about that so they no longer assume I need to know (our system has been like that for a while though so I'd have to just stay silent and let people tell me credit as if they were waiting for me to press a credit button. Nope, just slide the card there then, the computer will immediately go to credit mode). I mean I can press a credit button, but unless they are doing partial payments it is quicker to just slide the card (one less step - I'm all about trying to be as efficient as possible at my register ).
You do realize most computer systems these days are programmed to automatically assume credit card payment if you slide a card. CC's want it to be that easy. Concurrently, if you want phone payments/NFC to take off, it needs to be that easy too, just hold the phone up and the computer does the rest (and I found at least with McD's it is that easy). No having to explain to the cashier that they need to do something special to use the phone. NFC would never take off if they made it that complicated. People get pissed off if you want them to show you their ID (not cause of privacy but because, "you mean I have to take two seconds to pull my ID out?!").
Hell, I hardly ever have people tell me how they are paying these days cause most systems are good about that so they no longer assume I need to know (our system has been like that for a while though so I'd have to just stay silent and let people tell me credit as if they were waiting for me to press a credit button. Nope, just slide the card there then, the computer will immediately go to credit mode). I mean I can press a credit button, but unless they are doing partial payments it is quicker to just slide the card (one less step - I'm all about trying to be as efficient as possible at my register
).
I read the OP's post as though he was just put through some great injustice in life. One day into Apple Pay and you're forced to pay the "old fashioned" way? Damn...my heart bleeds for you.
The employee may not have been trained on this or simply didn't get the whole Apple Pay thing. As others have stated, simply say you want to pay with your phone and leave Apple Pay out of the conversation. Retailers probably don't care what it is called as long as you pay.
As for bashing McDonald's employees; I've been fortunate to not have to work there, but I've worked fast food and as far as I know, I am far from an idiot.
The employee may not have been trained on this or simply didn't get the whole Apple Pay thing. As others have stated, simply say you want to pay with your phone and leave Apple Pay out of the conversation. Retailers probably don't care what it is called as long as you pay.
As for bashing McDonald's employees; I've been fortunate to not have to work there, but I've worked fast food and as far as I know, I am far from an idiot.
CNN had a good segment on it as well as one of the major network morning shows. The basic consensus was that the concept will eventually work, but it won't come into widespread use as quickly as proponents suggest.
I remember when the Apple IIe came out and experts were saying by the close of the 1980s, most Americans would have a personal computer of some sort having a prominent role in their home. It took another decade after that to reach percentages that would make the home computer as commonplace as those predictions for the end of 1989.
I was a very early cellphone adapter and had one of those huge units you could only carry in a backpack or purse and the salesguy at Macy's said everybody would have one soon. It took at least another five years before people bought into the mobile phone. Apple Pay may take at least a few years to become the it thing.
Yeah, I remember them and they were 1600.00 in early (or so) 80's--
Being that some home user computers before Apple II were north of fifteen grand, the 80's were the first real affordable era of computing. I don't think the general public took to it as fast as most thought they would.
I remember still typing papers in college (early 90s) when I had access and knowledge of word processing/computer. There was a certain rhythm in a typewriter that was comforting.
Being that some home user computers before Apple II were north of fifteen grand, the 80's were the first real affordable era of computing. I don't think the general public took to it as fast as most thought they would.
I remember still typing papers in college (early 90s) when I had access and knowledge of word processing/computer. There was a certain rhythm in a typewriter that was comforting.
Yes there was. I actually sold the phones and the TRS80 in the 70's working part time at Radio Shack while in the service. We've come quite a way. Not sure what everyone including teenagers did back then without their phones--
'Minimum wage' is not designed to be the least amount a company can pay workers, minimum wage is designed to be the least amount a person can be paid but still afford to support themselves.
Also, you realise that most fast food employees aren't actually idiots, right? Just poorly trained. The attitude that people have towards others who just want to make a living is really rude. Ugh.
OP, it seems like saying something confuses matters because not all stores have been given their training yet, etc. Next time I'd just say 'credit' and then try and see if it works.
Why are folks beating up on the employees at fastfood. They don't sit around all day reading Apple and even my old Android phone forums all day. Unlike me, and some of you they have a life outside the latest tech. Just my 2 cents--sorry--
Agreed.
So what if the clerk or cashier didn't know apple pay would work, just try it out and if it doesn't work then come back and report it on Macrumors.
Some of us actually want the vastly increased security and aren't just using Apple Pay to play with a new toy.
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