Awkward Apple Pay Situations

[Dan70]

As someone with an iPhone 5s in England, Apple Pay is nothing but a myth to me. Does it even exist? Who knows. However those that are across 'the pond', what are your awkward encounters when you try out Apple Pay and the employee looks at you funny when you pull out your phone and not your card.

I've heard some funny stories, share them here. I need a laugh to hide the pain of not having Apple Pay. Go.

 

[golfnut1982]

Hi,
You need an iPhone 6 with the NFC chip to do this. Our phones will not. But, at least we still have cash or credit

I would like to see the face of the guy when you tell the cashier "the guy with the phone pays".

 

[Julien]

As someone with an iPhone 5s in England, Apple Pay is nothing but a myth to me....

It's a 'myth' to all 5S owners.

 

[BrettDS]

My wife and I were checking out at a grocery store a few minutes ago and I used Apple Pay to pay. My wife and I were talking talking about it as we did, since it was the first time she had seen it work. The phone (or maybe the terminal) made kind of a weird chirping noise when the payment was accepted and the cashier looked up to see me pointing my phone at the terminal and she said kind of accusingly "What did you just do!?" I said that I paid with my phone and she said "No, really, what did you just do?" I repeated myself and she handed me the receipt and she said "I call shenanigans"

 

[howieho]

the transaction happens so quickly, makes you wonder if you did it right.

 

[Diode]

Sadly when I used it at Whole Foods yesterday the terminal had an Pay logo (next to the PayPass/PayWave etc logos) and the employee seemed to have been trained on it. No awkward moment for me

 

[Swufi]

Sadly when I used it at Whole Foods yesterday the terminal had an Pay logo (next to the PayPass/PayWave etc logos) and the employee seemed to have been trained on it. No awkward moment for me

From what my sister told me yesterday, Whole Foods has trained their cashiers on Apple Pay and even put stickers on their store windows stating that they now accept it as a form of payment

 

[greytmom]

Well, I just used it at Walgreens about an hour ago, and it worked great. So, that part isn't funny. But, while I was paying, we were talking about coconut m&ms and whether or not the white ones would melt faster or slower than the darker ones...

Does that help?

 

[Euge]

I went to Panera Bread today for lunch. I tried to use Apply Pay and it worked on my phone, but the cashier insisted I didn't pay. I ended up swiping my card.

In my most recent transactions in Passbook, I have 4 transactions with dashes indicating no value, and the location is the city I'm in. So it worked from my side. I don't think the cashier knew what to do.

After my lunch I talked to a manager and told her that they should train the guy, because a lot more people will be coming in using Apple Pay or chip & pin cards.

In hindsight I should have insisted he get a manager or someone else to help him. But it was during lunch hour and pretty busy.

Incidentally, when I swiped my card he said, "there it is," then said my last name. If he knew how to run Apple Pay my name wouldn't have come up and would have been anonymous as advertised.

We've seen news of some retailers training their people. Either Panera Bread hasn't been as diligent, or this particular location hasn't trained up their staff.

 

[kilcher]

I went to Panera Bread today for lunch. I tried to use Apply Pay and it worked on my phone, but the cashier insisted I didn't pay. I ended up swiping my card.

In my most recent transactions in Passbook, I have 4 transactions with dashes indicating no value, and the location is the city I'm in. So it worked from my side. I don't think the cashier knew what to do.

After my lunch I talked to a manager and told her that they should train the guy, because a lot more people will be coming in using Apple Pay or chip & pin cards.

In hindsight I should have insisted he get a manager or someone else to help him. But it was during lunch hour and pretty busy.

Incidentally, when I swiped my card he said, "there it is," then said my last name. If he knew how to run Apple Pay my name wouldn't have come up and would have been anonymous as advertised.

We've seen news of some retailers training their people. Either Panera Bread hasn't been as diligent, or this particular location hasn't trained up their staff.

I love Panera but went there for breakfast yesterday and someone with a name tag indicating they were a "trainer" had to ask someone else how to sub egg white for egg. I thought that was kind of funny, especially since I could have told him how to do it.

 

[0970373]

I went to Panera Bread today for lunch. I tried to use Apply Pay and it worked on my phone, but the cashier insisted I didn't pay. I ended up swiping my card.

In my most recent transactions in Passbook, I have 4 transactions with dashes indicating no value, and the location is the city I'm in. So it worked from my side. I don't think the cashier knew what to do.

After my lunch I talked to a manager and told her that they should train the guy, because a lot more people will be coming in using Apple Pay or chip & pin cards.

In hindsight I should have insisted he get a manager or someone else to help him. But it was during lunch hour and pretty busy.

Incidentally, when I swiped my card he said, "there it is," then said my last name. If he knew how to run Apple Pay my name wouldn't have come up and would have been anonymous as advertised.

We've seen news of some retailers training their people. Either Panera Bread hasn't been as diligent, or this particular location hasn't trained up their staff.

From other reports on this forum, it seems that Panera isn't training their staff properly.

 

[oplix]

I'm super excited at the prospect of people making fools out of themselves by not reading and just assuming things.

 

[Euge]

It's been a while but I thought I would update this thread with another story.

I was at Subway who, if you recall, was one of the original retailers to support Apple Pay at launch. This particular Subway always kept their payment machine by the cashier where the customer couldn't reach it, so everyone always handed the cashier their card. This location was particularly busy at lunch and always very fast, so I assume they preferred to swipe cards themselves to expedite the process and keep the line moving. I normally never bothered to ask to pay with Apple Pay and just used my card.

A couple weeks ago I went there after the lunch rush, so I thought I'd try Apple Pay. When I got to the register I asked if I could pay by Apple Pay. The cashier said "sure," tapped a few buttons, then handed me the swipe machine. But on the screen was a QR code to pay with the Subway app. I said, "this is for the app not for Apple Pay." What quickly followed was the cashier insisting this is what I asked for, and I kept insisting it wasn't. She clearly became annoyed and it became a little awkward, but I kept my cool.

She then said, "come over here I'll show you." So she told me to come around the counter on her side to show me how she was right. At the bottom row of the POS screen were different method of payments. She showed me the Subway App icon and tapped it. I said, "no, go back and select credit card." She said no, the App is how I pay with my phone. I had to insist she go back and tap the credit card option, which she finally did after about 3 times of this back-and-forth. Right in front of her, I held my phone to the swiper and the transaction went through. She immediately said, "oooooh."

Having worked retail myself, I didn't get all snotty like I could have, rather I explained to her how it worked. I told her the next time someone asks to pay with their phone, ask if they are paying with Apple Pay or with the Subway App, and if it's Apply Pay to use the credit card option. She thanked me and I went on my way. (The real solution would be for them to leave the swiper in front of the customer like every other location, but I wasn't going to get into that debate. It wasn't lunch rush but the place wasn't empty either.)

What's sad is with an October launch of Apple Pay, they had no idea until now (April) on how to do this. This franchise obviously ignored any material they received, assuming Subway sends any.

 

[bbfc]

My wife and I were checking out at a grocery store a few minutes ago and I used Apple Pay to pay. My wife and I were talking talking about it as we did, since it was the first time she had seen it work. The phone (or maybe the terminal) made kind of a weird chirping noise when the payment was accepted and the cashier looked up to see me pointing my phone at the terminal and she said kind of accusingly "What did you just do!?" I said that I paid with my phone and she said "No, really, what did you just do?" I repeated myself and she handed me the receipt and she said "I call shenanigans"

Sounds more like poor staff training to me.

----------

It's been a while but I thought I would update this thread with another story.

I was at Subway who, if you recall, was one of the original retailers to support Apple Pay at launch. This particular Subway always kept their payment machine by the cashier where the customer couldn't reach it, so everyone always handed the cashier their card. This location was particularly busy at lunch and always very fast, so I assume they preferred to swipe cards themselves to expedite the process and keep the line moving. I normally never bothered to ask to pay with Apple Pay and just used my card.

A couple weeks ago I went there after the lunch rush, so I thought I'd try Apple Pay. When I got to the register I asked if I could pay by Apple Pay. The cashier said "sure," tapped a few buttons, then handed me the swipe machine. But on the screen was a QR code to pay with the Subway app. I said, "this is for the app not for Apple Pay." What quickly followed was the cashier insisting this is what I asked for, and I kept insisting it wasn't. She clearly became annoyed and it became a little awkward, but I kept my cool.

She then said, "come over here I'll show you." So she told me to come around the counter on her side to show me how she was right. At the bottom row of the POS screen were different method of payments. She showed me the Subway App icon and tapped it. I said, "no, go back and select credit card." She said no, the App is how I pay with my phone. I had to insist she go back and tap the credit card option, which she finally did after about 3 times of this back-and-forth. Right in front of her, I held my phone to the swiper and the transaction went through. She immediately said, "oooooh."

Having worked retail myself, I didn't get all snotty like I could have, rather I explained to her how it worked. I told her the next time someone asks to pay with their phone, ask if they are paying with Apple Pay or with the Subway App, and if it's Apply Pay to use the credit card option. She thanked me and I went on my way. (The real solution would be for them to leave the swiper in front of the customer like every other location, but I wasn't going to get into that debate. It wasn't lunch rush but the place wasn't empty either.)

What's sad is with an October launch of Apple Pay, they had no idea until now (April) on how to do this. This franchise obviously ignored any material they received, assuming Subway sends any.

Again, poor staff training again.

In the UK if the card terminal is Chip & PIN, the merchant shouldn't even touch your card, and I certainly wouldn't expect to hand it over. This sometimes happens in restaurants, but usually they just insert the card in front of you, or 9/10 they ask you to insert your card.

 

[Euge]

Again, poor staff training again.

Not poor staff training, poor Subway franchise ownership.

I'm pretty sure the person at the register was either the owner or pretty high up. She's obviously in charge and is genuinely concerned in having the shop run quickly and efficiently, and is often helping or giving out orders to other staff.

In the UK if the card terminal is Chip & PIN, the merchant shouldn't even touch your card, and I certainly wouldn't expect to hand it over. This sometimes happens in restaurants, but usually they just insert the card in front of you, or 9/10 they ask you to insert your card.

This is in the US where chip & pin doesn't exist (yet). Handing someone your card is standard practice. Have you ever visited? When you pay your check at a restaurant, you give your card to the waiter who brings it to his POS, which is usually out of your sight. Then he'll bring it back with your receipt for you to sign and add tip.

We don't have those fancy wireless terminals you can bring to the table. It's funny actually that when we do get them (I'm hoping it will soon become standard here starting October 2015*), Americans will think it's the coolest thing, not knowing we're so far behind in this regard and most of the rest of the world has had this for years.

* Example reference

 

[Nermal]

This is in the US where chip & pin doesn't exist (yet). Handing someone your card is standard practice. Have you ever visited? When you pay your check at a restaurant, you give your card to the waiter who brings it to his POS, which is usually out of your sight. Then he'll bring it back with your receipt for you to sign and add tip.

That shocked me when I was over there. Give my card to someone where they take it away?

Being in NZ we don't have Apple Pay specifically, but it works more-or-less the same as Paywave (except obviously without the phone). Even to this day, I sometimes get surprised looks when I hold my wallet right up to the reader.

 

[Euge]

That shocked me when I was over there. Give my card to someone where they take it away?

Although I lived in Spain for a time, it wasn't until I had a friend from Spain visit me in the US that I realized this was an issue. When the waiter walked away with her card she looked at me in horror and asked if that was normal. Then she added the tip to the bill and asked if he needed to come back and swipe again.

It's funny, us Americans don't think twice about it because that's the way it's always been. But when you really think about it, it's kinda messed up.

 

[smizzle]

The first place I used it was at a local grocery store chain that just installed NFC terminals. It worked perfectly, but the second time I went, it kept denying the card and I eventually got embarrassed and just paid with my card.

Every other time it has worked fine. Nobody even seems to even notice. Last week a girl at Panera said, "Oh, nobody's done that before!" but that's about it.

 

[Böhme417]

I'm slightly annoyed by my recent experiences trying to use it in London. I was pretty excited since it seemed like a lot more merchants accept this type of payment over there already. Since it's not very obvious at the terminal all the time, I didn't try at several places. When it looked obvious (the LED light arc or the symbol on the screen), I tried and was met with "we don't accept contactless payment" from the cashier. Lame.

After all that, I was only able to use it twice.

 

[Paco II]

With zero liability here in the U.S., it makes it not a big deal.

...It's funny, us Americans don't think twice about it because that's the way it's always been. But when you really think about it, it's kinda messed up.

 

[rorschach]

I think this story is probably my favorite:

I Broke All of Bank of America's Card Terminals With Apple Pay