Standing at the receptionist desk at the Meriton Suites, Adelaide Street, Brisbane a few weeks ago, I offer cash to cover the cost of my overnight stay. ‘We don’t accept cash’, I’m told. “Oh really, why not?”, I ask. “We don’t have a safe”. “Oh, really”, I say again, ‘’How can I pay?” I’m told that I can pay with a debit or credit card. I offer my Visa debit card and am told that there will be a charge for that method of payment. Now, my feathers are really beginning to be ruffled and I exclaim – “You can’t do that, not with a debit card”. “That’s our policy, madam”.
I thought I had been savvy. Knowing that I was going to be spending some time in Australia, I had transferred a lump sum of money to a friend so that I could have cash on hand and avoid incurring not only exchange rate fees, but also card fees. So, I asked, ‘How can I pay without incurring any fee?”, and was informed that, if I had an Australian EFTPOS card, I would not be charged a fee. I asked “How can I do that if I’m not a resident of Australia?” The answer was a shoulder shrug.
That, to me, seems to be discrimination against travellers who contribute to the economy… and a double whammy.
The next day I decided to have a cup of coffee and watched as the cashier automatically presented me with a card machine that showed the price was over $5; however that magically reduced to $5 when I offered cash.
Whatever happened to the choice as to how we pay, whatever happened to flexibility, to considering different needs?