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 Replies: 66 / Views: 4,542 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
840 Posts |
Went to a bookstore today and picked up a copy of the latest "VOLKSMANIA" - it's a magazine for VW enthusiasts. My buddy is a "bus-nut" and he's featured in an article so I had to get a copy.
Magazines aren't cheap and with tax this cost $10.62! But it was a good opportunity to pay cash and spend 4 buffalos. Clerk didnt seem to care at all, she was too busy trying to convince me to sign up for the membership club blah blah. But at least that's 4 more buffs in the wild...!
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Moderator
 United States
96728 Posts |
Sounds like a lot of work with not immediate return on your efforts..  BUT! you got them buffs out there..  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
840 Posts |
Yup, my hobby is a lot harder than it should be!
It ain't easy being a customer anymore. All these stores pushing customers to use credit cards and phones and wrist watches and anything other than cash. To them I'm a pain in tuchus... They all want me to order on-line or pay at a kiosk. Nope, not me! Cash please!
And I've walked out of a few restaurants because so many now want me to scan a QR code for the menu. Instead I ask for a menu and if they say no, I leave. I can't imagine a world in which a business won't tell me what they sell, instead now they say look it up on-line. I still pay cash, almost every day, and on most everything under 50 bucks or so. And whenever possible I use exact change. But I tell ya, half the time people roll their eyes at me. I'll keep spending my Buffalos and $2 bills because I know they will EVENTUALLY be loved, but many stores, especially the big stores sure don't make it easy.
PS: I could go off-topic very quickly and mention cashiers who check their phones WHILE I'm paying which has happened many many times, etc etc. But I bite my tongue.
PPS: OK, now I will go off-topic... Here's why I never order on-line or at a kiosk: all those websites and machines have a little checkbox for their "terms and conditions". You ever read them? They always include arbitration clauses and waivers and disclaimers that restrict your rights. If you get hurt or sick or don't get what you paid for too bad! You checked that little box. Pay cash and you don't have to agree to anything.
Edited by jeffbuckes
07/20/2024 10:23 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19177 Posts |
Ah, the good old days. Bring back late '50s Fords and Buicks with engines that loose compression at 35-40 thousand miles and burn oil like crazy. Love the rust beginning to build under the paint after a couple years where body panels meet wheel wells. Oh, and the cracked dashboards under the hot sun.
I navigate today's commerce reality as best I can. Not always a picnic, but moving forward.
Edited by ijn1944
07/20/2024 10:38 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
840 Posts |
I'm not talking about the 1950s, I'm talking about 4 years ago before POS companies like Toast put their greasy little fingers into every last transaction. Toast and UberEats and Doordash etc all get a cut of the profits, tacking on fees left and right while reducing service and telling us how lucky we are. Look up the % that these companies get from each sale; on top of the fees that credit card companies charge. That makes inflation worse than it already was, but they tell us it's more convenient and we're all supposed to smile and say OK... And the stores want us to use kiosks to order food and phones to scan QR codes and self-checkout registers all for what? To save on labor and to crush your consumer rights. Read those T&C's sometime. None of this is for your benefit. Sure, I use credit cards when it makes sense to me, but cash is still king. To each his own.
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Moderator
United States
96728 Posts |
Quote:
And I've walked out of a few restaurants because so many now want me to scan a QR code for the menu. Instead I ask for a menu and if they say no, I leave. Yep, Me too - I want that menu in my hands to look over first. Quote:
Ah, the good old days. Bring back late '50s Yeah well, for me the 60's and 70's - I miss the day I could go sit on a commode and snap a crisp news paper - now-a-days it's the phone.  |
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Moderator
United States
188924 Posts |
Quote:
But it was a good opportunity to pay cash and spend 4 buffalos. Clerk didnt seem to care at all... Excellent! Quote:
all those websites and machines have a little checkbox for their "terms and conditions". You ever read them? Yes. Drier than the Sahara.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
840 Posts |
Went hiking out in Western Mass yesterday. Beautiful country out there, beautiful weather too. Got lunch at an old-fashioned hamburger stand afterward, the kind of place that only accepts cash so had no trouble tucking a few buffalos in with my payment. Got some ice cream afterward and tucked a few more buffalos in that payment too. Later on went to a farm-stand, got fresh peaches, corn, early-season plums etc. Paid cash and snuck a few more buffalos in with my exact change. Was a very warm day and a long hike so the wife wanted some iced coffee after that... We found a local coffeeshop down the road, hadn't been there in 15 years but it's still there, got drinks and a couple pastries, paid cash, exact change as always, and there went a few more buffalos. Overall I put 12 buffalos back in circulation yesterday, nobody said a word, which no longer surprises me. All of the cashiers were younger, probably local teens with summer jobs, and they seem to have no interest in the coins, but they also didn't bat an eye or complain or fall apart when I paid cash. Happy to see there are still competent people out there in the world who can count and make change when needed! And I know those buffs will make someone smile when they eventually get noticed so I feel pretty good. PS: our lunch spot in Sunderland, Mass:  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17956 Posts |
Looks nice, jeffbuckles!
I haven't got any trips planned to the USA for the moment, but I have spent at least two dateless Buffalos on previous visits. I used one towards a 'T' (subway) ticket in Boston on one of my very first visits to the States in the early 1990s, and in 2021 on a cruise I used one as part payment for some postcards in a gift shop in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Both were accepted without question. I've also used a cull Liberty Head nickel in a vending machine in Orlando.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19177 Posts |
My last buff dump was in early 2023. Inserted four or five in a couple rolls of nickels I swapped out at a bank.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
620 Posts |
Keep the Buffalos circulating! In regard to cash, card, etc., I was at Meijers self checkout today. Of the six registers, only two accepted cash. Bad enough, but the customers were not pleased, there was a line for the cash terminals&  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
840 Posts |
@NumisRob - Boston is my hometown so I know all about the "T"... a lot has changed since you were here. I bet the T fare was 75 cents on your visit in the early 90s. It's $2.40 now. And no more tokens, they switched to "Charlie Cards" about 20 years ago. The T got rid of the token clerks and installed fare vending machines that sometimes work, sometimes don't. In fact they're already replacing those machines with a new system for a cool BILLION dollars. But the first iteration of fare vending machines accepted tokens as partial payment at their face value - I think it was $1.75 - for a few years. I miss tokens because I never had to guess whether I had enough money for a ride. I just stuck my hand in my pocket. Either I had a token or I didn't. Now we have these cards and they look the same whether they have $20 or $0. That makes a big difference when I'm running for a train... And for some reason the cards "expire" after 5 years, even if you use them evey day and have money on them. Then you have to go downtown, stand in line, and exchange the old card for a new one. As for the cull V nickel, nice to see the machine took that, same dimensions as our current coins so makes sense! @ijn1944 - Nice! There are some happy coin roll hunters out there. Your buffs migh be featured in a youtube video. I've seen more than a few of them, happy collectors spilling a roll of coins and showing us what they find. Customer rolled coins like yours are always the most interesting! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
840 Posts |
@Freespeech57 -
I'm not at all surprised by your experience. I don't want to go off on another tangent so I'm biting my tongue.
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Moderator
United States
188924 Posts |
Great spends! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
840 Posts |
At the Bay State Coin Show yesterday, guy next to me asked the dealer for some dateless buffs to release into the wild. Dealer had rolls of partial dates (no dateless) that he sold to this guy for $8 a roll. The guy bought 4 rolls so thats another 160 buffs on their way back into circulation. Just a fun coincidence that I was there to overhear that...
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Replies: 66 / Views: 4,542 |
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Posted 07/19/2024 7:09 pm
Uncirculated American Silver Eagles 
