Two young women come into my resort and try to make a reservation. They debate back and forth for a while about whether or not they want to pay so much for the room; we have a huge property and lots of amenities, so we are more expensive than a hotel. They finally decide to get a room for the night and extend in the morning if they like it. I have already brought everything up on my computer while they were talking, so all I need is to fill in their personal information and take payment for the room.
Me: “All right, that will be [total] for the night. If you’re paying with cash, we require a $200 deposit that you will get back at checkout, but there is no deposit if paying with a credit card.”
Woman #1: “Okay, what’s your cash tag?”
Me: “My what?”
Woman #1: “Your cash tag. I am paying with [Mobile Payment Service #1].”
Me: “Sorry, we don’t take payment with [Mobile Payment Service #1]. You’ll have to pay with cash or a credit card.”
Woman #1: “I don’t carry cash; this is more secure.”
Me: “Okay, well, my system isn’t set up to accept anything other than cash or credit card, so I physically have to have one or the other to check you in.”
Woman #2: “It’s fine, I’ll get it. I have [Mobile Payment Service #2] and [Mobile Payment Service #3].”
Me: “We don’t accept those, either — just cash or credit card.”
Woman #2: “Well, how do you expect us to pay for our room, then?”
Woman #1: “Is there a manager I can speak to?”
Me: “No manager on the premises, just me. Sorry.”
Woman #2: “Well, can we just transfer the money to your account and have you figure it out?”
Me: “NO!”
They then tried to convince me to download one of the apps on my phone so that they could pay me for the room and I could figure out how to pay the resort, but I wasn’t having it. I don’t understand how people travel without carrying regular forms of payment. Am I just behind the times?