A guy comes into the cafe and wants to pre-pay for his team of workers' lunch on his credit card. They are installing air conditioners in the apartments above the cafe. He wants to pay for seven coffees, seven sweet slice type things, seven burgers. I'm worried about the burgers being different prices and is there going to be money owed back, so I tell him lets settle the bill afterwards.
Later I wonder if this was a stupid thing to do, because I have no deposit, no security. The guys all come in and order stuff and it all adds up to quite a bit. And all the guy left me with was his business card with his contact details.
I call the guy to say we're closing at 4pm, can you come down and sort the bill please. He says no can do because I am back at the office. He gives me his credit card details instead.
All good.
Problem is, I can't do an over-the-phone credit card transaction. I don't know why until I go to the bank and explain the situation. They tell me that we can't do over-the-phone transactions until we've been operating for six months.
Pooh, I think, and wonder if I have been very stupid. I shouldn't have trusted the guy. I should have taken payment upfront.
I email the guy to ask for payment to be transferred into our bank account, wondering is this is going to get complicated.
Meantime, earlier, a guy comes into the cafe and says he'll give me five dollars if we break our rule about not handing out change for parking metres (this is the most loosely enforced rule ever... we are near a hospital and although it's really fucking annoying to give out change for parking meters, sometimes change for parking meters should not be a drama for the hospital visitors). I start counting out the money, then give him his full amount back, saying I can't possibly do that do him, give him 15 out of 20 just so he gets some change. I can't do that. But he insists.
I put the five dollars in the tip jar, which unlike a lot of cafes, we share with our staff.
A guy walks in and wants something to eat. He only has six dollars. All we have left are our pre-made sandwiches which are $8.50. He turns to leave but hell, a guy just gave us a fiver for nothing, so I give the guy a cheap sandwich with the promise of him not telling anyone.
And just now I get an email from the air conditioner guy. Our transaction is based on nothing except goodwill. But the goodwill has been honoured.
Sometimes, you just gotta trust the vibe.
Later I wonder if this was a stupid thing to do, because I have no deposit, no security. The guys all come in and order stuff and it all adds up to quite a bit. And all the guy left me with was his business card with his contact details.
I call the guy to say we're closing at 4pm, can you come down and sort the bill please. He says no can do because I am back at the office. He gives me his credit card details instead.
All good.
Problem is, I can't do an over-the-phone credit card transaction. I don't know why until I go to the bank and explain the situation. They tell me that we can't do over-the-phone transactions until we've been operating for six months.
Pooh, I think, and wonder if I have been very stupid. I shouldn't have trusted the guy. I should have taken payment upfront.
I email the guy to ask for payment to be transferred into our bank account, wondering is this is going to get complicated.
Meantime, earlier, a guy comes into the cafe and says he'll give me five dollars if we break our rule about not handing out change for parking metres (this is the most loosely enforced rule ever... we are near a hospital and although it's really fucking annoying to give out change for parking meters, sometimes change for parking meters should not be a drama for the hospital visitors). I start counting out the money, then give him his full amount back, saying I can't possibly do that do him, give him 15 out of 20 just so he gets some change. I can't do that. But he insists.
I put the five dollars in the tip jar, which unlike a lot of cafes, we share with our staff.
A guy walks in and wants something to eat. He only has six dollars. All we have left are our pre-made sandwiches which are $8.50. He turns to leave but hell, a guy just gave us a fiver for nothing, so I give the guy a cheap sandwich with the promise of him not telling anyone.
And just now I get an email from the air conditioner guy. Our transaction is based on nothing except goodwill. But the goodwill has been honoured.
Sometimes, you just gotta trust the vibe.
2 comments:
Grumpy hippy ;)
Maybe.
Post a Comment