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You are not allowed to pay with cards or copper coins in this ice cream parlor. They have put up a sign to make this clear to customers. Will this increase sales?
Kassel – It is annoying when a shop only accepts cash and you do not have any coins on hand because you prefer pays by card. Many shops still only accept cash, for example for hygiene reasons. But this ice cream parlor is even more restrictive. They don’t even accept all coins – copper is not allowed here. This not only bothers customers in the store, but also online.
“No acceptance of copper coins”: Ice cream parlor refuses payment method
“Sometimes I wonder if they are even interested in our money,” writes the author of the post on Reddit. In the picture you can see the counter of an ice cream parlor. There is a large sign on the window that says: “No copper coins accepted!” Below that in small letters: Cash payment: We do not accept debit or credit cards.”
Users online do not seem to be enthusiastic about the regulation: “I’d rather have €1k less turnover than spend €50 on payment.” “Finally, I’ll be able to get rid of my €500 notes somewhere. What? You don’t take them either?” jokes one. “Well, the ice cream is probably good somewhere else too,” one user hints at a boycott of the shop.
Unfortunately, the problem seems to affect many people. One user says: “I went to a bakery and wanted to pay, but they didn’t accept cards. I then went to the bank a few houses down, withdrew €100 and was given a €100 note. The saleswoman complained, I said to her, “If you’re the last shop in all of Munich that doesn’t accept cards, then you have to take the money as it comes out of the machine.”
No copper coins accepted in the ice cream parlor: Is this actually legal?
Another comment asks: “I may be misinformed, but aren’t retailers in Germany obliged to take a certain number of each euro coin?”
The Coin Act (Section 3, Paragraph 1, Sentence 2) is more on the side of the retailers. In Germany, the so-called freedom of contract between retailer and customer applies. This means that a retailer can decide for themselves whether they only accept cash, only card payments or both. However, it is mandatory that shops must clearly inform their customers before the purchase is made about which payment methods they accept. The sign for cash payment is therefore permitted.
However, if you can generally pay with cash in a shop, copper coins must also be accepted if there is adequate change. Nevertheless, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office It is a “restricted” means of payment. No one is obliged to accept more than 50 coins or to accept payment in euro and cent coins for purchases totaling more than 200 euros. However, this should not be a problem at the ice cream shop. (nr)
