Cashless shops operating i̶l̶l̶e̶g̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ (legally) in Netherlands a̶n̶d̶ (but not) Belgium; corporate disobedience - eviltoast

(edit: title corrected thanks to @Ghoelian@feddit.nl’s info)

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/1624944

Saw a “no cash” sign at a bakery. Conversation went like this:

me: So, no cash? What’s going on there?

cashier: Yeah, we’re not allowed to accept cash.

me: Isn’t it the other way around? Isn’t there a legal tender law in #Netherlands?

cashier: Yeah, we’re not allowed to refuse cash.

me: So this sign posting says loud and clear “we are breaking the law”, in effect, no? Is that not being enforced?

cashier: That’s right. It’s unenforced in Netherlands.

The same thing is happening in #Belgium. This kind of forces me to revise my understanding of European culture & norms. In both the US & Europe there is a culture of certain laws (rightfully) going unenforced against individual natural people. E.g. small amounts of marijuana possession. But I previously thought when it came to moral/legal people (businesses), they simply complied with the law in Europe to a great extent.

IOW, companies complied with laws in Europe. Contrast that with the US where corporations small and large will blatantly disregard any laws that interfere with profit based on the calculated risk of getting caught and risk of penalties.

I just wonder if Europe is being influenced by cavalier US corps and changing to comply only when penalties are likely. Or is this something I had wrong all along… that EU companies were always loose with compliance?

#WarOnCash

update

The original post was censored without reason by @knollebol4 @nlemmy.nl. It’s now a non-existent node, perhaps rightfully so if it’s going to use an anti-spam tool against ideas.

  • qyron@sopuli.xyzNederlands
    21·
    1 year ago

    I’m in Portugal and no place whatsoever can refuse to take cash and you, as a customer, can complain in writing and even have the police called: you want to pay, you are not evading your charge, it’s the business problem how they handle the cash they receive.

    During the pandemic we moved a lot of the day to day transactions to digital format but it was ruled it is unfair treatment to refuse cash.

    What can be refused is to take unreasonable volume of coins or too high value bills, as in, paying €50 in small change or handing a €200 bill.

    • activistPnk@slrpnk.netOPNederlands
      11·
      1 year ago

      Indeed that’s similar to Belgium. By (unenforced) law, a shop in Belgium must accept accept cash but they can refuse banknotes that are disproportionately high for the transaction amount, they can refuse high volumes of coins, and they can refuse if they don’t have change to give back.

      There was a group of people who fought the war on cash in #Belgium by entering a cashless cafe, placed orders, racked up a bill, consumed the food, then when it came time to pay they said “here is our cash. We are happy to pay.” The cafe worker threatened to call the police if they do not pay by card. They said “please feel free to call the police… we will wait.” The police showed up and said indeed there was nothing for them to do. The customers were free to go.