Huntington Bank Stadium concession stand news

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I know that this has been an occasional topic here, so I'd thought I'd pass this along from GopherSports.com:


Cashless concessions and innovative point of sale system

All concessions within Huntington Bank Stadium have gone cashless. Point of sale technology has also been added at all stands to improve ordering efficiency and speed of service. All major credit/debit cards are accepted as well as Apple and Google mobile payment options.
 


swelna said:
POS technology could be the best on the market, but if the people running it don't understand it, it'll still be slow. Hopefully its an intuitive system and the volunteers can pick it up quickly.
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Amy from accounting who has no sense of urgency stares at screen for 30 seconds between each button push and then quietly requests someone else go get food while she just sits there ... and nothing happens .... but she does nothing....

They're nice people, but damn the volunteer food service system does not work.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Amy from accounting who has no sense of urgency stares at screen for 30 seconds between each button push and then quietly requests someone else go get food while she just sits there ... and nothing happens .... but she does nothing....

They're nice people, but damn the volunteer food service system does not work.
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Yeah, I don't mean to rag on the volunteers, but sometimes you think another one of the volunteers could handle the POS system better...
 





I very seriously doubt that any "old timer" who has the wherewithal to get to the stadium and find his seat does not own a credit or debit card.
Does this old timer also walk into the gas station and pay for his gas with cash before he is allowed to pump?
 

Hopefully their point of sale system handles tapping well.

Waving my watch over a thing is surprisingly convenient, but there's always the "Oh it's not working..." and there goes all the efficiency out the window.
 



Pretty much every stadium I’ve been to in the past 2 years is card only. Wonder if the beer hawkers will be electric too
 


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Amy from accounting who has no sense of urgency stares at screen for 30 seconds between each button push and then quietly requests someone else go get food while she just sits there ... and nothing happens .... but she does nothing....

They're nice people, but damn the volunteer food service system does not work.
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It works better than no one showing up or the general struggle to find people who wouldn't be overwhelmed.
 







Plato said:
I very seriously doubt that any "old timer" who has the wherewithal to get to the stadium and find his seat does not own a credit or debit card.
Does this old timer also walk into the gas station and pay for his gas with cash before he is allowed to pump?
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Not to derail the topic but many old timers have a distrust due to past issues, paying interest, and prefer to use cash when they can. I get that some want to use cards…but is it hard to have a vendor or two to have a cash only line as part of their setup? How would that hurt anyone, everyone has a choice then. Also, yes many of us do go pay cash before we pump, or perhaps we live in a place where we have enough respect and trust for each other to let the person pump and then go pay. If you only ever want to use a card that’s cool…you do you.
 

I'm in my mid 40's and I prefer to use cash as much as I can. This is unfortunate but I will survive.
 

I'm sure they looked at the percentage of folks who paid cash vs paid with card before making this decision, and it was a small enough percentage that they didn't feel it was worth the extra hassle for the volunteers.
 

Taji34 said:
I'm sure they looked at the percentage of folks who paid cash vs paid with card before making this decision, and it was a small enough percentage that they didn't feel it was worth the extra hassle for the volunteers.
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Plus the need for stocked cash drawers at every POS just for those paying cash.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Not to derail the topic but many old timers have a distrust due to past issues, paying interest, and prefer to use cash when they can. I get that some want to use cards…but is it hard to have a vendor or two to have a cash only line as part of their setup? How would that hurt anyone, everyone has a choice then. Also, yes many of us do go pay cash before we pump, or perhaps we live in a place where we have enough respect and trust for each other to let the person pump and then go pay. If you only ever want to use a card that’s cool…you do you.
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I get it, but this is not something new. I'm pretty close to being an old-timer and I pay my credit card balance off every month, never pay interest. All bank accounts come with debit cards these days, so like having an electronic version of cash.
 

Ewert86PC said:
It works better than no one showing up or the general struggle to find people who wouldn't be overwhelmed.
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That has zero to do with why they use volunteers...not that this sentence made much sense anyways.

As for cash vs. credit as someone who moonlights at one of the few venues in the area that still takes cash (and we fought to keep it that way in our recent contract negotiations) I can say that while it is a PITA the truth is almost everyone uses a card anyways (or tap payments) so there is likely no going back. Even systems that are years out of date will still be more efficient than the system they had before so at least on the payment side it should make life easier. The food service side of it will always be an issue until the volunteer system is retired.
 

hungan1 said:
What about old-timers who want to pay cash?
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They can get with the times or not go. Grandpa with the flip phone (or no cell phone at all), isn't going to be able to go to any kind of event very soon as more and more places require the use of an app for ticketing, and they aren't going to be able to spend money at events (assuming they go with someone normal who handles the tickets) because almost all venues are cashless.

Even all our local high school sporting events are 100% cashless, meaning grandpa better figure it out if he wants to see his grandkid play.
 

Twins stadium has a "convert cash to gift card" type machine. Wonder if HBS will have those?

Here's where we've run into the problem - you send your kid to a game with a friend or on a field trip with $20 cash to pay for their concessions. Then they get there and you find out they can't use it. OR you are at the game and want to send your kid up to concessions and would feel more comfortable handing them a $20 bill instead of your credit card (kids lose stuff and would rather have them lose a $20 than a credit card).

We've learned our lesson at Twins and United games and work around it now, but those are the 2 scenarios where it's been a bit of a pain.
 

Many high school games are cashless, from the ticket booth to concessions and merchandise. I understand the resistance from some people but it's where society is shifting to. You can RTB with the current, or against it.

I was recently at Valley Fair with the family and had all tickets on my phone. Somehow my iPhone seized up (couldn't turn off, hard reboot, anything) and it was a pain in the butt to wait at guest services for them to look up my info and print me out a paper copy of the QR code that had some lunch and drink passes on them. Probably a trade-off for all the slight conveniences I gain from every cashless encounter throughout the years
 

Word said:
Twins stadium has a "convert cash to gift card" type machine. Wonder if HBS will have those?

Here's where we've run into the problem - you send your kid to a game with a friend or on a field trip with $20 cash to pay for their concessions.
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You starving your kids is my first concern ...
 



NotAFanOfBecky said:
Not to derail the topic but many old timers have a distrust due to past issues, paying interest, and prefer to use cash when they can. I get that some want to use cards…but is it hard to have a vendor or two to have a cash only line as part of their setup? How would that hurt anyone, everyone has a choice then. Also, yes many of us do go pay cash before we pump, or perhaps we live in a place where we have enough respect and trust for each other to let the person pump and then go pay. If you only ever want to use a card that’s cool…you do you.
Click to expand...
In the UP, where our lake cabin is, the sign on the pump says that if you are driving a snowmobile or ATV you have to bring your helmet or driver's license in before you can pump any gas.
 

Plato said:
In the UP, where our lake cabin is, the sign on the pump says that if you are driving a snowmobile or ATV you have to bring your helmet or driver's license in before you can pump any gas.
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I know a few places in N. Wisconsin that are the same way.
 

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