Hey; I don't post on here too much - but I'm the guy who basically emails all of the executives asking when their payment systems will be modernised in the form of A) Firstly accepting contactless if still that far behind & B) Enabling their terminals to accept limitless CDCVM for the likes of Apple Pay or Android Pay.
I've emailed or in some cases called everyone from Arcadia Group to Tesco; and still have loads more to chase. I've mostly had success in persuading local businesses to enable higher limit payments or upgrading their EPOS terminals.
Thought I'd post some of the response I've had from the larger companies either from the CEO's themselves in some cases, their executive team or fobbed back down to CS teams; as might be beneficial for lead time of Apple Pay or acknowledgement of the 'we're not investing' attitude.
Responses from 'this is our ETA' to 'Not something we care about'...you can only guess the stores I no longer use
& very much hope they go down the route of Comet or Woolworths; a store that can not invest or innovate can not compete.
Tesco's -
"It's disappointing the limit we have set for contactless device payment in our stores is inconvenient for you. I realise this must be frustrating.
As you are aware, our contactless payment of all varieties is restricted to values of less than £30.00. Although there is no national limit, we made the decision to set it the same as contactless card payments.
At the moment we are currently trialling a higher value in two of our stores in Welwyn Garden City. We are planning to extend this to more stores later in the year with an aim to have all stores enabled next year. The exact details and payment limits are yet to be finalised.
We also have our PayQwiq, and this works slightly differently than contactless payment where the limit is £250. This can be downloaded on to your device and can be used for higher payments, which will hopefully be more convenient for you. This can be used on any of our tills in store by scanning the QR code within the app on the checkout scanner to collect Clubcard points and complete payment.
I know this isn't your preferred method of payment but hopefully it is suitable until our trials are complete.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact our Chief Executive's office, and please don't hesitate to get in touch if I can be of any further assistance."
Shall we say; I politely laughed at the PayQwiq part :')
PC World -
"Thank you for your email. Please accept my apologies for the delay in this response. I would have liked to have discussed this further over the telephone, however, it was not possible to locate a contact number for you.
We do not currently have any details about contactless payment provisions in our stores and regret that we are unable to provide further information at this time. Should this become available in our branches, details will be available at the point of sale and our branch staff will also be able to advise you further.
Please accept my apologies that I am unable to assist you further on this occasion"
Dixons Carphone (Carphone Warehouse) -
"Thank you for your email addressed for the attention of our Chief Executive Officer. As part of the Customer Support Team, your correspondence has been passed to me to investigate and respond.
Having looked into this matter, at this time, the majority of our customers make purchases that are over the contactless limit of £30.00. Due to this, we feel that it is not currently viable at this time. Of course, this is something that is being constantly reviewed and I thank you for your feedback.
I hope this has answered your query and apologise or any disappointment caused."
& (after advising of Mobile payment methods)
"Thank you for your email and the information regarding ApplePay and Android Pay.
While your comments have been noted, I can assure you that regardless of the method of payment we, as a business choose to employ, DixonsCarphone is commited to providing the best products with the latest technology, currently available, to all our customers,
Should a decision be made to implement Contactless Payment in our stores, then the Point of Sale equipment will be upgraded accordingly. As with any business decision, these remain internal to the company for which we have no obligation to provide information about or discuss with a third party."
Asda - Awaiting Response -
"Thank you for contacting me regarding contactless payments. Your email has been passed to me as a member of our CEO's Executive Relations Team.
I am sorry that you feel the current limit of £30 for these type of transactions is insufficient. I do hope this hasn't caused you inconvenience.
I have asked the team who deal with this side of the business for a response to your query. Please may I ask for your kind patience while I await a response, this may take a few days."
Debenhams -
"I am sorry to inform you that we are currently not using any such systems for payment.
However, once such systems are installed we will publish the new mode of payment at Debenhams.
I hope this information is of some assistance."
South West Trains -
"We currently accept the following forms of contactless payment for journeys within the London Travelcard area, these include : CPAY, Apple Pay and BPAY.
For journeys outside of the London Travelcard area, contactless payment is being rolled out across the network on our self service ticket machines and is limited to journeys under £30"
Thank you again for contacting South West Trains.
John Lewis -
"Thank you for responding so promptly to my recent email.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your comments. I can confirm John Lewis is currently looking into implementing more updated forms of payment which will be convenient for our customers. As such Apple Pay/Android Pay is something we are looking into, however no final decision has been made yet. I have passed your feedback on to the relevant department and it will be taken into account when discussions of this nature are taking place.
Additionally, I would like to thank you for taking the time to bring these issues to our attention as it is only with continuous feedback from our customers that we are able to enhance our overall customer service going forward.
Should you wish to discuss matters further please do not hesitate to contact me either by email or telephone, on the number provided below."
GWR -
"I do appreciate your concerns with our Ticket Vending Machines and I agree they play an integral role in the daily commute of many people across our network. As a business we are acutely aware of the need to upgrade or replace the existing machines, and of course any new ones recently installed, and any future ones, have the functionality we know is needed to keep up with the advancing technologies of the industry.
These new additions include the new 6 Smart wall machines at Paddington together with those at Trowbridge and Exeter St. Thomas. These can accept the new polymer notes and are Contactless enabled.
Of the existing old machines, we have two types in service across our network and our contracts with both machine suppliers is under review.
The oldest machines are “Shere Worldline” machines and given their age we are unable to upgrade them to work with the necessary technology for the notes, coins, and contactless function. The tender process in place for the replacement of these machines, with a completion date for replacement currently set at December 2017.
The other machine type (Scheidt & Bachmann) can be upgraded and this will allow them to have the necessary technology installed to accept the new notes and coins, in addition to enabling contactless functionality. The delivery of these upgrades will commence in January next year and should take around 4 months to complete on our fleet of 150 S & B machines.
In addition to the above we are currently reviewing Retailing and Methods of Payment requirements going forward. Consideration has to be given to the decline in the acceptance of money in these machines, coupled with continued vandalism, which has meant we have had to turn off cash acceptance to preserve the machine in service.
I appreciate this is perhaps not the answer you were hoping for but I do hope I have been able to give you reassurances that this is on our radar and plans are in place to improve customer experience in this area.
Thank you again for escalating your concerns."