For some time, the operators of some cash machines have been claiming poverty and that the banks do not pay them enough to run the service, so perhaps it should not be too surprising that one operator, Cash Zone has taken advantage of the closure of Rye’s last major bank (if one excludes Nationwide) to slap charges on the cash machines outside Jempson’s.
A small, and fairly inconspicuous, notice on a window close to the machines gives warning that if a customer actually wants their own money from their bank, they will have to pay for it to the tune of 95p for each withdrawal.
It also reminds customers that they can withdraw cash from the Post Office counter (potentially extending the already-long queues at some times of the day) or ask for up to £50 cash back from the tills when making a purchase in the shop, with no charge being made in either case.
A notice on the screen of the machine itself, is less ambivalent as the picture at the top shows.
For some time charges have been made at certain cash machine locations such as motorway service stations, where the customer has no option if they need cash and the charges now seen at Jempson’s merely represent a creep, that some might regard as opportunistic, of this policy.
All is not lost, however, as there are still machines – in the shop at the Skinners roundabout and at Tilling Green – that will allow access to one’s own money without demanding a ransom for the privilege.
Image Credits: John Minter .
I have been told that the cash machine at Tilling Green actually charges more than 95p forwithdrawals Can anyone confirm this?
In the grocery shop yes it does. However the newsagents has a free cash machine.
I tried to get cash out at the post office in Rye this morning using my Monzo card and was told that the Post office accept only the main banks’ cards. So off I went to the Nationwide since I really think 95p per cash transaction is to be avoided at all costs.
However the Nationwide cash point was out of order, temporarily suspended. The cashier inside was very helpful and said that head office was trying to sort out the problem. Nationwide Head Office probably have no idea that their bank is the only one left in Rye offering a free ATM.
I know I could have walked to Costcutter but didn’t.
It struck me that some of the shops in Rye may lose business if cash is not readily and freely available from cash points in the town and the post office.
I for one am happy to operate in a cashless society but it’s not all businesses offer card payment and then there’s the market on Thursdays ….Plus weekly classes etc etc.
Just to add. There was quite a queue behind me at the Nationwide cash machine which had been working just before I arrived. Most were tourists and didn’t know where the nearest cash machines were. The lady from the Nationwide and I took some time to explain where Costcutter and Tilling Green were and how long it would take to walk there. They didn’t seem interested in going to Jempsons a few minutes away to an ATM that charged.
So, once again, Jempsons has jumped on the bandwagon. First they charge us for parking and now it’s cash. I agree with Julia Farrington when she says Rye shops and cafes will all loose out. Some cafes will only accept cash anyway and tourists frequently need to top up. The Nationwide cash point has run out many times before and this will now be a more frequent occurrence now the banks have disappeared.
Jempsons refuses to open on Sundays apparently “for religious reasons”. What happens to “religion” when it comes to charging it’s customers for cash and parking, even on a Sunday.
I feel the comment on Jempsons is a little unfair. Recent alterations to their parking arrangements, in response to comments made, have meant that there is now the possibility of a free short stay car parking space being available in the town to pick up a few items and visit the Post Office which previously wasn’t possible. Living just outside of Rye (with a bus every 2 hours), I had given up visiting the town as short term car parking has become impossible.
As far as the cash machine is concerned, then it would have been nice if the major banks who have benefited from savings by pulling out of the town had left at least one or two cash machines in their place when they went. A visiting bank for half an hour in a hotel car-park once a week really isn’t much of a substitute, and I am not aware of a method of withdrawing cash from my computer at home. As I understand it, it’s the bank networks that are encouraging cash machine charges by reducing the amount paid to the cash machine companies. Jempsons continue to offer a free cash machine facility at Peasmarsh, long may it continue.
Meanwhile I discover this morning the petrol station corner shop requires a minimum 5 pound spend to use your card. What a rip-off. About time Rye and its shopkeepers worked out that this is becoming a cashless society, and you can’t charge extra for people to use their cards, whatever the size of the purchase. Happy to vote with my feet and shop elsewhere.
Local people are now realising to shop in certain places in Rye,it has become take it or leave it, the visitors will fill our tills, sadly with little or no competition, if you fill your car up in Rye it costs over 50p a gallon more, compared with other garages, they have a monopoly and they know it