Benefit to being a known non-sc

[roxtar]

Yesterday I went out to get a sandwich for lunch... it was ~12 inches in length and cost ~ $5.

I go there a lot, so they know me. The one older lady who works there often gives me an extra meatball or 2 when I get that sandwich, and I'm always polite and understanding of the wait when they're getting slammed at lunch time. Turns out that their card reader was fubar and I only had $3 in cash on me. They say, "no problem, just pay for it next time you're in" and send me on my way.

That's a level of trust I'm not accustomed to with regards to most businesses.

[TheSHAD0W]

I've mentioned this particular franchise before, when it was being discussed in a negative light; it is known to be very light in governing its franchisees, which can lead to problems, but also to a degree of flexibility you only see at mom & pop stores.

[wolfie]

Turns out that their card reader was fubar and I only had $3 in cash on me. They say, "no problem, just pay for it next time you're in" and send me on my way.

If I'm guessing right as to the sandwich chain, you pay after they make the sandwich. You had brought a legitimate means of payment which didn't work due to problems with their equipment. At this point, the ingredients used were a "sunk cost" (if they hadn't told you to pay next time, they would have had to trash the sandwich).

For a regular customer who is known to not cause problems, they took the right route - your preferred method of payment didn't work for reasons not your fault (your card wasn't declined - their machine couldn't process it), and you didn't have an alternate means available). They'll get the money the next time you're in, rather than trashing the sandwich (wasted supplies and annoying a regular customer). I can understand taking the other approach (cancel the sale and trash the sandwich) with "one-shot" customers and regulars who routinely try to get away with "freebie" extras, since the "pay later" approach would encourage scammers.