June 14th 2024.
Last weekend, a woman from New South Wales had a challenging experience while trying to pay for her hotel room in Sydney with cash. Sharon Walsh, a 60-year-old grandmother from Albury, had booked a room at the Holiday Inn in Parramatta through the online platform Booking.com for $209. However, when she arrived at the hotel at 7:30 pm after a long drive from Nelson Bay where she attended two family baby showers, she faced some unexpected obstacles.
Walsh shared with 9news.com.au that she informed the staff at the check-in desk that she would be paying with cash, as her bank account had been compromised and she was waiting for a new card. She explained, "I said, 'I am paying by cash, that is all I have,' and I pulled the money out." To her surprise, the hotel staff asked for an additional $300 bond on top of the room price. As Walsh only had $375 in cash, she did not have enough to cover it.
She tried to negotiate by offering to pay for the room and the $20 parking fee in advance, but the hotel staff refused. Walsh stated, "I had an iPad and iPhone, so I didn't want to watch any movies. And basically, I didn't need anything else that would require a room fee." Sadly, the hotel staff did not budge, and Walsh was left with no choice but to find another place to spend the night.
Feeling vulnerable and exhausted, Walsh did not want to make the five-hour drive back home to Albury. She feared she might have to sleep in her car, saying, "I was thinking, will I have to stay in my car and where do I stay where I am safe? And then I will have to be on guard." Fortunately, she was able to book a room at the nearby Novotel Sydney Hotel at Parramatta. Walsh shared, "I rang and asked if they were happy to accept cash, and they were. They were amazing, and they even waived my parking fee. I think they just felt sorry for me."
Expressing her disappointment with the lack of understanding shown by the staff at the Holiday Inn, Walsh also mentioned that Booking.com did not accept her cancellation for the hotel room and attempted to charge her credit card for $209. She stated, "I am telling friends not to stay at Holiday Inn, and I am boycotting them now."
The general manager of Holiday Inn Parramatta, Anurag Sharma, clarified that their hotel does accept cash payments from guests. However, their policy requires a refundable bond of $300 to cover any additional charges such as car parking, food and beverage, in-room dining, and movie rentals. Sharma stated, "If the guest doesn't provide enough cash, then we can't check-in the guests. That's our very simple hotel policy."
The debate on whether Australia should introduce laws that mandate businesses to accept cash has been ongoing as the country moves towards a cashless society. Independent federal MPs Andrew Gee, Bob Katter, and Dai Le recently introduced a bill to parliament that includes heavy fines for businesses that refuse to accept or don't carry physical money. However, businesses argue that cash payments are becoming less popular with customers and come with additional security concerns and transportation difficulties.
According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, cash accounted for only 13% of all payments made in 2022. As Australia's spending habits change, some customers have become more vocal about their desire for businesses to keep cash as a payment option. Contact reporter Emily McPherson at
[email protected].
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