The debit machine at the diner finally died mid-rush yesterday
It was 11:50am on a Saturday, packed with the after-church crowd, and the card reader just went black. I had to hand-write receipts for 14 people and one guy paid in dollar coins, which I haven't counted that many of since 2009. Any other counter folks dealing with old tech that picks the worst possible moment to quit?
That dollar coin part is wild because most registers don't even have a slot for them anymore, so where did he even get that many? I'm wondering if your diner has a backup plan for when the card reader dies, like an old school knucklebuster machine tucked under the counter. Because hand writing 14 receipts while a line builds up sounds like a total nightmare, especially with church crowd people who are already hungry and impatient. Did the owner ever spring for a second terminal or a wifi hotspot backup, or is it still just the one machine that holds the whole place hostage? Seems like every spot I've worked at waits until the thing fully dies before they even think about fixing it.