Soda Pop's at the Yard — Restaurant in Bryson City

This was the most insane situation I have ever encountered at an establishment. I suggested the owner use square to process credit cards instead of being cash only. The owner almost physically attacked me and had his two other friends jump into the fight. Read on to hear the whole thing.

After we got the ice cream we were informed that they only take cash which was not listed anywhere in the store. I suspect that all of the locals know about this but out of towners would have no idea. We had licked the ice cream so we could not say at this point that we did not want the ice cream. The girls said we could do an iou system and come back with the cash later to pay them. It was 9 pm and i think they closed at 10 pm. I only had $5 cash on me out of the $8.30 and no one else out of our group of 4 was carrying cash either because honestly who carries cash these days?

So my wife went to the atm clear across town that the nice girls told us about to get cash. This was the only atm in town and only works with local credit union, not for people out of town and not with any other banks for people out of town. So then my wife had to go from store to store trying to find who in town does cash back with a purchase. She finally ended up at the dollar store in town that was super nice and allowed my wife to do cash back so that we could pay for the ice cream.

This whole process took 45 minutes and a good portion of my wife's ice cream had melted. I told the nice girls at the counter about square could process credit cards on a cell phone with a card reader. My wife had used it with items she had sold in the past at conventions. The girls said oh yeah I know what you are talking about but they were just working there. The owner was sitting outside so I was like awesome I could just tell the owner about square it will help his business and help others from facing this same issue.

So I sat down across the owner and started to tell him about square and he cut me off not wanting to hear about it stating he knew all about square but the cost of the transactions did not make sense for his business given the small transactions for buying one ice cream cone and he did not want to pass on the added costs to the customer. I understand this point but he does not have an atm in the store and he does not even have a sign anywhere in the store that says cash only. Also square is only 2.75% so $8.30 becomes $8.53 which would be less than a $3 charge at an atm.

I told him I understand his position but no one carries cash anymore it is very rare. He said that his customers do not have problem paying cash and it is not an issue for customers. So then I started laying out exactly what my wife had to do in order to pay cash in his establishment. Now previously during the conversation I had been very calm and friendly but when I started to layout what my wife had went through some anger started seeping into my voice, not a lot, but some. It was hard to relay what my wife had gone through without getting a bit impassioned. I did not curse, did not threaten just started laying out what she went through like I had written above.

I never finished telling the owner what she had gone through because the owner stood up and came straight at me like he was going to attack me. Yelling at me I was going to speak to him with respect. I stood up when he came at me prepared to have to defend myself. Now, I was not disrespectful to the owner, I basically pointed out clearly that his cash only requirement was a real problem and he could not take it so he was going to fight me. One of his two other friends stood up when I stood up to defend myself, if need be, and suddenly I was in a situation where I might have to fight off 3 attackers one of which being the owner of this establishment. The owner's friend told me to take a walk, I pointed out I am not trying to have a physical altercation. His friend was very threatening telling me again to "take a walk". I went into the store and got my friends and got out of the...

Nothing special. Required to pay cash, no indication that they didn't take cards until they handed us the ice cream. Ran to atm run by the credit union, didn't work with out of state bank cards, had to go to the Dollar General to get cash back so I could pay for my ice cream. 45 minutes later I was able to pay. I literally ran all over Bryson City to pay for this $8.50 of ice cream at 9pm at night.

Husband went to go talk to the owner, suggest maybe he use square or some other modern payment processing system. Owner insisted that "cash only has never been a problem" and husband explained what we'd just gone through so we could pay for our damn ice cream. Owner and his cohorts then got aggressive. Owner got angry and left, cohort stood up and got in my husband's face telling him he needed to "take a walk".

We left shortly after. Piss poor customer service, aggressive owner who refuses to move forward with technology. His poor employees have to take an IOU and HOPE the person comes back with money to pay.

Spoiler alert: most people won't bother. So you're losing money and product. The interior aesthetic is nice if you care about an "ole time-y ice cream pallor" but the product is nothing special, you could go to Brusters or Baskin and Robbins and get the same or better quality and guess what, pay with a credit card, like people who live in the modern era and not have to run all over the goddamn town...

Incredibly poor quality service from manager in store. Not to mention the ridiculous "cash only" demand for payment on just regular medium grade Mayberry Ice Cream available at the Grocery store down the street.

We simply wanted a triple scoop of vanilla and asked them to put it in a drink cup and a top so we could take it home with us.

The young server worked to do this but the manager reprimanded her for this, had her rinse out the cup for reuse, and handed us the three scoops in a tiny cup that could not be covered.

We said this isn't going to work. She said, quite rudely, "we aren't allowed to do that!"

Really, them what is another way you can serve your customer? Maybe put a scoop in separate cups with a cover? Find a way to do it! We would pay for the cup if there is an expense issue. I mean really, three scoops is three scoops. Do you want to sell ice cream or not?

How is this a way to run a business? You lost $5, plus $2 tip, and a customer. Good job! Any mountain hack...