The internet is riled up after a video of a man confronting a Jimmy John’s worker over their “no cash” policy went viral.
In a video that has since been deleted from a YouTube user named Bo Huggabee, but has been reposted by TikTok user @sarah_conner1, a shopper can be seen interacting with an employee of Jimmy John’s. The employee informs the customer that, because he only wants to pay in cash, he must throw away the sandwich, as the store is not currently accepting cash payment as they cannot give out change.
“Can I just have my sandwich?” asks the customer.
“No. I’m not going to risk my job for you,” answers the employee.
After this, Huggabee says that he will speak to the employee’s manager. The employee says he can do this, but that the manager is “not going to do a d*mn thing for you.”
At this point, Huggabee asks a nearby person if he’s “ever heard of anything like this.” The person says that he has.
“Can you do us a favor and quit wasting our time, and just go? There’s nothing we can do for you,” the employee says.
This conversation continues, with the employee noting that the store takes “card, Apple Pay, Google Pay”—they simply cannot accept cash at the current moment. The customer is undeterred.
“I’ve waited years for this to happen,” the customer states, confusing the employee. Later, the customer appears to elaborate, saying, “Digital currency—it’s really screwed over America, hasn’t it?” The employee does not respond.
The video concludes with the employee throwing the sandwich in the garbage as promised.
While cashless stores have become popular in recent years, there are several states that outright ban the practice as “not everyone can qualify for a credit card and some people do not have a bank account and thus cannot get a debit card,” writes Business.com.
@sarah_conner1 customer at jimmy johns wasn't able to pay for his food in cash due to the system being down and employee throws sandwich in garbage #jimmyjohns #nocash #systemdown #cantacceptcash #customerservice ♬ original sound – 🩷SarahConner🩷
In the comments section, many users sided with the employee.
“It’s not the kids fault,” said a user. “Take it up with corporate instead of fighting with a kid.”
“He handled that customer so well. There’s never a reason to belittle someone for doing their job,” added another.
“Plenty of reasons why places can’t accept cash. His reason is 100% valid,” stated a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to Jimmy John’s and @sarah_conner1 via email, as well as to Huggabee via Instagram direct message.