Can a Luckin Coffee store refuse a cash payment?

A customer in Wuxi, Jiangsu, tried to buy coffee with cash at a luckin coffee store and was told orders could only be placed through the app or mini-program. He called police, and after more than ten minutes of mediation staff placed the order on their own phone, completing the sale. Police told staff that refusing cash is illegal.

The customer said he did not want to authorize personal information by scanning a code or using the mini-program, and offered 50 yuan in cash for an offline order. Coverage by Boiling Point Video renewed a debate seen in earlier reports. Online commenters argued the store only takes online orders under merchant rules, and that the franchise model may not let individual stores handle cash themselves.

Recently, Luckin Coffee has once again become the focus of public opinion due to an incident involving the refusal of cash. A customer in Wuxi, Jiangsu, insisted on using cash to buy coffee at a store, but was told by the staff that orders could only be placed through the APP or mini-program. In the end, the transaction was completed only after police mediation. This is not the first time Luckin has made the news over cash payment issues; similar reports have appeared before. Today, with mobile payments widespread, can merchants refuse cash? How should consumers protect their rights? This article will recount the incident and discuss the legal and consumer experience issues behind it.

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As the hype around its co-branding with Moutai gradually cools, Luckin Coffee has once again trended on social media due to another controversy — this time over stores refusing cash.

According to a report by Boiling Point Video, on September 6, a man in Wuxi, Jiangsu, posted a video saying that when he bought coffee at a local Luckin store, he was told by staff that orders could only be placed through the online APP, and that the store did not accept cash payments, requiring the use of the Luckin APP or mini-program to place orders and pay.

The man insisted on paying in cash because he did not want to authorize personal information by scanning a code or using the mini-program. "I said I would pay 50 yuan in cash and needed to order offline. They refused to accept renminbi and required me to use the APP. I refused to have my phone number collected, so I wanted to call the police."

Faced with the customer's insistence, the staff said that if he felt there was a problem, he could call the police. The man then dialed 110. After police arrived and understood the situation, they pointed out to the staff that refusing cash is illegal. After more than ten minutes of mediation, the staff ultimately used their own mobile APP to place an online order for the man, completing the transaction.

In response, some netizens argued that the staff said orders could only be placed online, not that cash was directly refused, and that the store was only responsible for production, as these were rules set by the merchant. Other netizens added that Luckin's franchise model does not allow stores to handle cash themselves, and all orders must be placed through the APP or mini-program in order to facilitate later calculation of real profits, so there is no need to make things difficult for workers.

In fact, this is not the first time Luckin has been reported over cash payment issues. According to an April 11 report by Jiupai News, some netizens had previously reported being refused cash by staff when buying Luckin Coffee. Coffee Workshop has also previously reported on the topic of the many difficulties of using cash at Luckin.

Regarding this controversy, Luckin customer service responded that Luckin Coffee mainly uses online mini-program or APP self-service ordering, and there is no offline ordering channel in stores. However, if customers insist on paying in cash, it is also possible, but requires on-site staff assistance, and this is done to facilitate after-sales service for products.

As for whether Luckin supports buying coffee with cash, some netizens on Xiaohongshu have also "explained" it: yes, but it must be done with staff assistance, and no coupons can be used. So-called "staff assistance" means the staff places the order for the customer using their own mobile APP, and the customer then gives cash to the staff. Therefore, it is inevitable that there will be cases where employees refuse to place the order on the customer's behalf because they cannot make change.

Faced with such incidents of difficulty paying in cash, some netizens said that since the spread of mobile payments, some merchants have begun refusing cash, and now buying things with renminbi requires assistance from others, or even being refused. The internet era has indeed brought a lot of convenience, but for older people, mobile payment is more often an inconvenience.

Others mentioned that many stores now require online ordering and mobile payment, but this cannot be a reason to refuse cash. Refusing cash is illegal, and no matter what type of store is operating, cash payment should be supported.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.