Waffle House accepts credit cards

Paper or plastic is the new option at Waffle House. A tradition that was upheld for 50 years has been broken as Waffle House restaurants now accept credit cards.

In February, Milledgeville’s Waffle Houses began to accept Visa and MasterCard.

Avis Gilbert, a local Waffle House Manager, said that before the transition to paper and plastic, confusion was coherent as customers presumed they could pay with a credit card.

“Customers always come in and ask if we accept credit cards, and for as long as I’ve been working here we have not,” Gilbert said. “When I tell the customer we don’t accept credit cards, many times the customer just leaves.”

Gilbert said Waffle House began accepting credit cards to increase sales and business, but this will also help the customer’s satisfaction. In the past week Waffle House’s sales are up two percent– an increase of around $200. Many students only carry credit cards, and now they will not have to leave hungry, Gilbert said.

Waffle House is one of the only options for food after 1 a.m. in Milledgeville. Not only is it open late, but the atmosphere in Waffle House restaurants is appealing, said Maegen Russell, a sophomore physical education major.

“Waffle House is a great place to go late at night,” Russell said. “People get hungry at night too and Waffle House is one of the only 24 hour restaurants that people can eat.”

Prior to the payment change, students were forced to make decisions at Waffle House that often times left them hungry.

“When I go to Waffle House and realize that I do not have any money, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Russell said. “I don’t like carrying around a lot of cash; so many times I just don’t eat.”

Christopher Newsome, a sophomore marketing major found alternatives to leaving. Waffle House hungry prior to the payment change.

“The last time I went to Waffle House I had to have a friend pay for me because I didn’t have any cash,” said Newsome. “If I am low on cash and a friend will not pay for me, often times I just leave and find somewhere else to eat.”

These problems will no longer be issues. The 50 year reign of Waffle House’s cash-only policy has come to an end.

“It took a little time to experiment with credit cards elsewhere,” said Gilbert sarcastically. “Turns out accepting credit cards works out.”

Waffle House accepting credit cards is great for convenience, but not the overlying factor in deciding where to eat, Newsome said.

“Even if they didn’t accept credit cards, I would still go,” said Newsome. “Waffle House symbolizes everything great in food.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 3 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry