Here’s the situation: I just arrived in Japan from Germany to visit my long-distance boyfriend for the first time. He’s working during the day, so while he’s away, I’m on my own. He gave me his credit cards and told me to go out, explore, and enjoy myself if I get bored. I’d like to, but I’m a bit worried. I’m German, he’s Japanese. I’m a woman, he’s a man. So obviously, the name on the cards doesn’t match mine. I don’t want it to look like I stole them or something, it’s more about the optics. Maybe I’m just being overly anxious and overthinking it.
I’m fairly certain that you are allowed to decline letting someone take your card and take it out of your sight. All the card company’s are propably even having something in their contracts that forbids you from doing exactly that.
Sure, but you need to pay, and if all you have is a card, they’re not going to let you into an employee area because you’re being weird about a very basic interaction. In fact, that’s even more reason to not allow you into an employee area for their safety. When you’re in another country, you have to go with their flow, regardless of what you do at home.
Why don’t they just have the machine in an accessible location near the entrance? You know, like all the normal stores do.
Some places like diners and cafes do and you pay there with a cashier. But most bars and sit down restaurants have it inaccessible. As to why, I couldn’t say for sure, but I imagine it is to prevent theft of cash.