, New ATM installed in Country Café
(An ATM made its return to the Country Café on Feb. 28 and the addition of a new credit card system is expected to be complete within a month. Phone lines are currently being installed in the Café to get the credit card service up and running. The new ATM, located in the lobby of the Café, is the second ATM on the Pierce College campus; the other machine is located in the Bookstore.
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An ATM made its return to the Country Café on Feb. 28 and the addition of a new credit card system is expected to be complete within a month.
Phone lines are currently being installed in the Café to get the credit card service up and running.
The new ATM, located in the lobby of the Café, is the second ATM on the Pierce College campus; the other machine is located in the Bookstore.
There was an ATM in the Café previously, but it was removed almost two months ago because it was not being used enough, according to Linda Brown, supervisor of food service.
“The company said we weren’t making enough money on it, so they took it out,” said Brown.
The ATM’s absence was short-lived.
“There were a lot of requests from students to have it,” said Brian Silk, administrative analyst. “That’s why we got it (back) for them.”
Joseph Arco, a 21-year-old accounting major, didn’t eat often at the Café due to the cash-only restriction.
“I might eat there more often if I can use my credit card,” Arco said. “Right now, it’s easier to just go to the Sip and charge my food.”
Brown said that students in the Café often asked where the nearest ATM was located. “We love to accommodate the students and we’ve been trying with the credit card thing – it was just never feasible,” said Brown.
Silk confirmed the status of the credit card service addition in the Café.
“It’s in process,” said Silk. “We’re having the equipment shipped from the vendor so hopefully within the next week or so, it’ll be online.”
Elizabeth Bentley, a 20-year-old theater major, usually eats at the Café about three times a week.
“Thank God they’re putting credit card machines in there,” Bentley said. “I kept withdrawing cash from the ATM in the Bookstore and the fees really suck.”
The fee to use the ATMs in the Café and the Bookstore is $2.
If everything goes according to schedule, the credit card service should be ready within a month.
The cost of the project was not yet available from the district.
Both Pierce and Los Angeles City College have two ATMs on their campuses, whereas the other seven colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District have only one each.
The LACCD is working on finding the best price for a contract that would add more ATMs to all nine campuses.
The Bookstore machine was replaced in the beginning of the semester with a newer model.
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