Standing at a med-O-mat? How to buy honey

Pay with your phone, type the pickup code on the keypad and take your jar. The steps depend on whether you pay from a banking app or with bitcoin.

The machine takes two kinds of payment: a QR bank payment from a banking app and bitcoin over the Lightning network. It doesn’t take cards or cash.

The display may be in Czech, English, German or Polish, depending on the machine. The keys work the same way in every language. During a purchase, the bottom line of the display shows what the * and # keys do at the moment: * with an arrow deletes the last digit, * with Cancel cancels the purchase and the machine returns to its start screen.

No code, code not accepted, or no jar? See If something goes wrong.

Pay by QR code from your banking app

Press the star key * (QR Payment). The machine wakes up and after a moment shows the honeys with their prices. Choose your honey by pressing the number shown next to its name. A crossed-out honey is sold out.
Enter your mobile number without its first 0. The country code is already filled in according to the display language (+420 on a Czech or English display); type your number after it. If the code doesn’t match your number, delete it with * (one digit per press; on an empty line * would cancel the purchase) and type your own, for example 44 for the UK. Confirm with the hash key # (Confirm). If the machine doesn’t accept a key press and the screen doesn’t change, the number is incomplete or you are typing a 0 right after the country code. Your pickup code will be sent to this number.
Check the phone number shown below the QR code; this is where the code will be sent. If it’s wrong, cancel with * and start again. Then scan the QR code with your banking app and send the payment. Don’t change the amount or the message for the recipient.
Wait for the pickup code. It arrives by Signal, WhatsApp or SMS (the display only mentions SMS). You don’t have to wait at the machine: if it goes to sleep or you cancel the purchase in the meantime, you can enter the code later with the 0 key on the screen with the list of honeys. Before you leave, note down the phone number of the machine’s operator in case the code doesn’t arrive. The number is shown at the bottom of the start screen.
Type the code into the six boxes below the QR code (the display calls it PIN). After the last digit the machine checks the code by itself and dispenses your jar. Take it before you start another purchase.

Pay with bitcoin (Lightning)

Press the hash key # (Lightning). The machine wakes up and after a moment shows the honeys. Choose your honey by pressing the number shown next to its name.
In a Lightning wallet, choose to send or pay, scan the QR code on the display and confirm the payment. You don’t need to enter a phone number.
Once you have paid, your wallet shows a link. Open it and the page shows your pickup code.
Type the code into the six boxes below the QR code (the display calls it PIN). The machine checks the code by itself and dispenses your jar. Take it before you start another purchase. If you have opened Help (#) or the machine has gone to sleep in the meantime, enter the code with the 0 key on the screen with the list of honeys.

If something goes wrong

When will the pickup code arrive?

After a bank payment, the code is sent by the machine’s payment service once the payment has reached the account and been processed. The machine itself is not connected to the internet: it only learns about your payment from the code you type in. So the code won’t arrive straight away, and how long it takes also depends on your bank. If your banking app offers an instant payment, choose it.

If you pay with bitcoin, the link to your code appears in your wallet.

You don’t have to wait at the machine. You can enter the code later (see the next question).

How do I enter the code later?

The machine remembers your paid code, even if it goes to sleep or you cancel the purchase in the meantime. When the code arrives:

Wake the machine with * or #.
On the screen with the list of honeys, press 0 (Enter PIN: you have not used yet).
Type the code. The machine dispenses the honey you paid for; you don’t choose it again.

Don’t type a code from an earlier purchase on the payment screen of a new purchase: only the code for the QR code shown there works on that screen. Use your code as soon as you can: the machine doesn’t remember it forever.

The code hasn’t arrived. What now?

Check Signal, WhatsApp and your text messages. The code can come through any of them.
Check in your banking app that the payment has actually gone through and isn’t waiting for approval.
Don’t pay again straight away: the first payment may still arrive.
You don’t have to wait at the machine. When the code arrives, enter it with the 0 key (see the previous question). Before you leave, note down the phone number of the machine’s operator. It is shown at the bottom of the start screen (“If problem call:” on an English display).
If the money has left your account and the code still hasn’t arrived, contact the operator of the machine (see Contact below).

What if I type the wrong code?

The display shows “wrong PIN”. Wait a moment, check the digits and type the code again. You can delete a typo with * before you type the last digit.

After several wrong codes the machine goes to sleep. Wake it with * or #, press 0 on the screen with the list of honeys and type the code again.

No jar came out. What now?

If the display says that something went wrong (“Sorry, but something went wrong” on an English display), call the operator of the machine on the number below that text. Your code has not been used up: once the operator has fixed the machine, enter it with the 0 key.

If the machine finished dispensing and went back to its start screen but no jar came out, call the number at the bottom of the start screen (“If problem call:” on an English display).

What if the honey I paid for has run out?

When you enter the code, the machine offers you another honey at the same or a lower price than your honey has now (the difference is not refunded). Choose it by pressing its number. With * (Keep code for later) you keep the code and can use it later with the 0 key on the screen with the list of honeys. If there is no suitable replacement, the machine says so and your code stays valid.

The QR code won’t scan. What can I do?

Scan it directly in your banking app, with its QR payment function.
Hold the phone so that the whole QR code is in view, and try moving it a little further away or tilting it.
Some banking apps can also read a QR code from a photo: take a picture of the display and load the QR code from the image in your app.
We don’t recommend typing the payment in by hand from the payment details (the # key, No QR): a code is only sent for a payment whose message for the recipient matches the QR code exactly.
If none of this works, pay with bitcoin.

What if the payment didn’t go through?

If your bank rejected the payment or you didn’t send it, no money has left your account and no code will come. Start again, or pay with bitcoin.

Don’t change the amount or the message for the recipient. The message carries the purchase details from the machine, and a payment with a different amount or an edited message won’t get a code.

If the money has left your account and no code has arrived, contact the operator of the machine (see Contact below). They will trace the payment and help you get the code or, if needed, a refund.

The Help screen shows a Wi-Fi network. Should I connect to it?

No. The Wi-Fi name and the address below the QR code are only for the operator of the machine, to set it up. You don’t need them to buy honey. Close the Help screen with * (Cancel) and the machine returns to its start screen.

Why does the machine ask for my phone number?

For bank payments, the pickup code is sent to this number, as is any message about a problem with the payment. The number is part of the purchase details that the machine puts into the message for the recipient. It is processed by the machine’s payment service, which sends you the code by Signal, WhatsApp or SMS. You don’t enter a phone number when paying with bitcoin.

Who acts as the data controller, how long the number is kept and what your rights are is set out in the privacy policy (in Czech).

Contact

Whether it’s the payment, the pickup code, honey, jars or a faulty machine, contact whoever runs the machine. They sell the honey, and it is usually a local beekeeper. Their phone number is shown at the bottom of the machine’s start screen and, when dispensing fails, also on the screen that says something went wrong.

If it’s about the payment or the pickup code, please give them the date and time of the payment, the amount, where the machine is, how you paid (bank or bitcoin) and, for a bank payment, the phone number you entered at the machine. This helps them trace the payment.