Firstly wouldn't this be an issue for BTC to ever be mainstream if you can't pay for things immediately in shops etc?
No. Creditcards take 6-12 months for their first confirmation, I dont see anyone complaining about that or any customers camping 6 months because they paid for a coffee with a CC.
Thanks - you've done a great job of answering.
The only thing with the above is whilst credit cards may take that long to confirm I think the CC companies guarantee the transaction don't they? So in effect when you're paying for your coffee, as far as you're concerned the transaction is immediate. Where as if paying with BTC the company selling the coffee would have to bear the cost of an unconfirmed transaction going bad (just an example with the coffee of course).
Like they'd see the transaction quite quickly but it might not do a single confirmation for sometime after.
Thanks!