Originally Posted by Mike Jacoubowsky

This is not true! Many, if not most employed by some French establishments don't understand that their card readers have slots that a non-chipped card can be read by sliding it through. Sometimes it's on the bottom, sometimes it's on the side. But if they signed an agreement that allows them to take MC or Visa at all, they agreed to take non-chipped cards and swipe them on their fancy blue-tooth-enabled machines.)