You're fortunate they were willing to learn! I had at least five encounters in which they had no interest in my non-chipped card whatsoever, and went to the "trouble" of plugging it in like it had a chip and giving me a dumb stare... as if they hadn't encountered this ever before. You would think the powers-that-be at M/C and Visa would crack down on this. As I said previously, it's a requirement that they take such cards when the merchants sign their contracts.