jtav559

That is a tricky phrase that is commonly misconstrued in the realm of retail consumer purchases. The purchases you make at your local grocery, hardware, or clothing store are not considered "debt" for the purpose of the greenback being legal tender to cover the cost of said transaction. A retailer has the right to be selective as to what forms of payment they accept (No AMEX card, No Personal Checks, No Discover Card, No Bills Over $50, etc.). If you as a private consumer wish to do business and purchase items, then you have to play by the rules that the retailer has set forth - otherwise, take your business else where. Now, that is a grossly oversimplified example but you get the idea. Debt down at your local county courthouse or recorders office for a speeding ticket or property tax? They do in fact have to accept cash as a form of payment. I once saw a guy pay his property tax bill with $1's... lots of them. I guess he had a bone to pick with the county clerk!

I have run into retail shopping locations where they do not accept card (cash only) and vice versa (card only, no green cash). I have always inquired why they insist on one or the other. For example, coffee hut was card only. I ordered a $4 coffee. Now, I love points as much as the next guy, but I was just going to give them a $5 bill that I had floating in my pocket and be on my way. But they insisted they can't take cash and they didn't have ready access for daily cash deposits. They wanted card only. So I swiped! I guess they figure the cost of accounting for cash outweighs the merchant transaction fee that visa and MC charge them on their little square cash (lol, what a apropos name) register reader. I have also seen businesses who charge a fee for accepting credit cards on larger transactions..... construction contractor for example.... they wanted 1.5% for a CC use on charges of $2k or more. I was fine with that, as I had MSR to hit on a new CC.

To hotels, I would imagine any 4 star or higher property wouldn't be caught dead charging a CC fee... how tacky! They know they can just bump the room rate by $5-10 per night to cover the fee of a CC charge. For lower end properties, I would be less surprised to see it. But, that said, I don't think I ever have in all my hotel stays. But I have seen restrictions on card issuers at some non chain hotels and B&B's (specifically, no AMEX).