If the restaurant is an exception in not taking credit cards, it has a common-sense obligation to make this clear to customers before they order, either on the door or on the menu, preferably both. Where I live, I'd say that 99.9% of restaurants take credit cards. Those that don't make this clear to their customers. Same thing for when the machines go down.

By your lights, I should be walking around with over 200 euros on me at all times, just in case. That is not wise from a security standpoint. When I run into a situation that is unexpectedly cash-only, I just go to an ATM. And you know what, people are understanding because they know that the situation is unusual.

Finally, please stop SHOUTING.

Wow...all I can say is that somebody really needs to relax. Maybe get your doctor to prescribe a Xanax on your next visit (hopefully when the credit card machine works) :rolleyes:.

I'm not going to comment on whether or not it was appropriate to stiff the waiter on the tip or not, but your bolded statement really stuck out to me the most (not that the rest of your rant wasn't completely over the top either). If the restaurant's CC machine is down, do you seriously think it's the customer's responsibility to have alternate payment? Does the restaurant ever have any responsibility for anything? "Sorry, our bathroom is broken today." By your logic, I should have researched the next closest bathroom and maybe brought a pair of adult depends as a backup :rolleyes:. The restaurant manager should apologize for a inoperable machine and sggest alternatives, like a close by ATM or offer to leave your information and you pay later when the machine does work.

It might be a generational difference (I don't know how old you are), but accepting a credit card goes hand in hand with running a restaurant these days. I never have cash on me (unless I know someplace is cash-only beforehand) and I keep close to $0 in checking, so finding an ATM is not an option. If I found out at the end of a meal that a restaurant didn't accept credit card, the only option I would give them is to write down my name and phone number and that I would mail them a check when I got home. If they don't like that, I guess they're not getting paid for the meal. Not my problem that they are stuck in some prehistoric time

I don't really know what kind of business these days doesn't accept credit card...I use my card to pay for my $1.50 coffee in the mornings, to pay for that $.30 cent pack of gum at the grocery store, and for my drunk $15 taxi rides home from the bars (among countless other daily activities). But going back to your doctors office, I really doubt that they would have prevented you from seeing your doctor because you couldn't do your co-pay because their CC machine was down. They could have offered to mail you a bill, or you just pay on your next visit. It's their equipment that's not working and there's nothing you can do about it. It's up to them to offer solutions for making it right. How can the staff just expect that you have cash? You were likely not the only one who visited that office that day and I'm sure there were many others who had to arrange for an alternate form of payment. If your doctor's staff has that minimal amount of trust in you to not allow other options, maybe you need a new doctor.

If the restaurant chose to call the police when you refused to pay them, it would very quickly be made clear to you that it is your problem to pay the bill.

You have no legal right to demand a business accept your credit card. If they post what forms of payment they accept and you disregard the signs, then it is your obligation to come up with a form of payment that they do accept.

In these days when many restaurants are struggling because of increased food costs and a poor economy, I've heard that some of them are far less patient with defaulting customers and are starting to call the police immediately when the customer won't pay rather than wait for a promised check to arrive. (I know of this occuring in the SF Bay area, can't say for certain on other parts of the U.S.)

I would never intentionally not pay if I knew beforehand that they didn't accept credit card. If that was dropped on me as I try to hand over a card and they say no credit card, then that would be when I get angry. Basically if there's no clear signage and just an assumption that everybody knows they only accept cash.

Actually if the credit card machine is broken they STILL have to take the credit c ard info and run it later.. I work for a credit card processing company and can tell you with 100% confidence the establishment MUST MUST take the credit card as form of payment.. it spells it out in their SIGNED agreement.. even if it's $.05c

basicallty a credit card is money.. the establishment can not turn it down.. OR have a Minimum or $1-2 surcharge.. both are illegal and unenforceable.

Most places I find have big signs that say CASH ONLY..if they don't take cards

More than a few years ago, my department went to a mid/upper end restaurant in S. Philadelphia. No CCs of any sort accepted, but they'd give you a wad of receipt tabs if you requested one.

I couldn't care less whether an owner accepted a credit card (FWIW there are luxury hotels in Europe that require a non-refunadable bank transfer to secure boookings at xmas).

What I do care about is how they treat customers when they are caught flat footed without cash. In this case it seems like the OP left the place huffin and puffing w/o asking whether s/he could send him a check (with a 30% tip for all I care).

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First, it is so easy and relatively inexpensive in this day and age to accept credit cards. IMO a restaurant that doesn't accept credit cards is really saying to me "We can't be bothered to provide you that convenience." Especially ones that doesn't make it very obvious with either a sign on the door or in big letters on the menu. In today's cashless world, that just invites these types of confrontations.

As far as not tipping the waiter, let me first add that I did wait tables for several years in college and there are some circumstances where I would not tip the waiter over something like this. I once had a replacement credit card declined at a restaurant. I had activated it but it was the first time I used it since doing so. The waiter came to the table, slapped it down and said -- loudly -- "this card was declined." I would never treat a customer that way. Anytime I had a card come back declined, I would always suggest that it was a problem with our computer or processor, and did they want to perhaps try another card or form of payment? Or would you like to use the phone to call your credit card company?

In the same vein, if I presented a credit card at a restaurant and didn't realize they only took cash, I would expect the waiter to handle it with aplomb and let me save face. Even though it really is my mistake. Because as soon as you tell your customer that they are "stupid" either with your words or your attitude, its all over. As a waiter, I very, very rarely made less then 20% every time -- because I let the customer "win" even when they were losing.

Waiting tables was probably as important to my business education as my years in college.

For small businesses, the cost accepting credit cards has about doubled over the past 12 months, according to my husband who works for a major credit card processor. If you're a small business, giving the card company 6% instead of 3% can really hurt the bottom line. Why should they forego what might be a big chunk of their profits for your convenience if there are enough others happy to pay cash? We dine regularly in a small Indian restaurant in our neighborhood, and it is strictly cash only, and almost always crowded, and I've never seen a customer fuss over paying cash.

Your point about it being "easy" to accept credit cards also is open to dispute. There's the equipment to maintain, and apparently the half life of a credit card reader can be measured in mere months, a phone line (often costing extra), training time for the staff on handling the cards, etc. Here in Silicon Valley there have recently been a number of news stories about fraud associated with debit and credit readers having intercept devices on them, which I would imagine opens up the business to liability problems.

Traveling in Denmark, Belgium and Germany - not exactly third world nations - we have found a significant number of hotels and restaurants which do not accept credit cards. Clearly the businesses feel they can survive just fine without customers who demand do business on their own terms.

well, IMO, the waiter probably should have made sure that you knew they only accepted cash, no credit cards. It's an unusual policy but not completely unheard of.

However, that being said, I probably would have tipped something as long as the service was decent.

That's news to me. My mother has a small business and I manage her merchant account selection/pricing. No such increases have been seen.

6% is NOT a standard rate. Even the most expensive credit card brand, Amex, has processing rates around 3.5% or under.

That being said, I have no problem with a restaurant that doesn't take credit cards. Yes, it might affect my dining decisions, but I wouldn't try to send any other message. Of course, if they advertise acceptance, have credit card stickers on the doors, use credit card logo-containing coatchecks/check presenters/menus, etc., then that is a different story.

Good ol U of HK (Hard Knocks).

It depends on the restaurant. At some places, tips are pooled with all non-management staff.

Well there are exceptions to EVERY rule, but is that even close to the norm?