ryan quick being so naive - we are talking about Italy not some commerical card accepting place in the U S - if the card companies contact the miscreants they no doubt will convince the Italian bank they work with that they were right and the customer wrong.

Capiche?

I had to look up Capiche? which is part of no language I recognise

It seems that it is 1940s slang, from Italian, capisci?

It's misspelled Italian.

....My guess, and I am 99.9% certain of this, is that they don't like to pay the 1.5-3% to the bank for accepting credit cards....

It's also possible that they are trying to work a tax dodge.

Perhaps I should put you in-touch palenque with the reps from American Express that I spoke with a few minutes ago.

I knew I was right, but figured I'd check. If a merchant won't accept your card because their swipe won't work, they can manually enter the number in their machine. The Amex rep said to call their main number and they will connect to their merchant services area where the charge can be validated if the merchant says they can't manually enter the number.

Yes of course Ryan a merchant can do that but they chose not to do that. You think the Italian bank that they have c c agreement with is likely thus to revoke their card processing priveleges. Well I would not hold my breathe for that to happen. Again talking about one of the most blatantly corrupt countries in the world so things do not always work like you may naively IMo think they would here.

> It's also possible that they are trying to work a tax dodge.

Good point, MissPrism.

However, as my Former Beloved would say, one does not exclude the other.

It's possible the credit card processing center was on strike. I've encountered that in Italy before and noticed there was a strike scheduled last time I looked at one of the strike websites. Typically, it's just 24 hours.

Let us know what happens!

I guess the lesson here is to be sure to ask if credit cards are accepted when booking and when arriving - there should be a Visa/MC logo as well but still ask. web sites are not always updated, especially in Mom and Pop places.

Had this same thing happen to me at a hotel in Rome. I just stood my ground and told them I had no access to cash. It was either the card or send me a bill to my USA address. Miraculously, within minutes of discussion between the desk clerk and someone on the phone, the card reader suddenly was able to be swiped. It is a scam. Dont fall for it.

re 'capiche': "It's misspelled Italian"

It is dialect. Lots of people in Italy do not speak in standard Italian.

hmmm. "capiche" I thought it came from movies about the mafia...

This happened in a restaurant we were in. I had questioned a charge and all of a sudden, what do you know, the credit card was no longer working as of that second. Luckily, it was just a meal, not a hotel stay, so we paid it, knowing it was a scam but not wanting to make a big deal of it.

Another restaurant told us their machine wasn't working as well (they had a Visa logo on the door and we had confirmed that with them at the start of the meal). I said it's my last night in Rome (it was) and I don't have any cash left (I didn't). Miraculously, it started working again.

Good luck!

capiche is a product I believe of Italian-american dialect and not pure Italian - akslander is no doubt right that many Italians may not use it - but Americans like Ryan certainly know what it means. Capiche?

I run a B&B in Spain. I have a CC machine. So let me correct a few things that some folks here are obviously not speaking from experience.
When a Card machine breaks down it is the responsibility of the bank to have it repaired or replace it. Here in Spain this can take anything from 3 days to 3 weeks. I do not understand why the difference either. I would assume the situation is the same in Italy.
Not all banks issue manual machines these days, so no imprinting of a card cannot always be done.
I do not think it is a scam to get out of charges as the business can pass the CC charges onto you, just like the likes of airlines etc. Just as long as they notify you of this charge.
If the terminal is not working there is no way you can enter the card number manually. Besides the proprietor of the business has to obtain permission to do this, as it is not granted automatically when a terminal is installed.
As you have seen the sign you could have been able to make other arrangements like take some money out over several days before you are due to leave. This ways you do not hit your daily maximum. Have you spoken to the staff/owner about this?
You can take the advice here and call the B&Bs bluff, but the police may take a dim view of this. It is not what you know it is who you know. The owner is Italian and you are not. Is it worth spoiling your vacation?
Maybe you should to go to the bank with the owner or member of staff to debit your card the total of the bill.
Good luck

Capisce (pronounced ka-pee-sheh) is the third person singular and second person formal, of capire, to understand, in standard Italian.
The second person familiar is capisci (ka pee shee). But often spoken with the final vowel sound lopped off, hence "capeesh" in the US (and parts of Italy).

>>>capiche is a product I believe of Italian-american dialect and not pure Italian - akslander is no doubt right that many Italians may not use it - but Americans like Ryan certainly know what it means. Capiche?<<<

It might be used by lots of Italian-Americans, but they don't spell it that way.

I do not think it is a scam to get out of charges as the business can pass the CC charges onto you>

every low-budget hotel or B&B I have stayed in in Italy that accepts credit cards has indeed charged a 2-3% surcharge for using a credit card - thus ribeirasacra has hit perhaps on what may have happened - those above who automatically pronounced guilt on the B&B perhaps did so without knowing the full story - the telling theing is that these places always IME tack on a surcharge for using a credit card and thus would not make anymore money by feigning the machine was broke.

suspend judgment as there is often a part of the story that even the OP probably does not understand IMO.

The "broken credit card machine" may not always be a scam, but often it is. My experience is the same as joannyc and nygvic--I told the proprietor that I did not have anything but a credit card, so if they couldn't accept it they would have to bill me later. They found a way to accept it after making a couple of phone calls, despite their initial claim that they couldn't.

BTW, I also had this happen in the US after a new hairdresser had finished doing my hair. Same result--I told her it was credit card or I would have to come back and pay her later. She made a phone call, and then accepted the card.

Going to an ATM is not always an option because people may not have enough money in their account, particularly if they are students. They can probably get cash advances on their credit card, but those are very expensive.

I would tell the hotel that the only way I can pay is by credit card or not at all. Unless they actually called the police, which is unlikely, I would not scramble around trying to find funds by getting a cash advance or asking my parents for the money.

The OP has checked out of the hotel by now. I hope he/she comes back and posts the outcome.