Bayeux lodging wants me to pay in cash

I routinely stay in small, mom & pop B&Bs in Normandy (I'll be staying in one in Sainte-Mère-Église in a month). They routinely request cash, and I am happy to oblige. My guess is the taxes in France are onerous and they are trying to avoid some. But I am not sure of this. Anyway, my hosts are very nice and I can't write off my trip anyway. I've found this in other small B&Bs elsewhere in Europe.

Yes, this is normal for B&B's. I have stayed in several in Germany and Austria, and they all required payment in cash.

I'm sure the small Mom & Pop B&B's are trying to save by not having the 2-3% credit card transaction fees. Every euro counts!
A B&B in Bayeux sounds marvelous. It's easy enough to go to an ATM using your debit card. Have a marvelous time!

Not sure exactly what you are concerned about, but you can certainly ask them for a receipt when you pay .

Based on what I read online, a US bank takes up to 3½ to 4% of the total bill when you use an American credit card. The EU regulation for European banks at 3/10% for credit cards, 2/10% for debit cards, does not apply to non-European banks. Our banks can charge whatever they negotiate with the Network. When you use a credit card at a European accommodation you are really hurting the place and enriching the bank. I find that, for that reason, most small, less expensive places in Germany don't take cards, and even if they don't specify cash (a lot in Germany do), I like to pay them in cash.

On my last trip to Germany, three out of five places (14 of 20 nights) I stayed at specified cash only.

How do you think American card companies can give you up to 2% back on purchases. Essentially, they're paying you to screw the merchant.

BTW, most major banks will charge you 3% on debit card withdrawals in Europe, but they only pay the Network, who services the ATM withdrawals, 1%, and then keep a 2% profit for themselves. My credit union, and I think most credit unions, just passes the 1% Network fee on to the card holder. Wells Fargo, for customers, charges $5 for an up-to-$500 withdrawal, just over 1%, if you make almost $500 withdrawals.

We tend to stay at smaller family owned properties. Very often way pay cash in Italy, and we will be paying cash most of the time in Ireland for our accommodations. I'm sure we've paid cash occasionally in France. We just make sure we know where a few ATMs are located.

There are credit unions and other banks that reimburse for any ATM fees. I closed my Wells Fargo account and opened a Charles Schwab account. Schwab reimburses fees and their customer service is excellent.

Generally, when a small vendor in France insists on cash payment alone, they're not looking only to avoid the fee charged by credit card companies but to have the entire transaction remain off the books to avoid paying taxes on it. How one reacts to that depends on perspective. A lot of the things tourists come to France to enjoy -- the patrimoine, the cultural sights, the cultural events, the good roads -- rely on tax payments. Will one incident of a transaction that dodges taxation endanger that? No. Of course not. But the cumulative effect can build up. Participate in an off the books transaction if you feel you have to. But I would encourage visitors to France generally to be respectful and responsible when it comes to contributing to the upkeep of what they traveled so far to see.

I am not sure if I would call it normal but we have had this request on several occasions over the years. We have always been more cash oriented than CC so we are comfortable with a cash request. I will frequently ask when checking at a hotel if there is a cash discount. And sometimes there is a discount and we will take advantage of the discount. BUT. -- always ask for a receipt. One time and only one time, on the second or third day of our stay we were asked when we were going to pay. We paid in cash at check in. NO record. So I quickly went to the room, grabbed the receipt and returned. To this day I don't know if that. was a scam or just a mistake. But, I was covered.

@Bob,

what you are doing, essentially, is accusing people, without evidence, of breaking the law, just because they are avoiding a cost, which gets passed on to the consumer.

The alternative way I look at it is that the bigger, more expensive places, who are making a lot of extra money off of you, can afford to pay the credit card fee, whereas the small, family run places, who are operating on a shoestring, don't have the margin to pay for credit cards, so don't take them. You have to factor in that the Germans, as a people, eschew debt. They don't like credit cards. They're right. In America, credit card debt is a huge anchor on the economy.

How else do you explain that it is only the very expensive (over-priced, I might add) places that seem to take cards.

" If you can, the bill of your stay will have to pay in cash."

I read that to be, 'cash preferred'. You may want to clarify with them if cash is 'preferred' vs 'required'. If the latter ask him where/how close a bank affiliated ATM is.

Pretty sceptical about the credit card fees theory myself.

In this day and age where so few people are using cash, you're doing it wrong as a business owner if you can't cover card fees as an overhead.

I'm certainly not assisting a complete stranger (the business owner) to evade tax. Taxes are an important part of maintaining the structural integrity of a functional society, whether you like it or not, imho.

Anyway, the OP's lodgings are giving them the option. It's a wee bit lost in translation from French to English though.

Thank you everyone for your replies-I've read all of them and I feel a lot better about the situation. I think I understand the reason behind it and it makes sense. I'm just a paranoid person by nature and I'd never come across that request before-but I haven't traveled as much overseas. Like a previous poster said, I will ask where would be the nearest atm as I don't want to travel with the cash beforehand. And I just pay when I check out, correct?

Shelley

Dinner is served with cooked books there I believe.

And I just pay when I check out, correct?

Definitely a question for the landlord