Hacker News Reader

Same in restaurants. They hate it when you pay with your card. They love untaxed income and I don't blame them.

FYI my understanding is that, in London at least, cabs aren't allowed to operated with a broken card reader; if that happens to you, tell them that you have no cash and either it will suddenly magically work or you'll get a free ride (this has happened to me).

When I ask to pay by card in the UK or Norway, it's 50/50 whether the driver claims the card machine is broken. If you say you don't have cash, they're like "oh, well, let's try just in case", and lo and behold, it works every time.