> didn't realized they could just tap to pay instead of running the chip
The tap zone is often not clearly marked. Some places (e.g., Walmart) it doesn't work at all (yes, even using a card instead of a phone). If you pull the card out anyway, I find that I end up having to use the chip about one time in ten. If that were, say, three times in ten, I'd just stick to inserting the card in the chip reader. Those rarely seem to fail.
The tap zone is often not clearly marked. Some places (e.g., Walmart) it doesn't work at all (yes, even using a card instead of a phone). If you pull the card out anyway, I find that I end up having to use the chip about one time in ten. If that were, say, three times in ten, I'd just stick to inserting the card in the chip reader. Those rarely seem to fail.