It's certainly not the norm in Australia, nor have I come across that in probably the last 15 or so years. Running your credit card through the terminal to place a hold on funds is done pretty much everywhere. I'm sure there's a few crusty old operators out there doing things the old way.
This isn't normal in Australia or New Zealand, at a national or a local scale. But you can't draw conclusions at a national scale from a local interaction, either way.
