Europe's "dynamic currency conversion" scheme is alive and well in the UK. We encountered it three times recently, managing to avoid the charge twice. Then there was Avis.

We rented a car through Auto Europe for pickup in Edinburgh, Scotland. The agency was Avis. When returning the car at Heathrow, we signed the final bill which was calculated in GBP. When our Master Card statement arrived, lo and behold, the charge was in USD to the tune of 1.93 exchange rate! Had the charge come in as GBP, Master Card's conversion rate would have been 1.78-1.80 including their nasty 3% fee.

Upon close examination of the initial contract, given to us in Edinburgh, we barely detected, in very small print, at the bottom of the contract, that the rate was to be USD and the exchange rate 1.93. We are contesting the overcharge with Master Card. We were not given a choice nor were we verbally informed about the DCC rate. So, read carefully every line on the long document before driving off with a rent car from Avis-UK.

Better yet -- avoid Avis like we will in the future!

You misspelled "scam"

Hi crc,

An alternative is to pay up front to Autoeurope. If you have to cancel, you get your money refunded.

Thanks, Ira, Frankly I'd never thought of that but will certainly remember it for our next trip.

Thanks for the warning, crckwc. Good luck fighting the charge, and let us know what happens.

Even though I've already posted this info, I'll repeat that the one place we encountered DCC in London was at one of the discount theater ticket booths near Leicester Square.

Hi, Marilyn. Another good reason to ONLY use TKTS and not any of the so called 1/2 price store fronts nearer the tube station.

Yes, janis, I'm afraid I learned that lesson too late. I didn't realize the original booth was still there by the park.

I think it is called "reading the fine print" and I will be interested to hear how your CC issuer feels about that part of it.

To Voyager2006, I realize it's called "reading the fine print," and I really didn't need you to slap my wrist about it.

I'll not be surprised if the credit card company holds us to the original contract, but under the circumstances I think we should voice our protest about the procedure. You will recall that our final bill -- the charge card ticket which we signed -- was stated in GBP. In my opinion, that is how it should have been charged. This way of doing business is deceptive at best, criminal at worst.

It's less about the $40 overcharge than the principle of the situation.

It will probably take months and months before anything is settled, but if anyone is interested I'll share the outcome -- whatever, whenever.

crckwc, I am interested. Do let us know how it turns out. I am also grateful to people like yourself who have posted about the DCC. I wouldn't have known about it otherwise. I don't know where the fine print exists that tells one that one will be charged in the currency of one's home country rather than the currency of the country one is visiting.

Is this written in rental contracts? We do AutoEurope, so it hasn't been an issue. And if it happened in a shop, restaurant, or hotel, how would reading the fine print help at all? There wouldn't be any!

I'm glad to know about this. Thanks again.

When this garbage is pulled in a shop or restaurant, the clerk runs the credit card and you will be presented with a slip that has both the amount in the local currency, an exchange rate (5 or 6 points above the interbank rate) and the equivalent amount in USD. If you read what you are being asked to sign, and I have had clerks try to rush me into signing, you will see a statement not in fine print but to the effect that you by signing indicate you were given the opportunity to pay in local currency and that your decision to accept the criminally inflated exchange rate is irrevocable.

Now if you notice it, clerks are trained to lie through their noses with such statements as:

1. Well the USD (assuming it was an American credit card presented) is just an approximation. (A lie because that will be the charge)

2. The terminal does this automatically. I have no control over it (a lie as before the transaction can be completed the clerk is asked if the customer wishes to accept the currency conversion)...they are trained not to ask before hitting the yes button but no matter what these liars and near criminals say, they must press a button on the terminal to indicate you have agreed to accept being ripped off with this near criminal act.

3. Another big lie is why are you complaining, we are doing you a big favor and giving you an excellent rate. (Of course another big lie; if you're stupid and use a credit card that adds an additional 2 points you are being ripped off by 3 to 4 points, if you are smart and use a credit card that only passes along the the visa/mc 1% charge, you are being ripped off for 5 to 6 points)..

Now after these lies don't work, if you insist, they tell you it's too late, the charge cannot be reversed (another lie, charges can always be reversed..what if the clerk puts in the wrong amount accidentally or otherwise).

If the clerk refuses to do the correct thing, you insist on seeing the manager. The manager will try the same lies but if you insist, eventually, at least in my case 4 or 5 times, they will reverse the original charge, issue a credit and re-do the transaction in local currency. One time, the clerk asked the manager how he had done this and the manager, in front of me, answered by pushing no when it asks if the customers wishes to be ripped off with dcc.

Now, as I pointed out, the places where they have tried to pull this near criminal act on me were in Ireland and Scotland. In neither of these places was language a big problem but this near criminal act is spreading like a cancer in places such as Italy and Spain. I would suppose there would be a tremendous language problem.

What I will do if I'm ever put in that position is not fall for the trap and pay cash....I would write on the charge slip DCC refjected, not sign it and circle the local amount. I wonder what the near criminals who pull this garbage would do then. Certainly in a billing error dispute, I would certainly think I would be able to win.

I also carry around a slip of paper with a statement I copied off the visa web site indicating that I must be offered the opportunity to pay in local currency (it of course is in English).

Interestingly enough, Amex does not allow this in restaurants and shops although I am not sure what happens with the car rentaly companies. Also, at least for the time being, I have not encountered this near criminal activity in France, Germany and Scandanavia.

You only get ripped off if you allow yourself to be ripped off and accept their lies and near criminal activities.

In my case, if I had refused to sign the cc slip, I'm sure our theater tickets would NOT have been waiting for us at the box office. So it's only good in some situations, like restaurants or hotels, where you've already consumed the "goods." If you didn't sign the slip in a shop, would they let you take the merchandise? I don't think so.

1. Ask the clerk/server politely to redo the charge in local currency.

2. Ask the manager politely to redo the charge in local currency.

3. Inform the manager that you know what they are doing is in violation of the card issuer's rules, and if the charge isn't redone, you will dispute it, which will cost the establishment time and effort.

4. Write <b>LOCAL CURRENCY NOT OFFERED</b> on the charge slip in a place that can't be torn off.

5. Sign the charge

6. Dispute it when you get home.

Print out this page and carry it with you at all times (that you aren't going to get wet):

<b>http://www.corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_ex_faq.jsp#faq5</b>

Sadly, stupidly, in our case, we were careless in &quot;reading the fine print.&quot; Jet lagged and trusting AutoEurope/Avis from whom we have rented many times before, we initialed where you decline their insurance and signed below, without reading further. Our copy of the contract is entirely illegible, so I still don't know exactly what we agreed to, but we probably agreed to the DCC rate. We're still taking it up with Master Card and will see what happens. My post about this, although embarrassing to me, is intended to warn others out there not to be in a hurry to sign. There are excellent posts here to help with various situations so I hope we all can learn from each other.

Avis-UK DCC scheme -- Second Verse

First, we contested the charge with Master Card so that the amount would not accrue interest while we're dealing with this. Second, we telephoned Avis-UK, explained the situation and FAXed the credit card charge ticket (shown in GBP). We have been advised by Avis that they will credit our Master Card account and re-charge in pounds sterling.

The Avis representative was very helpful and cooperative so, if all goes as stated, I shall have an entirely different attitude toward Avis.

Will post when and if all is settled.

Kudos to Avis! They did indeed credit our Master Card account with the difference in the 1.93 dcc rate and the prevailing rate of 1.76. Frankly, I'm amazed but pleased to have this settled so quickly -- two phone calls and a FAX and it was fixed.

So, please ignore my advice to &quot;avoid Avis---&quot; They were really helpful, friendly and fast in resolving this.