I have just returned from Italy where I naively used FOREXCHANGE at the STAZIONE TERMINI in ROME to convert $500AUS and was slugged an enormous 19.7% commission fee, yes thats right 19.7%!
Which added to the €4.90 fixed fee meant they "took" $100 out of my $500AUS. Be warned!

Banco Di Roma ATM only for me for best exchange. Airport
and Train money changers are the worst. coinmill.com for correct rate varies daily. Always best for me capitalone.com Venture no foreign fee Visa CC on everything I can best rate no fess DOUBLE POINTS on everything. If I must change USD only inside big banks or at my upscale hotel if rate is fair.

The currency exchange offices are well known for being huge rip-off. That said, they do post their rates in signs so you cannot say you did not know. Always go for ATMS.

sorry

dave

I am sorry you feel ripped off. Did you have a good holiday otherwise?
Maybe if you had joined Fodor's before you went, instead of simply joining to complain, you would have learned that such places always charge huge commissions, and that using an ATM is usually the best way to get local currency.

..sounds like he was carrying cash. Maybe the banks were closed?

As Dave says, all that information is published on their sign boards so it should not have been a surprise. ATMs have been the way to get cash for about 15 years or so.

Too bad you have nothing good to say about your trip - just a complaint. Oh well.

How is it that you found Fodor's to tell us about your misfortune? We already know that (1) Exchange rates are way high when you exchange currency and (2) ATMs are the way to go. So now that you have found us, be sure to come back before your next trip.

Rather than chirp you for posting the information, I will thank you for bringing it to other people's attention. Sorry you got burned this way.

Scarabocchio posts a comment to warn other travelers of a problem they encountered and the response they get is its your own fault. There are other members who may have not traveled yet that this might be valuable information. I learned through experience before I knew of travel forums.

Exchange rates are NOT "always very high" and in fact, those currency exchanges operate to make money in one of two ways:

they charge, as yours did, a high commission while also giving a fairly decent exchange rate to attract buisiness. Or, they give a very poor exchange rate while charging little or even no commission at all. The latter is why you OFTEN see signs in those exchange windows which say, correctly, "no commission."

Best taken, perhaps, as a public information announcement?

http://preview.tinyurl.com/dyajn8g

I've had rashes that didn't spread that far!

Peter

Scarabocchio

Why did you go through with the transaction? Why would you be wandering around Rome with a wad of Australian cash in Italy anyway?

Sorry you feel you were cheated but it was your choice.

"There are other members who may have not traveled yet that this might be valuable information."

Then they must have failed to read many other relevant posts on this board. There are frequent threads here all giving the same advice: use an ATM.

"naively" is the key word here. What were you even doing with $500 in Aussie dollars anyway, and why did you follow through with the transaction? Exchange booths post the rates they charge - all you had to do was read.

Sorry this is not a "ripoff". This is you not paying attention to what you are doing. The rates are posted. Using one of these services is possibly the worst way to change money. You chose to do so and paid the price.

Also - changing cash at all is a really bad idea. Sorry you did not look into your optinos before leaving home.