This summer I was again health enough to return to Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. I missed the last two years because of various physical problems, including brain surgery.

My physical problems are, however, not the reason for the post; the insidious practice of dynamic currency exchange is the main reason.

I knew the practice of giving a charge account bill in US dollars and at unfavorable rates of exchange existed. What I found this year was that the practice has been refined and foisted off on unsuspecting people.

The primary offender in this regard was Hertz. We rented cars in both Switzerland and in Germany. I no longer drive so it was up to my wife to sign the rental contracts.

Unfortunately my wife is not one to read the fine print on contracts. I no longer see very well and the microscopic print was to me illegible. When we received a final copy of the charges, I noticed that the exchange rate was higher than I expected. With the aid of a little magnification, I saw that written on the contract was a phrase to the effect that charges in the currency of the country had been offered but that my wife had elected to take the charge in the currency of the card - US dollars.

In both rentals, nothing was said about the currency of the charge. The amount was dynamically converted to US dollars at an exchange rate about 6 cents higher per dollar than the bank wholesale rate. I don't know if disputing the charge would be productive or not. We have time to pursue a dispute. Even if we lose, I will at least have the satisfaction of raising a squawk.

Lord knows, Switzerland for most of the summer was expensive enough without having extra, useless increases in credit card transactions added on.

I knew the exchange rate from dollars (US) to chf currency was decidedly against us, but increases in prices relative to my last visit 3 years ago and the severe weakness of the US dollar combined to run the bill up considerably. Talk about sticker shock! I think I got a double eyeful. The cost was so great in fact that the Alps lost some of their charm.

Fortunately our vacation rental had a kitchen and we ate all but one meal in our rental unit while we admired the Alps in the distance.

I thought I should post this note to let others know that even supposedly savvy travelers can get bitten by the exchange bug. In the case of Hertz, a really feel that its practice is unethical but now seemingly common and widespread.

I just returned from a trip from Switzerland. At every CC transaction, I was at least asked if wanted the charge in USD or CHF and was asked to push "1" or "2" button on a CC card reader. Same deal in France.

In previous years, all CC transactions I could remember in France were automatically charged in EU. Now, they try to see if I fall for the DCC scam at every CC transaction. Italy has been this way or worse for many years -- try to charge in USD without asking. The spread of DCC to many countries previously not impacted is quite alarming.

Is it not a breach of their conditions with the credit card companies to disguise the option to refuse DCC? Maybe it's time for a concerted campaign to threaten their merchant status with the companies until they clean up their act.

I had this experience with Hertz a couple of years ago in France. We did not notice whether there was any reference to currency in the contract, but when we returned the car our receipt showed a value in US dollars as well as in euros. I said we wanted to be charged in euros and I was told that the dollar amount was just for reference.

Haven't rented from Hertz since, and as far as I know this was the only time I have been subjected to DCC. At other vendors I was able to refuse it on the spot.

I have noticed in Europcar contract in Spain something to the effect that all card transactions with a card originating outside the Eurozone will be put through in the card's billing currency, and by signing the agreement you are deemed to have accepted it. So the only way to dispute the charges and reverse the transaction is to cross out and initial the offending phrases in the contract before signing. Of course Europcar can then refuse to rent you the car, so I'm not sure it will work in practice. Or just prepay the charges when reserving the car, and use third-party booking sites like Auto Europe.

I agree this sort of DCC by default is insidious and is against Visa/Mastercard rules in spirit if not in letter.

Of course you should dispute it with your credit card company, itdoesn't hurt to try. The only thing, of course, is that you did sign the contract agreeing to the charge in USD and that statement probably would serve legally as the fact you were offered the opportunity to pay in local currency.

We go through this all the time these days. For those of you unfamiliar with this SCAM, it originated in Ireland about 15 years ago. The merchant offers to bill you in US dollars, or at least they are supposed to give you the option of paying in USD (assuming the credit card is issued by a US bank, it could be CAD or AUD also, the scam is pulled using all currencies). Visa/mc regulations state the scam is legal but you must be offered the opportunity to refuse. What happens in practice is you are presented a credit card slip with an amount say in chf and in usd (assuming you're in Switzerland and your credit card is billed in US dollars). The question is what happens if you notice they are pulling the scam (the rate they use is invariably much higher than the bank rate the cc company uses to convert currencies). Many merchants will do what you want namely void the transaction and do it properly in local currency (note you want the transaction voided not credited). Others lie with things like they have no control over it (they sure do, the terminal because of the visa/mc rules either asks them whether the customer wishes to be scammed oops pay in USD or as noted the customer has to enter a 1 or a 2 on the terminal), or as noted the USD amount is simply for reference (then why am I asked to sign a statement that I was offered the opportunity to pay in local currency) or they can't void the transaction (they always can) or perhaps no speak English (they even tried that once on me in Ireland).

If they refuse to do the transaction properly, I simply circle the local currency amount, write local option not offered and don't sign the receipt. I then tell them I will be disputing the charge. I will not fall for their garbage and then pay cash. And I do. By law, visa/mc will charge the charge back to the merchant and when they try to claim it, the sales slip will show your statement local option not offered.

Now I had this situation arise at Burger King in Ireland this past summer. After a long argument with the so called manager I did just that. When the bill came, I disputed the charge. I was really going to show these blankety blanks that my name is Tucker not Sucker. Unfortunately for me, instead of charging back the charge, my credit card company simply refunded the difference (about 73¢ as a "courtesy" to me).

Now there are several other things yo should be aware of in terms of this scam. First and foremost, visa/mc have changed the foreign currency fee to a foreign transaction fee and many of the near criminal American banks add their own surcharge to this. Visa/mc charge a 1% fee for all foreign transactions even those done in your currency, in this case US dollars and the big near criminal credit card banks tack onan additional 2%. So even if the charge is written up in USD, not only to you pay the inflated rate your bank may tack on an additional 3% as a foreign transaction.

Secondly whenever you credit a credit card transaction, and they issue a credit card credit, these same near criminal banks subtract 3% from the amount of the credit as a foreign transaction fee so you see, if a charge goes throug they add 3%, if a credit is done they subtrract 3%. Do the math as to just what is happening.

So the solution is simple. Just say NO. Write the tyransaction in local currency and if the merchant refuses, do what I do and dispute the charge. Just don't sign agreeing to being scammed.

To be honest, I think complaining is a waste of time. You signed the contract agreeing to that. I agree it is sneaky if it were not verbally offered to you as a choice. Raising a stink isn't going to do much good, probably, as the offender isn't going to care that you have complained to your credit card company, and may not even hear about it. Your CC company, the one you are complaining to, isn't the one who did it.

But if it doesn't take too much time, I agree that nothing gets done if people don't complain about things.

On another note, sorry to hear about your recent illnesses, but glad you have gotten to travel again.

Hertz states in their contract you sign that you will be charged in USD. They have had this in the contract for years. It's up to you to read the fine print, but I don't think they will change it just because you disagree. I'll be surprised if contesting it does any good since you agreed to it at the beginning of the rental. Do post back and let us know. The way to avoid it is to pre-pay before you leave the states. You will notice when booking on the website that pre-pay is in USD only and the pay later is listed in both euro and dollars.

I'd wager that DCC is probably very common. Who doesn't like the convenience of paying in your home currency

I've had a DDCC , double dynamic currency conversion. While staying in Trukey we went to Sheraton Hotel in Antalya. Our splurge.

We were ONLY quoted in USD. So we paid. Being Canadian, also paid conversion to our currency on our CC bill back home.

I was billed in CHF and US$ in the Zurich train station, but it was immediately changed when I said that I wanted to be billed in CHF. If I had not said anything, the DCC would have applied.

It's very simple....many merchants are honest and willing to follow the visa/mc regulations; others are crooks themselves and try to put over on people the dcc scam. They are vermin.

"The spread of DCC to many countries previously not impacted is quite alarming."

It has spread to the US. I was asked if I wanted to pay in US$ instead of € at TJ Maxxx last April.

i was dcc'd in china earlier this year by a highly recommended restaurant in beijing and at a DTF shop in beijing
capital airport. aware of the scam, i crossed out the $ amount in the cc slip and wrote down, "pls charge the purchase in the local currency-CNY". when my cc statement came, i was still dcc'd. i used my capitalone visa, called them to complain about the dcc and the specific note i wrote on the slip and the fact that i wasnt even offered the choice. the merchants just handed me the cc slip to sign. and complicating the scenario is the language barrier between the merchant and myself. long story short...
capitalone promptly issued me a credit for the difference for the "correct" amount if the purchase was charged in the local CNY currency. im hoping the bank stuck it back to the merchants.

on another subject, i hardly rent from hertz. ime, their service sucks based on almost 2 yrs of renting from them at least once a month for business travel. i did so bec my company uses them as their preferred vendor. when my company gave me the ok to rent from another vendor, i went back to national car rental ( aka europcar ) and been fairly satisfied with their service.