Restaurants converting euros to USD

Old May 19th, 2005, 04:02 PM
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Restaurants converting euros to USD

Just experienced the second time a restaurant has converted our check to dollars when we have presented a Bankamericard for the payment. Talked to some locals who said that is illegal. Is that true? They convertd at a 30% rate which is considerably higher than the banks charge. Should we automatically tell them to figure the checks in Euros when we pay or are they obligated to ask your preference? If that is true then we should be able to tell them to put the check through again in Euros? Our stupidity I guess.
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Old May 19th, 2005, 04:15 PM
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Stand your ground, lady. Have that charge made out in Euros. The restaurant is giving you the shaft -- plus 30%!!! Your bank, part of a cooperative network of banks, will give you a far better Euro/USD rate of exchange.
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Old May 19th, 2005, 04:19 PM
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This is dynamic currency conversion. It has been discussed previously on this board.
It is a scam done by merchants to increase their profits. You can demand that the charges by done in the local currency and they are supposed to comply. However, some merchants claim that they cannot do it. Visa/MC requires that the merchant have your permission to charge in US$ instead of the local currency. If they refuse, pay in cash if you can. If not, write on the recipt "permission not given for US$ charge" so you can dispute it later. Make sure you have a copy of the bill in the local currency to show what the actual charges should be.
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Old May 19th, 2005, 04:31 PM
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Do a search on dynamic currency conversion to see what they are pulling...

The regs of mc/visa are quite specific. Here is a statement direct from the visa web site:

As a consumer you may value knowing the exact price in your home currency at the point of sale but you should also know you may be charged extra for this service by the merchant. Visa requires that you are provided a meaningful choice at the point of sale and you have the right to buy your purchase in the local currency so that you do not incur any additional fees the merchant may assess.

Print this, carry it with you and if a merchant tries to pull this garbage on you because the clerk in writing up the charge is specifically asked if the customer agreed to the conversion and when you sign the slip, you are agreeing to the scam.

You will find some of the clerks say things such as this is required by visa/mc (see the above), that their terminal will not allow them to run the transaction in euro (a lie of course). If they refuse, demand to see the manager.

The problem is particularly acute at restaurants where you give your credit card and they bring back a slip. I have written to the Irish tourist board about this asking them why they don't require merchants pulling this garbage to post sign indicating that at your specific request they will convert the charge to your currency at a certain rate and they be required to state the rate. I have received no answer from them so I have written to visa asking them to require this in Ireland.

Incidentally, note I said Ireland. I'd almost bet this attempted scam took place in Ireland where it has become big business (although I hear Italy is beginning to pick up on this)
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Old May 19th, 2005, 05:47 PM
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That happened to us on our Feb trip to Florence and a leather shop near Dumo charged me in US$ instead of Euro which I didn't even noticed until I got back to the hotel and showed the slip to my hubby, so I paid $20 more than I should All the other times we were in Europe and all the other charges we made on this Italy trip were fine so I wasn't even aware of this kind of scam. So do look out for these type of scam.
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Old May 19th, 2005, 05:54 PM
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30% !!
Was that 30% over the Interbank rate? When this was pulled on me in Ireland it was about 6% over the MasterCard conversion rate.
Would you please clarify that 30% rate?
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Old May 19th, 2005, 06:02 PM
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Perhaps the best way to approach this new problem is before buying anything, items, meals, hotel rooms etc. is to tell them that you will only pay in Euro's. That you will NOT sign a credit card statement if it is in US dollars. If no agreement is made then take your business elsewhere. Or pay in cash (euro's of course). When I say euro's I really mean the money of the country you are in. It seems as though it is harder and harder for travellers to relax while on a trip. It has all gotten so complicated.
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Old May 19th, 2005, 06:16 PM
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BTW..

I forgot to add to my post that visa is now tacking on an additional 1% even if the charge is written up in your home currency and mc will be doing so in the near future.

Luckily I don't think Amex allows this scam but then again Amex charges 2% for currency conversion while with the choice of the right card you can get away with 1% on mc or visa.
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Old May 19th, 2005, 06:32 PM
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And don't forget the additional 2-3% that your CreditCard issuer may add on to the transaction,even if the merchant does the foreign currency conversion.
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Old May 20th, 2005, 06:57 AM
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Old May 20th, 2005, 12:16 PM
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Just returned from 3 weeks in Ireland,Scotland and got this conversion to Dollars pulled on us once--in a nice place too--said they were doing us a favor, couldn't do it in Euros, etc. since it had already gone through. My husband questioned it when he was about to sign and they redid the bill in Euros even though they almost convinced us that we were foolish not to have them do us the "favor". Stick up for your rights and they should back down.
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Old May 20th, 2005, 01:11 PM
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what i find a bit confusing is when the bill has both the amount in US dollars along with the Euro amount. I was assured I wasn't paying in dollars but Euro - but a few time I had them cancel the transaction and paid in cash
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Old May 20th, 2005, 01:33 PM
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1st time I ever encountered this was at Harrods at Heathrow about 2 years ago. Had 4 boxes of little soaps @ 12 pounds per. She gives me a charge ticket to sign, in dollar...108 of them! I said what the H#!! is this? Was told it's a service. At $2.25 to the pound (and was about $1.70 then) this was no service. I demanded an immediate credit of $108, which I got, and then changed my mind about buying at all and left. For those prices, can get soap at Jo Malone (well, almost!).
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Old May 20th, 2005, 01:34 PM
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1st time I ever encountered this was at Harrods at Heathrow about 2 years ago. Had 4 boxes of little soaps @ 12 pounds per. She gives me a charge ticket to sign, in dollar...108 of them! I said what the H#!! is this? Was told it's a service. At $2.25 to the pound (and was about $1.70 then) this was no service. I demanded an immediate credit of $108, which I got, and then changed my mind about buying at all and left. For those prices, can get soap at Jo Malone (well, almost!)
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Old May 20th, 2005, 01:35 PM
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Oops, sorry to clog up things with double post...guess went out while I was adding the
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Old May 20th, 2005, 01:50 PM
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Last year, while in London, Harrods Department store did the same thing to me. I was so NAIVE, thinking they were doing me a favor and even said thank you as I left. They sure had a good laugh on me. It won't happen again
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Old May 20th, 2005, 02:02 PM
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Any time you see an amount in another currency on a charge slip, they are trying to pull this scam.

Three weeks ago at an Irish gift shoppe, I bought a tee shirt and noted on the sales slip there was an amount in euro and an amount in US dollars. I told the clerk I want the charge written up in euro, he said it had been and the amount in USD was listed just as an approximation. I knew he was lying but since it wasn't a big amount of money, and I was in a hurry, I wrote under protest in the place for signature and left.

Sure enough, when I checked the amount on-line it was the USD amount listed + the new immoral 1% visa currency transaction fee for a currency conversion that never took place.

I immediately e-mailed the merchant, included a copy of the visa notice I have put into this thread and indicated to him I was reporting him to the Irish tourist board for this violation. He immediately e mailed me back claiming that this is a normal practice in Ireland, denied the clerk had lied to me but agreed he would credit the account for the USD amount and re-submit the charge in euro.

He did that and the difference was that instead of having the charge billed at $1.3385 + an additional immoral 1% charge from visa, the charge went through at $1.28 including the 1% visa fee.

To me, this is a big big problem in Ireland and it behooves the Irish consumer protection agency or whatever it is called to put a stop to it by requiring

1. Signs indicating that at your specific request, the charge can be written up in your own currency.

2. The amount they are using for converting in several currencies.

As of now, I have not received an answer from them for this very simple request.

As a matter of fact, if you do a google search for dynamic currency conversion, you will find there are many payment processors pushing this scam almost illegal activity insofar as it is being done without asking the permision of the scamee which is clearly required by visa and even lying to those of us who know the scam is being perpetrated with such lies as, "the USD amount is an approximation but you will be billed in eyuro," "we are not allowed by Irish law (or visa reguatlatons) to bill you in euro", "the terminal will not allow us to bill you in euro." and such garbage like that.

It sure gives Irish merchants a bad bad name.
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Old May 20th, 2005, 02:11 PM
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I wonder why this seems so prevalent in Ireland, in particular. I wonder why they want to try to pull this so much, you'd think running their business would be enough for them without trying to get extra money from customers through the credit card.

Why don't you contact the Irish Tourist Board about this, xyz? I think you could write them a good letter. They are actually fairly helpful. I had them intervene once when some store in Dublin where I bought crystal to have shipped (with insurance) sent me the wrong shipment and one piece was broken due to their negligence. The store wouldn't respond to my requests for replacement -- but as soon as I contacted the Irish Tourist Board, copying them on it, I got new crystal within a couple weeks.
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Old May 20th, 2005, 02:56 PM
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What about in a place like Turkey (which is where I will be going in September)? Many of the hotels quote prices in Euros and/or US dollars. However, I assume that the charge on my credit card will be in Turkish lira.

Any suggestions as to how one should be prepared to prevent the "dynamic conversion" problems in that situation?
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Old May 20th, 2005, 04:25 PM
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wj1,

as much as this scam (and it is a total scam) makes me mad, there are times when merchants in countries such as turkey or asian, african countries, etc will price things (usually western oriented hotels or shops) in USD and therefore charge in USD - maybe perhaps now in euro also as this is challenging USD as THE hard currency worldwide.

I don't think this is a scam as long as you are paying in same currency in which the item/service is originally priced. when certain currencies are vary unstable, western oriented merchants prefer to price things in hard currency.

BTW, i have always been charged in local currency in europe and never converted to my card's account currency (&pound.
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