sosafan

I logged into my preferred account today and there was a new set of terms and conditions that it was asking me to accept. Item 27 involved DCC, included below. Although the language seems to refer to non-US renters in the U.S., I assume this also refers to US renters outside the U.S., because it is the only place this is mentioned. Anyway, I remember in the past going into my profile and unchecking a box that agrees to DCC. So I looked through my profile today and could not find that box. (I know that unchecking the box had been successful for me in the past.) In a current thread, another flyertalker mentioned the same thing. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28241446-post10.html So I called Avis Customer Service and asked how I could enter into my profile an instruction not to perform “the conversion process” as outlined in the T&C. First the customer service agent told me that there was nothing currently in profile about this. When I pressed that I wanted to opt out of DCC as the T&C suggests, he took some time, but finally told me that the “new method” was to send an email to [email protected]. I asked if I did this, would I receive a confirmation. He said that I would. So I have done so and will report back whether I get a response.
Here is the previous thread that mentioned the “box” that previously appeared in our profiles: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/avis-...argebacks.html

Here is the language in the Terms and Conditions that I was asked to agree with:
27.
CURRENCY CONVERSION
.If you use a credit or charge card that is issued by a financial institution outside of the United States and your charges are billed to us in a currency other than U.S. Dollars, the full amount of your charges will be converted to the card account’s billing currency by us unless you have instructed us not to perform the conversion process on your personal account profile or submitted a written request in advance to have the currency conversion performed by your card issuer. Our conversion will be based on a conversion rate published by Reuters and will incorporate a processing charge no higher than 3% applied to all amounts relating to the transaction. This charge will replace the currency conversion processing charge applied by your card issuer. You understand that your card issuer has a currency conversion process; that you have chosen not to use your card issuer’s currency conversion process; and that you will have no recourse against your card issuer with respect to any matter related to the currency conversion or disclosure thereof.

sosafan

Three weeks and no response.

hotttoddie

I made SURE i had that checkbox ticked to pay in local currency before I rented. I arrived and all the paper work was in Euros. I asked the CSR, will i be charged in Euros? She said yes. Low and behold - what do they do?? Charge me in USD at a 4% premium of a $850 rental. I'm furious. I went back to the contract that they (obviously) rushed me through, and i missed the line saying "i was offered to pay in Euros, but elect to do USD". Whats the point of that checkbox? Any suggestions?

sosafan

The reason that I started this new thread is that I had previously had the checkbox ticked, but when I saw the new Terms and Conditions, I couldn't find it anymore. Have you found the checkbox since you made that rental?

hotttoddie

nope - went back and looked a couple days ago - and its not there - then i started googleing and saw this : http://blog.wandr.me/2016/12/avis-dy...onversion-dcc/

they purposely hide it from you... i cant convey how much i loathe avis right now.

sosafan

Here is the response I got from Avis today. The new wrinkle is that they seem to want a separate request for every credit card.

Not sure what EMEA is.

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The card listed on (sosafan's) profile was issued in the US – all US rentals should be billing in USD. If he is renting overseas please be advised that EMEA does not have an exception table available. When renting overseas the customer would have to make the request to bill in local currency at the counter.

In case (sosafan) rents in Canada I have added the card number to the Canadian Exception Table; any Canadian rentals should bill in local currency going forward.

If the card on profile is changed then a new request for exception will need to be submitted.

Regards,
xxxxxxxx

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abaron

Thank you OP, for posting and bringing this issue to light. Also thank you for the follow up post with a bit more details.

I originally sent the email to the address above. I received a timely response... asking for my wizard number. Whoops.

After responding to that I heard nothing, even after a follow up email.

However i just looked in the app out of curiosity and found a checkbox for DCC. On my credit card the option was unchecked.

So at least in the app you can see the status on a per card basis and uncheck it.

jackal

AFAIK, EMEA is a common acronym for "Europe, the Middle East and Africa."

The agent appears to be saying that he/she was able to add your card to the DCC exception table (a list of credit card numbers that should not be charged with DCC) for Canada but not for Europe/Middle East/Africa locations because they do not maintain a table for those locations, so you will have to manually opt out at those locations.

nacho

Are you using an AMEX card? I think that AMEX is the only card that wouldn't allow DCC. We rented at PDX back in April and was charged in USD (I checked the box for not participating DCC - based in Europe).

hotttoddie

is there a take away from all this? a lesson that can be learned? i thought i was prepared and unchecked the box, but they still screwed me over at the terminal - granted it was in the contract and i signed it - but i did look for it and didnt see it.

trmbn65

I've spent about 5 months in Ireland this year and have noticed DCC is almost everywhere. I would estimate only 30% of retailers "turn it off". In my experience in Dublin, the merchants always give you the option and let you select for yourself at tourist attractions. At non-tourist attractions, many merchants think you are getting a good deal and, in fact, use DCC all the time in the UK and the US. So I strike up a conversation on how it is a scam. I truly believe the till workers but there have been a few times where I mentioned clearly to pay in EUR and they select USD like nothing happened. Frustrating.

nacho

We did the extreme - re-sign up for Preferred. So far it works.

Happy

rented twice at South Africa in August. All billed in local currency South African Rand, no DCC.

Only one card in Preferred profile and it is a Visa, with the checked box for accepting DCC unmarked since the card was added from almost 10 months ago.

trmbn65

I spend a lot of time in Ireland for work. As a result, I've goten DCC'd multiple times. I primarily use my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. I recently disputed a charge for 100 EUR and was impressed by how easy Chase made it. I logged into my account and selected the charge, then set the reason as being charged in the wrong currency. However, it said to dispute a DCC just use other. So I did and there was no option for a comment. I submitted it, and never got an email confirmation. All that happened was on my next statement, they issued a $5 refund. That $5 is quite generous given the fact that the DCC markup was 3.5%. I will definitely be disputing all DCC charges on my Chase cards from now on given how easy this entire process was.

Stewie Mac

Quoting the above because it's an SA rental.

I've just booked, through avisba.com (a UK website), a reservation in South Africa for next week. It's *not* a prepay rental. The website quoted me in GBP (£43.61) but the reservation has the below:

...? I know the pound is in the toilet, but it hasn't yet hit parity with the euro. And I'm expecting to get billed in ZAR anyway.

I normally rent through Hertz but they're sold out of cars at this location next week. Can anyone advise what I might actually get billed for this rental? And is Avis always this hopeless? And really, sending confirmation emails in plain text?

Thanks