Originally Posted by
moondog
That's Dynamic Currency Conversion, a sore spot for many of us.
ETA: Even though there are other threads about this, I want to comment a bit more here. You're supposed to be able to choose your transaction currency whenever DCC is offered, but this doesn't always happen. Rather, the front line people at DCC establishments get so used to it that they don't have a clue how to process in local currency. Upon my return from my last international trip, I took up this issue with Schwab and both of the lawyers that lead the CCF class action law suit. The lawyers told me that, while DCC sucks, it's not as clear a case as CCF and the numbers are smaller. Meanwhile, the Schwab guys had no clue what I was talking about.
Moondog-
My approach is to never sign a credit charge slip that has anything but the foreign currency on it. If they print the slip with dollars (or both $$ and foreign), I make them re-run it right there (usually a huge effort required by them to do that).
It's never happened, but if I ever get a charge I signed in a foreign currency run through DCC as dollars, I plan to deny responsibility the the grounds that as I never authorized the charge. I have a Schwab card too-any idea on how the FIA folks might react in that case?