Originally Posted by
LoneTree
My experience in Poland and Germany is a bit more shady with the defaults. It asks "Approve transaction? Green for USD, Red for (local currency)". Since cashiers don't always read the best English, they just hit green for approve. This has happened to me despite requesting payment in local currency.
In Poland with an Euro chip-and-pin Maestro card I had a really bad experience in a hotel. On the customer display
"AMOUNT PLN 100.00 ENTER PIN ****" was shown. After entering the PIN this was on the Polcard slip:
Exchange rate*: 0.24257
Fee/mark-up: 3.00%
Amount 24.26 EUR
* This currency conversion is provided
by eService S.A.
I have chosen not to use the MasterCard
conversion method and I will
have no recourse against MasterCard
concerning the currency
conversion or its disclosure
The official MasterCard/Maestro exchange rate for that day was 0.23594.
I disputed the transaction with my bank without success. I learned from the central payment processing center in Frankfurt, Germany that a chip-and-pin transaction cannot be voided.