Originally Posted by
Newark7
Thanks for the offer to help me submit a complaint. It looks like the process there is quite tedious & likely won't do anything to punish the offending merchants. It seems I'm going to get screwed/DCC'd anytime I use my Visa card in HK. Amex or cash seems like the only answer, but my Amex has a 3% FTF fee, so I'll still get hit with that.
I'm sorry we've imported this parasite. Both US firms (e.g. Global Payments) and Chinese banks (e.g. BoC) are culpable. And our business-friendly regulation means nothing is done about it.
The consistent indicator is when there is verbage the merchant must do something - make a selection, play wack a mole or knock the terminal against the floor silly (no I have not tried the last one). If the merchant claims he can do nothing then assume DCC has already occurred.
There's still one way, much easier to do here than China - try DCC and ask for HKD billing first. Deface any slip that has verbage (don't rip up the slip, but write /VOID/ across it - we still have Bills of Exchanges law). Ask for a void - I can't think of any merchant here who can't void a slip if asked - and present alternate payment, be it Amex, Discover (as Unionpay - I'm not sure if they work here but it might be possible - someone please report back) or in the worst case cash (USD/HKD spread is not high - you'd easily get 7.76 for your greenbacks).