DCC on the rise in Spain/Portugal
I’ve gotta say that the DCC situation in Spain and Portugal has gotten out of hand rapidly. Of my last twelve credit card transactions, only five times was it not offered. Three times it was offered and the vendor accepted my refusal. Twice the vendor simply handed me a credit card slip in dollars for signature, resulting in lengthy discussions in two different foreign languages before they were withdrawn. And two hotels simply took my written refusal, threw it in the trash after I had left, and unilaterally billed my card in dollars.
The first hotel only nicked me for about $5 and I decided to ignore it. The second, with its DCC upcharge of 7 percent, got me for $28. I have them dead to rights with photographs of my written refusal. I’ve contacted them and they graciously offer to refund my $28. I have disputed the entire transaction with MasterCard and requested that the hotel be prohibited from DCC transactions entirely.
The situation has become bad enough that such aggressive reactions become necessary IMHO.