Originally Posted by
Majuki
I have not been to the UK in over 3 years, so it's unsettling that the problem has worsened. I only had on withdrawal during my November 2011 trip (at a Travelex ATM), but I don't remember DCC being much of a problem to avoid at ATMs at the time. I just referenced the transaction and historical exchange rates - Visa doesn't publish rates on the website past one year - and it appears that I avoided DCC at the time. The transaction from 11/24 posted on 11/28 at $311.95. The closest GBP value was £200. Using historical exchange rates from XE, things seemed to be within 0.5% of the exchange rate.
I imagine the acceptance of DCC at ATMs, like retail transactions, is purely out of ignorance rather than wanting a fixed exchange rate.
I can't see the standalone ATMs being a massive problem for tourists, most of the ones used will probably be bank owned ones that don't generally have DCC. Confusingly though, some Sainsburys and some Lloyds ATMs give an estimated rate in the cards currency but it isn't DCC, they still charge in GBP. It'll just show for example, £10 and then 15 USD Est.
I'd hope foreigners aren't being ripped off with ATM dcc too much in the UK anyway, not that they need to withdraw much cash, there aren't many places you can't use a card. (Living here, I haven't used cash in the UK for probably over a year).