Originally Posted by
tng11
I personally found the prompt "the amount is always paid in EUR including exchange fees at 6,00%" - at first I thought it meant that if you choose EUR, that they will charge you 6%, otherwise you pay in USD at the craptastic exchange rate.
HSBC ended up only billing me $21.95 that day, so it was a full 6% difference.
Does your HSBC card have a 0% FTF or 3%? I'm struggling to come up with the 6% difference vs. what you were billed unless the $21.95 has a 3% premium built in.
The wording is indeed confusing, but my interpretation is that even if you select to be debited in USD - accept the DCC offer - that the machine will only dispense money in EUR. I don't like the weasel words in the first sentence since the wording makes it seem like a 6% fee is levied regardless of the currency selection. Like so many instances of DCC, the wording is ambiguous and would likely catch the unsuspecting user. 6% is among the worst DCC rates I've seen. With such a poor exchange rate you might as well be exchanging bankrotes at a Travelex kiosk at the airport.
