That is an example of a place printing out the receipt in US dollars before you even make the "choice." Very misleading. You can attempt a reason code 4846 chargeback since it is a mastercard. Chances are you will just get a courtesy credit unless it was a significant amount. Ideally though a chargeback is better because it causes a bunch of paperwork for the merchant. Good luck!

This is why I always ask for a courtesy copy reprint to make sure I don't get screwed. File the chargeback, and they'll have to reprocess the transaction in INR assuming your bank goes through with the chargeback.

Just to report back on some attempts to find DCC in the US, my sister-in-law used an AUD-denominated debit MasterCard from Commonwealth Bank for two transactions on Sunday. It's not a rewards earning card, and Commonwealth Bank passes on the 1% currency conversion fee applied by Visa and MC and charges a 2% FTF as a base rate. So, the best you're likely to see is a 3% fee for using the card. In the case of DCC you'd get hit by the 2% FTF + DCC markup. My sister-in-law already knew that the DCC spread wasn't worth it, but she was taken for a ride the first time she used her card in Hong Kong.

The first was at the Cheesecake Factory at Union Square in San Francisco. I thought the Cheesecake Factory would be a good candidate considering the number of tourists that like it and the fact that they might see some international card use. When we presented the form of payment, I didn't want to bias the situation, so we handed the card to the waitress without saying anything. The bill was $56.27, and the printed receipt didn't make any mention of DCC. We checked online and the pending transaction is A$72.33, which is close enough to the MC rate of 1.285182 AUD/USD from February 6th. (They haven't yet posted the February 8th rate.)

The second transaction was at West Elm in Palo Alto. We did not see DCC here either. They have non-EMV terminals with touchscreens/electronic signature pads. When she swiped her card it automatically processed as a MasterCard debit transaction with a PIN. The item amount was $38.06, and the transaction immediately posted to her account online for A$48.93. She also had a separate foreign transaction fee of A$1.47, which is 3% of the settled transaction amount.

I really want to test out Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Nordstrom, but I hate to see her losing out on 3% every time just in the interest of continuing my DCC hunt in the US beyond airport duty free. :D

I think DCC is aggressively pushed in Asia because of more profits. It has now spread to ATM's too. Last year when I was withdrawing cash at Delhi airport I got a message we are giving you the best conversion rate using DCC, with a button to continue or "cancel". It makes one think, cancel means cancel the transaction. When I hit cancel, it continued the transaction without DCC. I am pretty sure 95% of travelers at 1.30 AM, after 17 hours of flight time and more just want to get to their hotel and hit the sack. I expect that until regulators clamp down on this, this will proliferate.

I think DCC is aggressively pushed in a lot of places because it can lead to more profits. We already talked about on here that we think it's largely the acquirer that pushes DCC to the merchant because it's the merchant who absorbs the headaches of a chargeback should the customer feel cheated. Most of the time the customer falls into the DCC trap and doesn't even realize it. However, for the cases where the customer files a chargeback for DCC, the merchant is the one resolving it. With this current arrangement, the acquirer can peddle DCC without any advertised downside to the merchant. The acquirer always wins, and the merchant comes out ahead enough of the time such that DCC continues to be offered.

Issuers lose out if they have a currency exchange fee, which is why many have responded by switching to foreign transaction fees. Some believe that Visa and MasterCard look the other way even with flagrant violations of published rules about how a DCC transaction must occur since offering DCC might compel merchants to accept Visa and MC.

Speaking of acquirers, even though FD says that DCC is an option on their website, does the acquirer also need to support DCC? Considering that most don't even have EMV enabled software for terminals yet DCC may not be a high priority right now.

My parents reported that in BKK (they don't remember which bank) - they were not given the option to not DCC, and if they pushed Cancel on the screen the ATM returned their card.

They were quoted a rate of 20000 THB = USD 650.50 + 180 THB fee. Nice scam they've got going there, charging 7% over what our bank would have plus the already exorbitant overseas user ATM fee. :mad:

I see an opportunity for tort lawyers to take take down Master card CEO AjayPal Banga and Visa CEO Charles Scharf's pants down in public. Fonance companies are fine by the feds, but unless some CEO's go to jail nothing will come of these types of scams. I subscribe to WSJ, NYT and Barron's. I am going to write a strong letter to the editor about this type of scam and also file a complaint with CFPB. I would encourage forum members to do likewise. Here is the link to file complaints.

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

Unless Visa and Mastercard refuse to go along, this type of scam will continue.

Clamp down? Consumer groups seem to absolutely love DCC (and have sued to make sure DCC exists), and politicians love consumer groups. DCC isn't going anywhere, sadly.

Visa and Mastercard's hands are tied. They've tried to stop this nonsense, but got sued by "consumer" groups (which are really controlled by merchants) for doing so. This isn't their plague. Amex and Discover are smaller networks, thus not seen to have undue influence on the market, they have more freedom to protect their cardholders.

This is interesting because from the reports we've read Thailand is quite compliant with DCC for credit card purchases and will always give the quote slip and then honor the choice.

Some of the ATMs are really deceptive, and one has to press 'no' or 'cancel' to avoid DCC. In this case, cancel in fact cancelled the transaction, making it more difficult to determine how to bypass DCC. I've also seen a setup where you have to page through multiple screens and decline the DCC offer more than once. For example the wording was along the lines of, "Are you sure? We cannot guarantee the exchange rate if you decline. Press OK to accept and NO to cancel." Are you pressing OK to accept the disclaimer or accepting the DCC conversion? Does no decline DCC or cancel the transaction? Imagine most people getting caught in that after a long flight and being fatigued. 7% is outrageous though.

The problem with DCC is that it often occurs in a location where you're not native and might have a language barrier. You also aren't familiar with the consumer protections or options available to you if the merchant isn't willing to play along. Combined with the issuer's propensity to issue a courtesy credit for small DCC charges, the merchants don't have to deal with the pain of a chargeback, so the bad behavior continues.

I would also say AmEx and Discover have more end-to-end control of their networks. While there are third party issuers of American Express cards, Discover is the only issuer of its cards, right? Furthermore, while I don't have the numbers, I imagine that AmEx issues the vast majority of AmEx branded cards rather than a third party issuer. Visa and MC don't issue their own cards; they're simply the payment network. Also, depending on the fee structure, issuers can lose out with DCC since they don't get the additional profit if the card levies a currency exchange fee. Of course, in the US we've all moved to FTFs, so they'd get their cut anyway.

There are third party Discover cards, at least there used to be. GE and Continental Finance both issued them though I believe neither card is Discover anymore.

Diners Club is essentially Discover as well (excluding NA) and its a separate franchise in every country.

BTW, Costco/Elavon is apparently in the DCC game as well: https://www.costcopaymentprocessing....t-Overview.pdf. Not sure if DCC is automatic or if the merchant has to opt-in. Since Costco's currently selling $99 EMV terminals (effectively free if the merchant claims the AmEx rebate), there might be a whole bunch of smaller businesses who will soon be DCC enabled if the former.

EDIT: also, speaking of Elavon, they apparently have a "Best Rate Guarantee" (PDF):

Has anyone tried this?

The claim criteria are what you would expect, except for this: "Copy of your credit or debit card statement clearly showing another transaction carried out on the same day using the same credit or debit card which was converted at a more favourable rate than that offered by Elavon."

Also, they only give you the price difference they fleeced you by, so you have to waste all the time tracking down the statement, filling out their forms, and waiting 2 months for them to respond. The wording of the claim form also seems to intimidate you into giving up your chargeback rights too, or if they say no to your 'request'.