The Novotel in Taoyuan, Taiwan does this but only for the preauthorization or if you actually get hit with DCC. Without DCC the transaction doesn't show DCC in the line.

Was in Seoul last week and went on the JSA tour. Travel agency quoted me ticket price in KRW and ran my credit card, but when they gave me the receipt to sign it was in USD. Sneaky. Didn't even give me the option upfront. I promptly asked them to charge me in KRW instead so they reversed the original charge. I was worried that the reversal would go through as KRW whereas the initial charge was in USD so I'd eat some currency conversion fee anyway, but both charges were in fact in USD so exactly canceled each other out.

First time this has happened to me.

First time seeing non-compliant DCC in Korea for me...

Maybe it had the options but they just chose the wrong one for you.

I had the same thing happened on me at Lotte Market where a lady hit USD for me in milliseconds before I can react... The difference was several cents so I let it go.

But anyway, I haven't dealt with individual vendors like travel agencies so I can't be so sure. The smallest I've dealt with were small restaurants which all turned out to be pretty fine.

DCC at ATMs in Turkey
 

Not sure if anyone posts about DCC at ATM but here is what I discovered on a recent visit to Turkey.

Both transactions were on the Schwab card.

I made a withdrawal at an ATM in the parking lot of Sheraton Adana - there were 2 ATMs from 2 Turkish banks. I randomly picked one and just withdrew 100 TY as we did not have any local currency on us (flew in from DOH to IST and immediately went thru immigration to the domestic terminal to connect to our domestic TK flight but there was no ATM at Adana airport.) I did not see any equivalent USD amount nor any indication on the ATM screen about whether I wanted the conversion or not. It only showed the pre-set amounts and Other and once I chose the amount the machine processed the transaction.
It showed on Schwab side being $39.06, exactly 3% more than using the historical rate shown on XC site. It should have been $37.92.

I dont know how to dispute a DCC on ATM withdrawal and especially for $1.14 only.

About a week later I withdrew another 100 TY at ING bank's ATM at Bodrum. The ATM said there would be $4 transaction fee and asked if I wanted to continue. Since Schwab would reimburse ATM fee I continued the transaction. This time the screen showed me it would be $39.30. At the bottom of the screen there were options whether Continue with conversion or Continue without conversion. Needless to say, i continued without conversion. That withdrawal turned out to be $38.49. Schwab did not show the $4 being charged though.

So, these were the first times i encountered DCC at ATMs but there was no way to avoid the first one because there was no warning nor options to choose from as versus the ING Bank's. i could not understand why the $4 ATM fee did not show up at Schwab's side. Schwab normally shows the ATM fee and then reimburses the fee at the end of the month. (Fido would reimburse the next day the fee is posted.)

Last year I made numerous withdrawals at the ATM located at the driveway of Conrad Bali, Indonesia and there was no DCC.

Next time I would try to only withdraw from ATMs attached to a bank though it does not mean there would not be any DCC but I suspect those standing alone ATMs may be more rigged.

On another note, hotels converted the Euro bookings (a Crowne Plaza of IHG and a Double Tree of Hilton) into TY when paying the hotel bills. On the official booking channels, they are quoted in Euro but at the hotel they bill in TY. I cannot tell whether there is a padding. Because Euro has dropped so much so rapidly, it resulted to a few bucks higher than what they would have been had they been in TY all along.

I agree, when withdrawing, always use an international bank. They do follow a bit higher ethical standards due to fear of regulatory bodies. schwab generally reimburses the ATM fee a few weeks later. But you can always send in ATM fee receipt copy and they will promptly credit your account.

You would need to use the rates on Visa's website. Was the transaction date March 6th? If so, the math works out:

1 Turkish Lira = 0.390586 United States Dollar

100 TRY = 39.06 USD

You did the right thing here. You always want to continue without conversion. I don't know how to explain the fee if it's encapsulated in the total price, but it didn't seem to be charged in this case. I have a Fidelity card that also reimburses fees, and those have always been separated from the transaction amount.

Transactions in Indonesia by law must be in IDR, so you don't have to worry about DCC in Indonesia. In that part of the world, Malaysia has some problems with compliant DCC implementations. Singapore and Thailand are generally very compliant.

DCC at ATMs has been talked about on this thread in the past but usually it's not a problem since the user is in control of the transaction. You will never have a cashier pressing buttons/opting in for you without your consent. Always proceed without conversion - some setups might have you confirm twice with confusing language, "Are you absolutely sure?!!! If you do this we cannot guarantee the exchange rate! Press OK to accept rate or NO to cancel." You then press OK thinking it is just a confirmation screen when in reality you're opting back in to the conversion. It's sneaky and dishonest, but it happens. In the worst case, keep declining everything. If it ends up cancelling the transaction, start over and you haven't lost anything.

Travelex ATMs are usually guilty of trying to DCC, but there are other examples as well. Usually those away from airports or other areas with lots of foreigners are safe.

If you could provide the transaction and posting dates of your two ATM withdrawals, we could see what rate was applied and compared to Visa's exchange rate calculator.

I have noticed more ATMs in the UK (the standalone type found in shops and bars) are starting to offer DCC. The ATM at my work (a scientific research facility in the middle of nowhere near Cambridge) offers a particularly poor rate. There is someone who withdraws cash on an almost daily basis (leaving his/her receipt on the machine each time) who opts for DCC on their Euro Maestro card.

I'll grab a receipt next time I see one to post an example of the very poor rate offered.

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).

Here in the States, both barbers I like are cash only. Otherwise, I use very little cash.

It's interesting about the estimated conversion rate which isn't DCC. I'm extremely cautious whenever I see anything related to USD overseas. If they're giving away the estimate for free, why would people accept DCC? I guess it is only an estimate, not a locked exchange rate. ;)

You must live in a different UK from the one I so dearly love and plan to move to... Plenty of late-night kebabishes and and Indian places and little pubs where cash is still king.

Do bear in mind that one of the lies clerks are instructed to tell people who notice that the dcc scam is being perpetrated on them is to tell them the amount listed in your currency is just an estimate for your convenience and that you are really being billed in whatever the local currency is. Of course when I come back and say then why am I being asked to sign a statement that I agree to the conversion rate and the decision is final, they quickly shut up.

and many of the ones that do accept card there charge £.5/£1 for doing so (easily 10-20% of an order too), so the preferred payment method there is also cash.

And many places have minimum spends too. My local Indian takeaway is £10 minimum, plus a £1 fee. No good if I'm eating on my own. Local butcher has the same minimum spend, but with a 50p fee.

Then you get pubs who make up odd rules. One in Islington (near King's Cross station) would only take cards for purchases under £5 if they were contactless :confused: