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majuki: in the harrods chip and sign situation DCC/not DCC will have been selected already
. Even if you refuse to sign or even buy the goods, harrods can only do a GBP refund after - the DCC will stick.

I find the Harrods situation odd as the one time I ever bought something at Harrods I was asked if I wanted to pay in dollars or pounds and my choice was honoured to pay in pounds.

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alexmt: on our subsequent purchases (including the missus's handbag), we stated pounds payment up front and got charged in pounds.

It was only the first purchase where we didn't tell the cashier to charge pounds up front, the cashier didn't ask either and charged us in Hong Kong dollars.

I know it doesn't help us in chip-and-signature countries, but in the hypothetical chip-and-PIN situation wouldn't one just be able to refuse to enter the PIN to stop the transaction from processing?

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Majuki: possibly yes. Or enter the wrong pin and force the harrods/GL type POSes to abort the transaction.

GAP HK
 

Just wanted to give my experience regarding DCC in GAP store Hong Kong Hysan plaza. I used my US Chase card and the cashier presented me to sign a slip that showed the USD and HKD amount. I was thinking, damn, I got DCC'd. I didn't want to make a fuss out of it since I had friends with me. I simply X'd the HKD box and signed the slip.

My email notification showed the USD amount and I was certain I was forced into DCC. When the payment cleared from pending to sales, it charged the HKD amount, which was several dollars cheaper.

Either they went back and re authorized in HKD, or it was done different than other system I have encountered. I was quite shocked.

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Cxua: it's hard to tell from the slip. In my taj exotica Maldives case the hkd (DCC) amount was held and the (voided) DCC slip and the (posted) non-DCC slip look identical - the only difference is the pre-customer slip printing cashier input.

Did you know whether your gap cashier made any prior to printing your customer slip?

The merchant copy was the slip with the USD HKD choices. My customer copy didn't have those two boxes (it was the DCC amount of my receipt after signature). I couldn't tell if the cashier selected HKD after I X'd it and gave her back the signed copy.

But every time I have been presented with the 'choices' for me to sign, regardless of what box I checked, it was a done deal that I got DCC'd.

But this time at GAP, I was pleasantly surprised. Guess this is how it SHOULD work.

You mean you were given a receipt for USD, but you were eventually charged HKD? I'd like to see that slip, can you upload it (redact name and card number)? Thanks

So the real rate Chase uses would be the rate that Visa USA gives for the posting date shown on the Chase website?

Really suggest you get a AMEX Plat or Discover for back-up. Only use your Visa/MC in big Western chain hotels in Mainland China.

My experience with HK DCC terminals is that they always hold the DCC amount, and then post the HKD amount. If you tick the HKD box, usually (as least at pricey stores like Hermes or Van Cleef), you get a final slip showing HKD charged. So don't worry that much in HK. It's not like BoC machines in Mainland China that the currency boxes are for ornamental purposes only... lol

Ah, I was wondering why my BEA debit card was getting a worse rate than what Google said when buying money orders with it at Walmart. I thought they were charging me a fee and not telling me.

Back on topic, after a month here in Shanghai with no/avoidable DCC I finally got hit. I'm flying to SZX tonight on Shenzhen Airlines, and needed to pay for my change fee (changed to a later flight). Their BOC terminal is quite sneaky- you think you've got out of it when you push "cancel" when it says it's checking the exchange rate or when it shows you the rate to confirm. It says "processing" for a bit and then errors out with "DO NOT HONOUR". CSP, Barclaycard Ring, credit union Visa card, all of them errors out the same way. I ended up using my ICBC credit card.

That's right. If you look at the Visa exchange rate here, you will see it matches what Chase charges you based on the date Chase posts your transaction.

I have an AmEx Plat, but I don't have a Discover card. I would probably stick to cash for smaller transactions anyway, but how ubiquitous is AmEx acceptance? I feel like it's throwing in the towel somewhat to use AmEx, especially since I started the DCC thread. My wife is a native Mandarin speaker, so she could help communicate instructions. If I end up getting hit with DCC, I will do what the others have suggested. I'll take a picture with my phone, deface the receipt, and dispute with Chase based on the non-DCC amount. If we go, I only expect to be charging large purchases such as hotel (seems like it's not a problem) or upscale restaurants (might be a problem).

The DCC experience is like in Taiwan then. They will generate a quote slip where you select the box. You then get a final slip that shows TWD selected or simply the amount charged in TWD. I wasn't as aware of how to avoid DCC even a year ago when I made my last trip to Taiwan, but I knew enough to ask for local currency. If the situation is the same in Hong Kong, then I have little reason for concern.

What I despise is my "choice" not being honored, or cashiers saying things like, "Well, let's see what happens..." or "Oh, no, sir, that USD amount is displayed purely for your convenience only."

No quote slip in HK. That's why HK DCC's quite insidious and Mainland-like.

So if you try to cancel it will stop the transaction from processing? Maybe BoC found a way around our workaround. Hopefully this setup doesn't spread to other BoC terminal. :mad:

But zyxlsy indicated he was able to get a final receipt slip denoting HKD and ticked some box? Is this like your experience at A Lorcha where you tick the box on the slip you sign and hope the merchant honors it?