This incident at Al Molo reminds me that maybe these DCCs can be avoided, provided that the cashiers know how to do that and remembers to do that. I think it doesn't really matter whether it's carbon copy or thermal copy.

I thought the DCC currency selection should be either before the slip printing, or right after. Now I know it doesn't matter if the terminal returns to idle after slip printing, because there is a way to call your transaction back and then select the currency.

So now I wanna ask, whether the terminals at Coyote, Greyhound Cafe, elc., all have this feature to select currency (that you have to initiate a transaction type, provided that the guy knows all the necessary passwords and things to the terminal, called "offline opt/out" or simply "opt/out")? I still think in a place like HK, blatant violation of Visa/MC rules isn't that possible...

Hostels.com
 

Hostels.com engages in something very similar to DCC, except rather than switch to your card's currency, they switch arbitrarily to USD. (Which, for many people, will be the same thing. For many others, it will be even worse than DCC.)

Their main pages have a currency drop-down which allows you to choose many currencies. (However, they hide the fact that they only allow payment in three currencies.) So, you can look up a hostel to book in Australia, have it set to AUD and see this:

"12% Downpayment / Deposit: AU$53.28" next to the "Book now" button.

Clicking that button takes the user to the payment page, on which it is stated "12% Downpayment / Deposit: US$45.38"

This is, unsurprisingly (as hostels.com is run from Ireland, apparently a world leader in DCC), about 5% higher.

It is possible, and it does happen. There's little one can do to avoid DCC in all cases except by using AmEx or a card denominated in the transaction currency, paying cash, or successfully filing a Reason Code 76 chargeback.

I can't speak for Coyote but percysmith tried to get the cashier at Greyhound to press cancel - and she did if I remember correctly - but to no avail. The damage had already been done.

I have seen the cashier call back the transaction for currency selection at Chungyo Department Store in Taichung, but in my experience the ex post facto DCC opt-out is rare.

I thought post facto DCC opt-out is rare too, but now I believe maybe this is the way to get the things right at Coyote and Greyhound Cafe.

The "cancel hitting" trick is definitely a way to go for the pre facto DCC opt-out, but I believe a lot of the terminals in HK can use post facto opt-out. Imagine in a restaurants, waiters all go to the same terminal to swipe cards, and there is no way everyone can wait for the last guy to come back with the marked slip, select the currency, then do their own swipings. Instead, the terminal should've been designed to be able to call back previous transactions when things are not so busy.

In situations like this, if you lay your eyes on the terminal, you would feel like you've already got into trouble. I sincerely feel that doing a post facto DCC opt-out can solve this, provided that the cashier has all the needed password or something to operate the terminal to do a "DCC opt-out" transaction.

Zyxsly: some do allow post facto opt out: Orreck Hang Seng Rainbow Restaurant

But not all: my Global Payments Taj Exotica Maldives (supervisor has no way to opt out of my first DCCed transaction, the first transaction must be voided and another re-run).

I haven't travelled internationally in a while so this is the first that I'm hearing of this.

I understand that a lot of time the lender would rather just refund the difference and eat it than bother with a chargeback, especially if it's a relatively small amount. I also understand that this is not particularly satisfying -- obviously no one wants to go through a lot of phone calls to get 50c back.

When there is a problem, in addition to the disputing the charge, is it possible to report the merchant directly to Visa? After all, it's Visa's rules that they are breaking, not the lender's.

Yes, it is petty to have to call up and ask for a refund or chargeback when the discrepancy is $0.25-$5.00, especially when the issuer isn't the one responsible for forcing DCC upon the customer. Those of us who care about the matter try to stop DCC at the time of the transaction to avoid having to make the call to the issuer. However, the issuer has the ability to file a incorrect currency code chargeback. If the issuer refunds a credit in lieu of a chargeback, it is the issuer's decision. This of course is a suboptimal resolution since the merchant doesn't have to deal with the paperwork of a chargeback, and the issuer is taking the loss of the DCC amount by issuing a courtesy credit.

Taking the issue up with the payment networks won't get your issue resolved if you've been hit with DCC. While the networks provide feedback forms for US merchants, there isn't a systematic way to report merchants worldwide. Even if you do report the merchant, what action will the networks take? This is no different than some merchants refusing a transaction due to not having ID (where local law doesn't supersede network policy) or merchants overseas refusing swipe-and-sign or non-PIN transactions. (This omits all of the unmanned terminals that only support offline chip-and-PIN transactions.) All of these things are in violation of published Visa/MC policy, but the payment networks do little to punish the merchants.

Some on here have even speculated that the networks approve of DCC as a way to increase merchant acceptance of credit card transactions. If the merchant and acquirer are taking a cut of some of the 4-5% markup.

Does AMEX offer FTF free cards? I would like to have one to avoid DCC, but also would like to avoid any FTF. How hard are they to get?

For the US AmEx cards, the Delta cards, Platinum card, and Centurion card have no FTF.

IIRC the Fidelity AmEx also has a 1% FTF that is more than made up for by the 2% CB for all purchases.

Another good choice. ^

While many card issuers and their banks may not charge FTF, the exchange rate is often warped @:-)

BTW, had to think of this thread this week, all retail counters at MUC now have a stupid sign explaining the great features of being able to pay in your own currency :td:

Just checked my statement from Chase.

The Al Molo Harbour City charge, through a Global Payment terminal, is DCC-free.

Got my currency confirmation slip showing HKD, through post facto DCC opt-out.

So I really think the Global Payment terminals in HK have this feature to select currency, but managers or cashiers don't know how to run opt-outs, or aren't given the credentials (or didn't ask for them) needed to run opt-outs...

I'm glad you didn't get hit with DCC. It's difficult to prove that all Global Payments terminals have this ability, but what's the use if the cashiers don't know how to opt out? Even with percysmith talking to the manager and cashier in Cantonese we weren't able to opt out at Greyhound Cafe. I specifically asked if there was any input they could do to select the currency after the fact, and they said no. They then humored us by voiding the first transaction and allowing us to see if there was any option of intercepting the DCC after inserting the card. There was a prompt that said "ENQUIRY", but hitting cancel during this window did nothing.

I'm beginning to think the only thing that can stop this madness is to get the merchants to start seeing Reason Code 76 chargebacks. On principle I should have let the Greyhound Cafe charge go through and been the second Reason Code 76 chargeback after cxua. Perhaps if we keep peppering these merchants with chargebacks they will find a way to disable DCC on request or start respecting cardholder choices.

Hostelworld, which owns hostels.com, is one of the more bizarre and egregious there is. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but if you choose to stay at a hostel outside of the three currencies they allow payment in, you will pay their lousy exchange rates on your deposit. It is NOT DCC, as they convert to one of three currencies you can choose from, not to the cardholder currency. Given many hostels book exclusively with them, you really just have no choice. I've chosen to consider it simply a hidden booking fee and, since it amounts to about 0.5% of the total stay, just deal with it. Obviously, if you're staying at a hostel in one of the currencies they allow payment in, use that currency.

That's EXACTLY the point. It's so they can say to Visa and Mastercard "LOOK, we're totally compliant, the customer ticks the box they want, and the merchant follows this long, convoluted process on each sales slip to honour the customer's decision - totally compliant" with them knowing full well merchants won't complete the process - simply having the process makes them compliant.