Indeed. I didn't catch that. It's not the "Mastercard" conversion but the BANK'S conversion!!!!

We did it only on the hard copy. The staff were uncooperative and did not allow as near the machine..

Kinda reminds me of a fair number of US and Mexican merchants, unfortunately. Hopefully it's not a common feature of countries where chip and signature is/was standard.

(Although at least with those two countries, DCC doesn't seem to be common/hard to avoid. Which doesn't seem to be the case in HK as you've experienced. )

//Obviously we selected the HKD rate, however the amount has charged to the card showing the original amount of HKD 322 and the DCC conversion on AUD 68.45, as if the processing bank sent both amounts to my bank thus manipulating the exchange rate. As you can see all the adjacent transactions were processed correctly.

You've been DCCed, no doubt
No way the rate exactly matches otherwise

//Has anyone seen this before, is this a new �escalatedly bad� implementation of DCC, where the DCC provider is now providing both amounts foreign and local to your bank? And any way to avert this, short of paying by cash? (The merchant didn�t take Diners Club, and I don�t have a forex-free Amex).

I don't think it's new
When I've been DCCed, some banks' CS can read the overseas currency amount to me even tho only card currency appears in card statement
Your issued bank chose to display the info too (which?) (displaying this info may complicate your Aus bank's CS)

//Looking for anyones inputs on this please... the receipt does not indicate who the acquiring bank was.

Can't. Typical HK/Macau anonymous coward paper

//Obviously something strange is going on here... the merchant was a restaurant called Brickhouse in Hong Kong, below is my charge slip extract and an extract from my bank statement.

Charge them back
Then CC complaint to HK Tourism Board for their follow up with merchant

Fortunately there's the carbon copy paper, so a chargeback should be straightforward.

Our AU bank is Latitude Finance. It is a 28 degrees card. I've already sent in a chargeback request. I'm sure it will confuse them that both currencies appear on the statement.. I'll report back how it goes.

Matt_L, thanks for posting this. It prompted me to check my recent Hong Kong transactions and discover that I was DCC'd by the Courtyard by Marriott Sha Tin's restaurant on my Citi Prestige card.

It doesn't match your exact scenario -- the charge on my account showed only USD, whereas all the other charges show the billed HKG amounts for reference, so this seems like just a case of not respecting my choice. When I called in to dispute, the agent said the conversion had been done by Mastercard, but I'm not sure she could really tell.

This was my first time disputing with Citi. None of the on-line options was helpful for DCC -- the "Incorrect amount" option asked me what the amount should have been, but it wouldn't accept letters (e.g., HKD). The "Other" option resulted in a prompt to call. They immediately refunded the difference (after taking me at my word for what the amount should have been, based on the exchange rate!). I also pressed for follow-up with the merchant; they said they would -- hopefully it's true. I may write the hotel, as I stayed six nights and the staff were great, but not respecting a DCC choice is a serious black mark.

Seth

Hong Kong is reasonably good because there are carbon copy signature slips. You can always ask for a reprint or courtesy copy. This will confirm whether or not there was DCC.

Based on the circumstances, I doubt Citi is pursuing a chargeback.

Yeah, the USD amount offered on the slip matches what I was charged. Sad that they won't pursue it, though I agree it isn't worth it to them for US$6.

Seth

No bank will reverse charges or even investigate over such small discrepancy. If a cardholder has evidence of unauthorized DCC (in single or low double digits), most likely the bank will simply credit the disputed amount.

This reminds me of my sister paying at stores in the US

Which places did she run into DCC?

Many big box retailers in the US have it. We simply don't see DCC because the the ubiquity of USD denominated cards. I've witnessed it firsthand with my sister-in-law's AUD card, but my data points are now all nearly 5 years old. Mrs. Majuki has a single non-USD denominated card, but with no rewards and a FTF, it's not worthwhile to use just to collect DCC data points. In all cases of DCC with the exception of Avis the choice appears on the customer facing credit card terminal. For retail transactions, the cashier did not seem to have the ability to selection a currency, and opting out was straightforward. I further maintain that lack of a language barrier and customer service attitudes in the US would tend to favor a better experience even in the face of DCC.

In Madrid currently. Almost every transaction is being asked USD or Euros. Of course I choose Euros. One restaurant I was at tonight charged me in USD without asking, but hey, what can you do? (I don’t really have any Spanish)

Amex is not accepted most places here.

ApplePay (Chase Visa) does not stop DCC, but it does prevent you from having to sign.

Supermarkets seem to not ask for USD and only charge in Euros.
Renfe only charges in Euros.
BBVA ATM asked if I wanted to withdraw in USD or Euros, of course I chose Euros.
I think I hate DCC at ATMs the most.

My Spanish isn't too good but would something like "quisiera pagar en euros, por favor" work (obviously before they push the USD button for you)? Otherwise, there's always the chargeback route.

As for ATMs, I think that's one of the less objectionable sources of DCC since it's a lot easier to opt out vs. some purchase situations.