I'm here in CNS for Oz Fest, and the welcome dinner was at Dundees. The setup was pay at the front when leaving, and the Tyro branded Worldline Yomora terminal presented a DCC prompt when I tapped my card. The DCC option was the top right button, and the local option was the top left button. Unprompted, the cashier said, "I would choose Australian dollars." :tu:

I wasn't expecting DCC, so I didn't get a photo of the prompt. Based on a mental note of the USD amount, the DCC markup was 4.5%

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...15f5d9a10d.jpg

This really is not a question about DCC, but related: I've had several occasions in which a reputable EU company charges my purchase (either online or in person) in USD and only offers the USD option. I am in fact charged the exact same USD amount, with no transaction fees involved. I find this curious and wonder if other have experienced this.

One place I noticed this was with Eurostar. Using a UK or EU location resulted in prices denominated in GBP or EUR. Depending on exchange rate fluctuations, one price could be slightly better but not materially so.

I have seen this in a few high end stores. One most recent was in Peru, very high quality, expensive wool clothing. Price tags in USD and purchases charged in USD. Not sure if it is legal there but it was true on the ground.

The RSL in Cairns also had DCC with Tyro branded terminals (although a different type but with the same operation), and the on screen DCC markup was 5%. Another non-AUD cardholder was in front of me and paused when the prompt came up. After a few seconds, the cashier reached over and opted the customer out of DCC. The customer asked what that was, and the cashier said that it was a currency selection but that you always wanted local currency because it was a better exchange rate. :tu:

This is very common in Latin America at establishments catering to international travelers, such as hotels and hotel gift shops. (I've also seen it in Israel, at TLV duty-free). I don't have any problem with that at all, since the price you see is what you get.

When I was in Guatemala last year, I had a few places (one hotel, and a fancy gift shop in the lobby of the Westin Camino Real in Guatemala City) where the price was listed in dollars, but when it came time to making the card transaction, the place converted the USD price to quetzales at a rate that was roughly but not exactly the market rate. At first I was a bit annoyed by that, but it really didn't make a material difference in my final charge one way or the other. I think at the gift shop, the amount charged to the card ended up being a couple of dollars below the "official" USD price shown on the price tag of the lovely jade owl that I totally didn't need but bought anyway. Plus I got UR points from Chase on top of that. :D

I noticed DCC at the Machi Machi Darling Square location tonight. There was a Tyro Payments Yoximo terminal. While I hadn't been to this location before, other locations of Machi Machi did not have DCC during my last trip two years ago. The on screen offer claimed to be a 5% markup, but it was more like 7.6% compared to Visa's rate. One interesting thing that I noticed was that there was a sign saying that the terminal wouldn't work with non-Australian cards. I had no problem tapping my payment card, but perhaps it's been an issue with people inserting cards and having the transaction fail due to lack of PIN as a CVM. I noticed that the terminal at the counter was customer facing, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt that the sign wasn't due to there being DCC present.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ce0f7434f6.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d2e78b60ad.jpg

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Travelex ATM at Schiphol -- I believe 19% is a new personal record! :p :D :rolleyes:

w/o conversion, pending transaction at $222.18 in my Chase account.


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WOW :(

Nice job on the pic keeping the verticals and horizontals straight :tu: (or was that a good job of editing?)

It may be the jet lag but I'm not sure what you mean :o I downsized it to 25% of original but other than that didn't need to rotate it or anything if that's what you were referring to?

It's just straight on and well-centered, not like when somebody takes a picture in a bit of an angle and it's not quite straight.

Ah, yeah, that was sheer luck :D

I got DCCed by the Hertz back office in Belfast last month.

The initial estimate when I picked up the car was all in GBP. When I returned the car, there was no paperwork even though I turned in the keys at the counter. The day after returning, they emailed me a scanned (!) receipt with the correct GBP amount, but then a line further down showing "Transaction Currency: USD" with a bad exchange rate and a 2.75% fee. I emailed them back and asked them to charge me in GBP. They replied and were like "oh yeah, that's just for your information, we only charge GBP."

After returning home I checked my transaction history, and guess what they charged me the inflated USD amount. 🙄 I emailed them again asking them to refund and redo it in GBP, but they haven't replied, and I don't think they will.

I guess it's time for my first Chase Visa DCC dispute!

Yes. I'm currently in Portugal and have been DCCed three times. In one case (a hotel) it was fairly easy to get the transaction voided and put through again correctly. However that wasn't a realistic option in restaurants during a busy holiday weekend (São João) so I'll be disputing the overcharges with my card issuer.

We haven't had any problems at numerous other cafés, restaurants and stores.

I'll be visiting Portugal in two months. I'm a bit concerned since I plan to stay at the Hyatt Regency in Lisbon, and there's no Amex option for Hyatt. I could always do the preauth with an Amex and switch the card at checkout. Another option might be checking in via the Hyatt app.

Did the forced DCC happen only in sit down restaurants? Did the staff have control of the terminal and force DCC, or were there no prompts on the terminal?

I'll be by myself, so I anticipate mostly doing things like cafes or casual establishments rather than sit down restaurants.