I’ve only seen this method used once before at St Regis Saadiyat Island hotel in Abu Dhabi.

This time the naughty vendor was La Caserne Chanzy Hotel, (Marriott Autograph), Reims, France.

The final bill was presented in €. Mastercard inserted into card reader and € amount shown. PIN was requested and entered. No choice of currency was offered.

I then gave back the card reader. Then, after PIN entry for the € amount, DCC was offered in GBP (my card currency). Only because the front desk agent was honest and asked me, I could retrieve the reader and choose €.

I thought Mastercard rules prohibited post transaction DCC.

Contactless swiping avoided DCC everywhere else in Reims I went to.

If you do the calculation it's more like a 16.7% markup versus the true exchange rate.

I don't know about Mastercard's rules in this instance, but as a best practice when entering a PIN I would retain the card reader until the receipt started to print.

As much as I like PIN preferring cards, this is one instance where chip-and-signature wins since it's always possible to refuse to sign and have the merchant void the transaction or deface the receipt and take a photo for a chargeback.

Fair enough, though even US ATMs charge ridiculous fees, and I have Chase Sapphire checking anyway

I misread the screen. The ATM fee itself is €7. I've seen videos of some ATMs offering a lower fee or waiving it entirely for accepting DCC, which is against card network rules.

It was over 11% at Scotiabank in Cusco, Peru, earlier this month. I should have taken a photo.

For 1234.80 MXN today at an ATM I was quoted $68.31. I declined, and the pending charge is $63.99.

Just back from Marrakech and one restaurant charged in in USD and did the conversion scam. I told them I wanted to pay in local, but the receipt came back converted. I told the waiter. Manager. Owner. All refused to switch the transaction. The owner insisted that he always charges customers in their home currency and that everyone wins, he is doing us all a favor by making things easier. I told each of them they were full of it. The "discussion" escalated, my wife told (tipsy) me to stop being foolish by arguing with them and just leave (smart advice), which we did.

I'll dispute the transaction (this isn't abut a few dollars on a $200 tab, it is principle and fraud -- and apparently a very popular restaurant that does this as a matter of course. No clue what Visa or Chase Sapphire Reserve will do (experience welcomed).

Question: I noticed on this last trip that being able to tap meant over 90% of businesses never asked me for a signature even though I have an American card that is not chip+PIN. In this case he tapped my card out of my vision and handed me a receipt. I never signed anything. Is this officially allowed now for certain transactions or did vendors just do it out of convenience and pattern of dealing with non-American cards? Does my lack of signature help my dispute claim?

As an aside, man, the ATMs in Portugal were quite confusing. We fell for the scam on our first need for quick cash but then (thanks to FT!) started rejecting the conversions, but the phrasing makes it sound like you are cancelling the entire withdrawal vs just the DCC (even at the post office ATMs)... never seen anything like it.

IME banks consistently see DCC as NOT a matter of principle. In the few times when I complained, the banks always just credited me the claimed overcharge without opening a dispute.
I also learned an interesting factoid during a recent trip to Chile, where DCC was pervasive. Most payment terminals were programmed to only work one way, Vendors would even let me do the input, and the option without the DCC would simply get declined. Eventually I resigned myself to this "involuntary tip" of about a $1 USD. At their low prices, it was still a great deal to shop there.

There isn't a specific DCC chargeback with Chase, but click on the ">" next to the transaction after it posts. Then scroll down and click "Report a problem >". There's an option that says, "I was charged a higher amount than expected." I think that would be the most appropriate among the available options. You can look at the posted transaction date and consult with Visa here. Enter your transaction date, 0% for the bank fee, the amount in MAD, and USD for your card's currency. This is the rate that you should have paid absent DCC.

In the comments you can state something like, "On November xx, 2022 I had a transaction with this merchant in the amount of xx MAD. The merchant refused me the option of processing the transaction in local currency, and I was involuntary charged in USD. I want to pursue a Reason Code 12.3 chargeback to be billed in local currency for this transaction."

While unfortunately with a non-signature transaction it's not possible to deface the merchant receipt before handing it back (and taking a photo for proof on your side), under the Visa network rules the way the transaction was processed should make no difference in your recourse.

Many implementations at both ATMs and retail locations are like this. They make it seems like you are canceling the transaction or going back to correct something. For instance, a common implementation has a button on the left that says "< DECLINE CONVERSION" and on the right that says "ACCEPT CONVERSION >". The < arrow makes it seem like you're going back or correcting something, and the > arrow seems like the intuitive route. This is despite Visa and MC network rules clearly stating that setups like this that either corral or confuse customers into accepting DCC are not allowed. (Of course, this isn't enforced.)

I agree with your wife if the merchant is being intransigent that it's best to try to fix this on the back end with your card issuer. I'm hoping Chase chooses to do the chargeback rather than just issuing a courtesy credit. If you feel comfortable sharing, what was the transaction amount in MAD and the amount with DCC in USD?

Please keep us posted.

Were these signature transactions? While banks might just see this as an inconvenience or customer service issue, I'd dispute every single one of these out of principle on my side. I'd also complain to Visa by reporting a problem with a merchant. It would help if you could figure out the payment processor as well to provide that information. Nothing might come out of it, but I did have a successful case about 7 years ago when the Wing Stop near work required ID for credit card purchases due to the "manager's policy". Of course, I tested this, refused to show ID for a properly signed card, and the merchant wouldn't let me proceed with the transaction by card. I reported this to Visa. I went back within a month, and the signs had been removed. Coincidence? Perhaps, but if so the timing was awfully coincidental.

Thanks, everyone, this is very helpful. I will wait to take in the advice before filing my dispute. Since you asked,...

• the transaction was on 11/11,
• labeled "carte etrangere" (foreign card?)
• local amount: 1950,00 MAD
• 1 USD - 10.3755 MAD
• Mark-up inclus = 3.50%
• Transaction amount: 187,94 USD

I don't know how to tell the processor for sure, but at the top it says CMI (I can provide an image or numbers listed if that helps). Very interestingly, it says "I accept the above conditions" and the "yes" is marked, but I never clicked the green yes button or signed anything. The fine print here also says I accept that I have been given a preferred choice of currency and this choice is final. But I wasn't... It also says "DEBIT" at the bottom.

Again, what struck me is that when I argued about it they said they charge all customers in home currency as a benefit. I assume folks with chip and PIN might have an easier time catching things but mine was just tapped I believe and then I was handed a receipt showing the wrong currency without clicking a button. Thanks.

Contactless has been a thing almost everywhere outside the US for years before we got around to using it so I'm not surprised places are tapping your card for you. Most places still do it in front of you, though, if they don't have you do it.

Totally, and I loved it this trip -- not having to bother with a signature made my life a lot easier. In every case I was allowed/asked to tap myself. In one case, it demanded use of the mag strip (and a sig). In 2-3 other cases, the merchant asked me to hold for a sec to sign a copy.

You use the chip the same way, whether you insert the card or tap. The only difference is the method of connection. If your card should ever become unglued and you can separate the two halves, you get a better idea how the connection works. There are 2 sets of wires coming from the chip -- one leads to the metal pads used when you insert, and the other is the RFID antenna used when you tap.

For US cards that's true but contactless actually avoids PIN for most transactions with most non-US cards. The former is probably at least part of why it was a much harder sell for Americans until recently (and possibly why the US may never see as much usage as elsewhere).