[DCC at] Galleries Lafayette
 

My ~20 lady colleagues took the opportunity of a last minute schedule change to go raid a Galleries Lafayette near the hotel we are staying for our offsite (Montparnesse)

We (they) caused such a fuss at that small Lafayette branch some staff from other departments came around, chuckled and took snaps of them. They were acting truly Chinese.

I moped around (nothing for my SO) until a colleague told me our dotted line manager had a exchange rate problem on her credit card. Didn't take much to figure this was a DCC.

She explained she tried to use Unionpay as advised by me and my other card-loving colleagues, but when the cashier couldn't make it work (it was a small Lafayette after all) she handed over her Visa. But i havent warned against DCC cos enough nagging has been done by other overbearing colleagues on this offsite. She was duly asked HKD or EUR and chose the former based on occasional reports about high exchange rates by HK banks (HK banks don't bother to explain where card exchange rates come from nor make customer education campaigns warning against DCC).

I took a look at the slip and the POS it came out off - my heart sank. Its another integrated POS again looking very much like Harrods from last year. My dotted line manager held no slip of exchange rate quotation in advance so I assume it's one of those rate and/or home currency amount displayed on the POS for acceptance or rejection. My manager chose to proceed with the purchase, tho if she is aware of the problem she might have stopped the transaction there and then.

The slip stated clearly Global Blue was the perp and the markup was 3%. I think this is too late notice.

The scalp appeared to be 2.5% at first, but the EUR really gained against the USD (and thus HKD) overnight so the real scalp is probably 1.22% over our after-fee rate.

This is trickier than Harrods due to the language barrier (and why the DCC perps need to be fxcked with some cudgels up their anxses). My manager asked the cashier who DCCed for the charge to be refunded and charged in EUR and the junior cashier wisely went and grabbed his senior colleague. When presented with the request, he seemed clued in and warned us the refund will only me made in Euros. I asked him to confirm this means no HKD refund can be done and he said yes.

Even tho I have no Lafayette VIP I decided to give the matter another push and took the manager and her slips down to the service desk, which doubled as the global blue service desk. Although he wore a Lafayette uniform I am ready to believe this guy worked for global blue - he pointed to the EUR amount in the slip, then told me to go talk to my manager's bank. I don't get to see the DCC perp face to face much so I loudly thucked you-ed him within my manager and her boss's earshot and motioned my manager to get her VAT refund.

My manager appeared to want to take the matter no further so I am not considering a chargeback. If it was my charge I would for the last (Global Blue) representative's response alone.

percysmith, as your post is relevant to Galeries Lafayette, rather than the UK & Ireland, I've split it out into a new thread to move over to the France forum. This will help give visitors to France due warning of this scheme, apart from anything else.

stut
Moderator
UK & Ireland

Thanks stut

No objection
I left a link at the Harrods thread to this page, as the DCC attempted is very similar (as far as I can tell)

Hard to figure out the facts here from OP's choppy description.

Was the customer offered a choice between Euros and HKD at time of CC usage? Large department stores in Paris like BHV have done that for years. While I despise DCC, it is easy enough to just pick Euros, isn't it?

As I said hate DCC. However, the situation the OP seems to describe is much different to a forced DCC with no choice.

Mountain Trader:

Just to clarify my manager confirmed she was given a choice. I assume it showed up on the POS display - something like EURxxx/HKDxxxx.xx

I'm a bit curious whether simply displaying the home currency amount in the POS display is sufficient though. From the Visa International Operating Regulations there is the following requirement:

http://corporate.visa.com/_media/int...s.pdf#page=591

"Cardholder expressly agrees to the Transaction Receipt information by marking an “accept” box on the Transaction Receipt"

My manager was given not given the Transaction Receipt to tick @ Lafayette. Had she received the receipt she might notice the exchange rate applied and the statement about the 3% markup in advance before agreeing to it.

I've seen the POS display home currency amount DCC method used in Harrods Knightsbridge and Lotte Seoul as well. However prima facie they aren't in strict compliance with the VIOR requirement above and do not provide the same amount of information that a transaction receipt will provide. I wonder how does Harrods and Lotte get away with it?

Loyaltylobby piece on DCC this week http://loyaltylobby.com/2013/09/25/w...cam/#more-9721

The perp is Global Payments Malaysia (merchant Ritz Carlton KL). John Ollila's tick for RM ignored. I won't be surprised if that terminal is a mainland-style fxcked terminal that does DCC no matter what.

Although the piece is on Malaysia, Ollila has apparently avoided DCCed in China before (related post http://loyaltylobby.com/2011/11/02/d...lways-decline/ ). The DCC perp was BoC in both cases, merchants Renaissance Beijing Capital Hotel and Sheraton Chengdu hotel respectively. At that time there were no tick boxes, so he correctly realised he's being DCCed. He got managers involved who voided his charges and processed them in different terminals at the hotels.

Wow. I didn't know what DCC was before this thread. I will be in France and Belgium this December.

Thanks for the education percysmith.

El Cortes Ingles: Given a choice, but am I meant to do 532/48 in my head?
 

Wandering in Madrid with SO, so in much better mood. Saw a poster 9/F Gourmet Floor in the Plaza del Callao El Cortes Ingles, wondered up.

Why this relates to Gallaries Lafayette: for some reason they honour a Galleries Lafayette charge card. I am not sure of the exact relationship, but we were using our Bank of East Asia Visa cards (6% cashback this month) so any mention of Galleries Lafayette makes us DCC-wary.

Payment for a beautiful spread of local caviar, crabmeat and Riesling by the glass - EUR48. When I handed over my BEA Visa I must have said "Charge Euro, charge Euro!" something like three times.

I didn't get a pic of this. Signature was on a touchpad like Korea. But DCC was offered on it as well:

"Do you wish to pay HK$532 or EUR48?"

I pulled out my iPhone to try and work out the rate, but after 5 seconds the cashier already keyed in EUR. The charge was posted in EUR in BEA.

It took me a few more seconds to work out the rate was 11.08. Presented this way, I knew it's an immediate ripoff cos the cash rate is approx 10.73 and BEA was charging me 10.92 for Euros that morning (I have access to online banking). But had I only have "HK$532 or EUR48?" to go on, I'd be stumped. I'm an accountant, but I have to pull out my calculator to do that division.

Wish rate calculation was made mandatory for DCC even if they have to offer it, but it's so wrought with non-compliance that it's a lost cause.