percysmith

I am very aware of DCC, having encountered it frequently in my China travels with my HKD MasterCard http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china...onversion.html

Normally, if I get DCCed, I can void the slip on the spot. I've voided DCC slips from Hyatt on the Bund to La Gritta at Bangkok Sukhumvit. Some Chinese merchants don't let me charge in local (merchant) currency, in which case I use an AE or in China, a Unionpay.

Shopping in Harrods - bought �50 for some bags. Cashier did not ask for currency. When presented with the slip, DCC already selected.

No problem, I thought, I'll just void it. To my surprise, the cashier can only refund in pounds. All they can do with their integrated POS is refund and recharge in Pounds - nothing can be done about the DCC transaction! The cashier brought in her supervisor who said much the same.

Being a Harrods Black Card member I spoke to the card desk who brought in the concierge as well. They apologized for the cashier's failure to ask in advance and took his name down off my receipt for further action, but confirmed their POS wasn't able to void card transactions.

I'm not upset at any of the staff involved, but the way the POS is designed.
Actually kaka warned about this http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...hk-37.html#543 but neither of us was aware of Harrods shxtty POS.

Beware of Harrods DCC and use AE if you could...otherwise specifically tell the cashier you want GBP.

dddc

Was this a chip and pin transaction or did you sign a slip?

At what stage did you notice that it was a DCC transaction? I would have thought that if it was the former, it should have appeared on the POS terminal as I've seen this before. Only had DCC "offered" in a couple of places though and usually the card machine offers you the exchange rate up front.

Either way I thought the retailer must ask you in advance. It would have been interesting to see what the exchange rate you would have got if you did the refund in GBP to see how much you would have lost.

percysmith

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My HKD card is chip and sign

Only when I was given the slip was I aware the transaction is DCC.

The rate offered was HK$12.91/�. That morning, some transactions from the previous week posted for approximately $12.81/�

percysmith

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I'm at the Bicester outlet village. Swarming with bargain-hunting queue-jumping tourists - let's just say I'm not here of my own free will.

Saw two types of DCC:
One was at Prada, where the DCC question was asked by the card terminal and the customer can choose to accept or deny DCC payment (the DCC rate was HK$12.99/�, but my MasterCard HK rate was 12.802 so DCC was quickly denied).

Another was at a food outlet (I forgot which), I was actually given a "Quote" slip offering a 13.01 rate for pounds. I quickly asked for pounds sterling and my final card slip came out as such.

RichardInSF

Sounds like yet another reason to avoid Harrod's!

stifle

Or to use Amex.

Jagboi

I think it might depend upon your card. Mine has a 2.5% foreing currency fee, on top of the exchange rate. When I used my card for purchases in GBP it gave me the same rate as Visa gives, minus the 2.5% my bank charges for foreign currency charges.

I looked up my statement when I got home and consistantly the charges in GBP were 2.5% higher than those where I chose DCC and had it charged in CAD.

percysmith

2.5% sounds similar to my Australian card's pricing.

But I live in HK now and most of my cash is now HKD.
My fee is 1.95%
Plus I'm getting 3X miles (HK$2.67/mile vs $8/mile) for foreign currency transactions <-- this really should matter to FTers, shouldn't it?

Even if you choose DCC, you may be subject to foreign transaction charge in lieu of foreign currency translation charge
Not sure if applicable to Canadian cards
My Australian bank charges 2.3% - just a bit less than having my bank perform the translation outright - tho I've seen some others charge less.
Some HK banks assess 0.8% fee for foreign transaction (assesed on top of HKD amount). Fortunately my HK bank confirmed they do not charge this - half of HK MasterCards issuers do and half don't.

andreadbc

I had this happen to me today at a shop and I remembered reading this thread. The cashier just selected DCC without asking (she said that's what they had told her to do -- as of today, she won't "forget" to ask ever again). It didn't help that the voucher came out in English, I'm not even sure if she could read it even if she tried.

I told her that I wouldn't sign the slip (where it said that I had been offered the choice and accepted DCC) and that she should void the transaction. She said that she only knew how to refund the purchase in euros, called the contact number to the machine company from the voucher and was told the same thing.
In the end I let it go and signed (because it was a small purchase and disputing the charge would be a hassle as I'm an additional cardholder), but it was definitely annoying.

percysmith

Just to confirm your card is denominated in Nuevo Sols, not EUR?

andreadbc

Yes, forgot to mention it. The card is dual Nuevos Soles / USD. When I pay in euros, the charge in the statement is exchanged to USD.

I was charged in soles (in a round number, which I found curious... does DCC automatically round up or down purchases?)

percysmith

Not the DCC I've been through.

Maybe round up to cheat you more?

NickB

IME, DCC is pretty consistently worse than even run-of-the-mill cards with relatively poor loading (i.e.3%-ish).

I am surprised that you some people find DCC better value than a card with a 2.5% loading.

Jagboi

I wondered too, but last time I was in the UK all my charges in GBP converted to CAD at about $1.60-1.61 per � and the DCC charge for the rental car where I did it in CAD came to $1.57ish. I'm going by memory, but the exchange rate was about 3-4 cents cheaper when I had the merchant charge me in $ rather than �. I had charges in GBP that closely bracketed the CAD charges and were at similar rates so I know it wasn't a currency fluctuation.

This was with a TD Bank visa.

percysmith

That's compelling...

I've never received a rate like that. My forign currency charges convert to HKD at at 2% above the wholesale rate (largely due to bank-imposed translation fee - 1.95%) and DCC is usually 1-2% above that (i.e. 3-4% above wholesale rate).

Furthermore I've foreign currency miles earning bonus to consider. Had the bonuses not existed, I would be more willing to consider DCC.