Old Thomas Cook travellers cheques

About 10 years ago (!) I bought some Euro travellers cheques from HSBC. I still have the receipts etc, and the cheques.

I tried to cash them a couple of years ago in Spain, and though the hotel gave me the money I had to repay it when the cheque was declined at the bank - I hadn't noticed that the travellers cheque was marked as only repayable in France. (Therefore this particular cheque has been signed by me, and has bank prints all over it)

I was on holiday in France this year, and tried to get the cheques redeemed into Euros. However, in the area I was staying there weren't any banks which would take Thomas Cook travellers cheques.

Two questions. Firstly, should I destroy / lose the cheque which I have counter-signed etc so that I can have a nice, unsigned, non-confusing travellers cheque in my hands.

Secondly, do you know if Thomas Cook will redeem the cheque into Euros in the UK (where I purchased them)? Their website and staff in local branches haven't been helpful in this regard so far.

Thanks!

Matt

Comments

  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535
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    Some randomish thoughts:

    Try HSBC??

    Report the 'soiled' cheque as lost and get a replacement?

    I doubt if anyone will cash into euros in this country - they will insist on changing them into ££

    Is there any indication on the cheques as to who backs the cheques - were they actually issued by a bank with TC just branding them or did TC issue them themselves?
  • larkim
    larkim Posts: 248
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    I must admit I've not tried HSBC, but that was because I think they've since changed the provider of their travellers cheques, so don't use TC ones.

    I think I will report the soiled cheque as lost just to get a pristine one - then whereever I end up getting it changed at least I won't have to explain the saga of why the old one is already signed / stamped.

    I don't have a problem changing them into ££. I'd make a small forex profit on them, even with a small exchange charge, and I do only have €200 to change based on the rate that I bought them at anyway.

    I'll check the back of the cheques, but I think its a TC only product.

    Matt
  • JSMill
    JSMill Posts: 20
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    I also have some old Euro TCs, though not defaced in any way. They were issued by American Express. I appreciate that the idea of them is to convert when abroad. When I spoke to T Cooke about this, they said I would have to convert them into GBP and then into Euros, thereby losing a lot of money due to exchange. I see from this thread that it seems to be common practice. It would seem to be reasonable to charge some sort of handling fee for this operation, but is this business of converting and reconverting outrageous?? After all, AX will reimburse the party which ultimately cashes the TC with them in Euros. Shouldn't this sort of Micky Mouse usury should be illegal!?!! Any comments or thoughts please?
    Thanks JSMill:(
  • larkim
    larkim Posts: 248
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    Isn't it a funny old world. I posted this thread back in December, and have done nothing about it since. Then today (yes, today!) I picked up the travellers cheques to get them sorted out!

    First, I phoned the number in the travellers cheques wallet to ask about getting a replacement cheque for my spoiled one. They have helpfully emailed to me a form to get a replacement.

    Secondly, I popped into Thomas Cook on the high street and they have exchanged the other non-spoiled ones for cash. They wouldn't cash them for Euros (the face currency) but there was no direct charge (other than their profit in the euro/GBP conversion exchange rate).

    In the end I bought these at an exch rate of 1.55 and have today converted them at 1.34 so I've made a small profit (not equivalent to the amount I would have invested the money at over 11 years though!) and it means I've at last put this issue to bed anyway!

    I agree that it is a bit of a con that you can't just cash for Euros in the UK (that would have been my preference as I am in the Eurozone next week), but for the relatively small amount of money that was involved in this long-standing issue (for me) I'll take a small loss on the chin!

    I'm not into the "should be illegal" sort of commentary - the costs are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. Just swap them into £££ today, and spend the £££ today.

    Matt
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