Warning - refund in foreign currency

behappier

Just a quick note to warn people. I use a Halifax cc and was in South Africa. When I checked out of the hotel, they had overcharged me, and offered a refund. Both transactions went through on my cc but at different exchange rates - within a few seconds.
The difference in £ was £10.
I was lucky enough to spot it on my statement, I complained and Halifax refunded the difference. How many people would never notice ?

King_Of_Fools

behappier wrote:

Just a quick note to warn people. I use a Halifax cc and was in South Africa. When I checked out of the hotel, they had overcharged me, and offered a refund. Both transactions went through on my cc but at different exchange rates - within a few seconds.
The difference in £ was £10.
I was lucky enough to spot it on my statement, I complained and Halifax refunded the difference. How many people would never notice ?

The reason for the difference in "exchange rates" is that credit card companies (except Nationwide) hide a 2.75% commission in the rate. Luckilly Halifax have been generous and offered to refund the commission to you.

nomoneytoday

I "made" £40 with a similar issue in the US. The fx rate had moved in my favour in the 3 days it took the transaction to be processed

M_Thomson

behappier wrote:

Just a quick note to warn people. I use a Halifax cc and was in South Africa. When I checked out of the hotel, they had overcharged me, and offered a refund. Both transactions went through on my cc but at different exchange rates - within a few seconds.
The difference in £ was £10.
I was lucky enough to spot it on my statement, I complained and Halifax refunded the difference. How many people would never notice ?

It works in exactly the same way as when you take back holiday money. You always get back less as the currency is bought back at the buyback rate. You were very lucky Halifax refunded you!

lisyloo

In this country you would have grounds to ask the hotel to pay for he "cost" of their mistakes, however in other countries you would have to abide by their laws and it would inevitably be difficult to enforce in another country.

If you travel a lot then it's well worth getting a Nationwide card.