thomsons mexico holiday :(

myky83

Hi all,
I am looking for some info/advice.
I recently went on holiday with thomsons to mexico, 3 days prior to flight i received a letter telling me that US dollars would no longer be accepted as a form of currency half way through my holiday. As i had already exchanged my pounds into dollars (at post office) i rang them where they confirm the letter stating its the new regulations. I went into their branch and exchanged my dollars into pesos (at a bad exchange rate) but i figured i had not much choice as i was ready for my holiday. when i got to mexico I was suprised to find dollars were very welcome through out the complete stay. i have since wrote to thomsons asking for the refund i calculated i lost in exchange rates (£216.81) to be told they had been told by the mexican authorities so its not their problem and they would not return my loss.. Am i right in believing that the supply of goods and services act says that services should be carried out with reasonable care and skill? I have since found a set of regulations they were trying to say were coming into affect, and these were issued months before stating "such measures will not affect the daily activities of the tourisum sector" thomsons have ignored the regulations i sent them stating it is not an official translation (I sent the original in spanish and a translated version.)
Does anyone have any advice as to how i can get my money back?

Thanks
Mike

KonkyWonky

I would imagine you are on to plums.

At the end of the day the Mexican authorities have brought in some legislation to try and stop money laundering, all your travel agent has done is advise you of the situation. The link below explains why the measures were brought in.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10324861

vegasvisitor

I'm slightly curious why you bought dollars in the first place, when it's not the normal currenty.

We went to Mexico year ago, although to Acapulco. We took Pesos, everything was priced in pesos. I remember someone I worked with saying they were taking dollars, so I know it's probably quite common. I'm just not sure why.

Rolandtheroadie

lesley74 wrote: »

I'm slightly curious why you bought dollars in the first place, when it's not the normal currenty.

We went to Mexico year ago, although to Acapulco. We took Pesos, everything was priced in pesos. I remember someone I worked with saying they were taking dollars, so I know it's probably quite common. I'm just not sure why.

We went a couple of years ago and took dollars as that was what was recommended on trip advisor and the likes.
Everything where we were was priced in dollars and pesos, change was always pesos.
We always left tips in dollars as well.
I think it was because they could get more value from a dollar than they could for the equivalent in pesos.

diable

lesley74 wrote: »

I'm slightly curious why you bought dollars in the first place, when it's not the normal currenty.

We went to Mexico year ago, although to Acapulco. We took Pesos, everything was priced in pesos. I remember someone I worked with saying they were taking dollars, so I know it's probably quite common. I'm just not sure why.

Sometimes it easier to tip a $ as the locals prefer it or to deal in $ as its worth more to a local.

robpw2

and if thomson had not written to you explaining the change and you went off with your dollars you would be very upset

stephb34

Unless the us$ dollar was at 2$ per £1 i wouldn't take anything other than the local currency or sterling as when we went to the Dominican Republic it did my head in converting the money 3 ways. Everything was priced in pesos so i had to work out how many $per peso, then how much the $ were in sterling.

alibongo42

I can add a little bit of context to they "why would you take dollars on a Mexican holiday" question. We went to Mexico with Thomson in the summer, and all excursions and hotel charges were advertised in US dollars. In addition, most of the hotel guests were American.

James_looner

lesley74 wrote: »

I'm slightly curious why you bought dollars in the first place, when it's not the normal currenty.

We went to Mexico year ago, although to Acapulco. We took Pesos, everything was priced in pesos. I remember someone I worked with saying they were taking dollars, so I know it's probably quite common. I'm just not sure why.

Although pesos is the countries local currency, dollars in Mexico have a much better value. They are much stronger than the pesos.

vegasvisitor

I can't remember any USD prices in Acapulco, but there weren't very many US guests there either so that might be the reason.

We were also on Cozumel on a cruise, and did have to just use US dollars, with no issue. I think we received change in pesos though which isn't that helpful dealing in 2 currencies. It would be quite easy to get confused or overcharged when paying in 2 currencies.

KonkyWonky

James_looner wrote: »

Although pesos is the countries local currency, dollars in Mexico have a much better value. They are much stronger than the pesos.

Thats not true. Although you can pay in USD there is a mark up to cover the fee the shop keeper, tour company etc have to pay to convert the USD into Pesos.

Having been going to Mexico for a good few years now an a user of Tripadvisor most members would suggest you take Pesos. The workers don't want tipped in USD, they then have to pay a fee to get the USD exchanged for Pesos so they lose out.