Istanbul (and rest of Turkey?) duty free scam

kuepper

Bought goods at Istanbul ATU duty free where prices are displayed in euros. Took everything to the counter and gave my credit card and he said that'll be £xxx. I said I don't want to pay in GBP (see advice on the main MSE site) why can't I pay in euros like the prices are advertised in or in Turkish lira? He said because I had a british cc I had to pay in GBP. As it was either that or nothing and for all I knew it had maybe become a rule/policy recently i had no alternative.

So I paid in GBP by cc and was shocked when I got my receipt and it revealed a lower exchange rate than elsewhere and added a fee of 1.65%. It also annoyingly stated

"I RECOGNISE THAT I WAS GIVEN A CHOICE OF PAYMENT CURRENCIES AND THAT I COULD HAVE PAID IN TL (TURKISH LIRA). I ACCEPT THE EXCHANGE RATE USED TO PERFORM THE CURRENCY CONVERSION AND THAT MY DECISION TO PAY IN GBP IS FINAL."

None of this was true ie I was not given a choice of payment currencies, I was not told I could have paid in TL, I was not told what the exchange rate used was nor that I had to pay a fee. It was a fait accompli and just a plain con trick

balletshoes

you could have said No thanks, you could have asked what the exchange rate he was using to convert into sterling was? Yes it sounds like a con - but you could have easily prevented it.
I don't go anywhere without knowing what exchange rate I'm getting for my money - in any country.

littlereddevil

It was a con because in Istanbul airport you can pay in any currency you choose

Mr_Wang

Most airport duty frees across the planet accept a USD, EUR and the local currency. Even though outside of Europe most prices are in USD.

bcl999

You got off lightly! I thought I had paid 400TL and when I got my CC statement I had been charged 400 euro. Card company (HSBC) didn't want to know.

In my experience (Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia), you won't be violently robbed in a Muslim country, the man doing the robbing is the one shaking your hand, smiling and calling you "friend".

Mr_Wang

bcl999 wrote: »

You got off lightly! I thought I had paid 400TL and when I got my CC statement I had been charged 400 euro. Card company (HSBC) didn't want to know.

In my experience (Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia), you won't be violently robbed in a Muslim country, the man doing the robbing is the one shaking your hand, smiling and calling you "friend".

You can't ring fence Muslims - Things are no different in the UK, the only difference is that it's less obvious.

zagfles

kuepper wrote: »

Bought goods at Istanbul ATU duty free where prices are displayed in euros. Took everything to the counter and gave my credit card and he said that'll be £xxx. I said I don't want to pay in GBP (see advice on the main MSE site) why can't I pay in euros like the prices are advertised in or in Turkish lira? He said because I had a british cc I had to pay in GBP. As it was either that or nothing and for all I knew it had maybe become a rule/policy recently i had no alternative.

So I paid in GBP by cc and was shocked when I got my receipt and it revealed a lower exchange rate than elsewhere and added a fee of 1.65%. It also annoyingly stated

"I RECOGNISE THAT I WAS GIVEN A CHOICE OF PAYMENT CURRENCIES AND THAT I COULD HAVE PAID IN TL (TURKISH LIRA). I ACCEPT THE EXCHANGE RATE USED TO PERFORM THE CURRENCY CONVERSION AND THAT MY DECISION TO PAY IN GBP IS FINAL."

None of this was true ie I was not given a choice of payment currencies, I was not told I could have paid in TL, I was not told what the exchange rate used was nor that I had to pay a fee. It was a fait accompli and just a plain con trick

Report it to your bank. The more people report "forced" DCC the more likely lying merchants will get their merchant facilities withdrawn. VISA/Mastercard don't like DCC as it loses them their (small) exchange rate fees.

SteveJW

Never flown from Istanbul but frequently from Dalaman

Most things are priced in Turkish Lira, Euros and Sterling, for those that are not there are self scanning machines, press the flag for your currency and scan the item.

Always paid in whichever currency I wish

21amo

yeah that happened to me last year as well. never buy anything from airports at all

kuepper

balletshoes wrote: »

you could have said No thanks, you could have asked what the exchange rate he was using to convert into sterling was? Yes it sounds like a con - but you could have easily prevented it.
I don't go anywhere without knowing what exchange rate I'm getting for my money - in any country.

I couldn't have prevented it as he said I had to pay in £ because my cc was from the UK. I still saved £40 so no way was I not going to buy it because of a few £

kuepper

zagfles wrote: »

Report it to your bank. The more people report "forced" DCC the more likely lying merchants will get their merchant facilities withdrawn. VISA/Mastercard don't like DCC as it loses them their (small) exchange rate fees.

I'll do that thanks