Shop charged me at their foreign currency conversion rate

xJonny

Hi all,

Recently I was abroad and decided to make a purchase on my credit card, which has no charges for transactions made in foreign currencies and charged at the mastercard conversion rate (which is very good).

When I got back, I noticed that I have been charged in GBP instead of the foreign currency - this means that I have been charged more than I would have been if they did what I chose - I chose the box for the foreign currency and not GBP when I signed and made the purchase. (I can't remember if I also used my PIN, but I definitely crossed the box and signed)

I sent a message to Capital One who said it was converted at the Mastercard rate, which it clearly isn't (I also looked up Mastercard's conversion rates on that day). I have sent another message telling them they are wrong. The difference amounts to maybe £1, but I am annoyed by the principle that I can be charged at any rate that a shop wants to give me without my approval.

tl;dr: Made purchase in foreign currency, charged at shop's foreign exchange rate instead of card's when I chose the latter.

What can I do (surely they are liable) and how can I avoid this in future?

Thanks in advance!

YorkshireBoy

xJonny wrote: »

What can I do (surely they are liable) and how can I avoid this in future?

Second question first...you'll never stop it. So long as you've elected to pay in local currency that's all you can do.


However, and to your first question, each and every time it happens you raise a dispute (and formal complaint, with referral to the FOS, if necessary) with Capital One.


They'll pay you out of goodwill, because it'll cost them more to chase the retailer's merchant acquirer through the MasterCard scheme.

bengal-stripe

xJonny wrote: »

Made purchase in foreign currency, charged at shop's foreign exchange rate instead of card's when I chose the latter.

What can I do (surely they are liable) and how can I avoid this in future?

Put it down to experience!

You are liable, because you have sanctioned the transaction by supplying either PIN or signature.

It's very easy to avoid, the next time check what gets charged before you sanction the transaction.

Biggles

I don't think you can't tell what currency you've been charged in from the online list of transactions, I seem to recall that the original amount and currency doesn't display until the statement has been produced. Wait till you get the pdf statement and see what it says.

But the MC rate won't by any means be the one operative on the date of the transaction, it'll be the one operative when it was processed; for a largeish payment the difference could easily be £1.

eddddy

xJonny wrote: »

... I chose the box for the foreign currency and not GBP when I signed and made the purchase. (I can't remember if I also used my PIN, but I definitely crossed the box and signed)

...

Hi xJonny

What did you actually sign and cross?

In my experience, the merchant asks you how you want to pay (GBP or Foreign currency) and presses the appropriate buttons on his/her terminal. The terminal generates a slip for you to sign that either shows GBP or foreign currency. If it's the wrong one, you then refuse to sign. (As I recall, the slip clearly shows the amount in GBP, if the merchant selects GBP, so it's difficult to be misled.)

Even if it's a chip and PIN terminal, I would guess the screen clearly shows the amount and the currency you are paying in (and this would be confirmed on the transaction slip).

Or was it an old fashioned 'click clack' machine? If so, I guess you should have the cardholder's copy of the transaction slip showing the correctly crossed box. You could send a copy of this to Cap1, as evidence of the error.

xJonny

Thank you for your replies.

eddddy wrote: »

Hi xJonny

What did you actually sign and cross?

In my experience, the merchant asks you how you want to pay (GBP or Foreign currency) and presses the appropriate buttons on his/her terminal. The terminal generates a slip for you to sign that either shows GBP or foreign currency. If it's the wrong one, you then refuse to sign. (As I recall, the slip clearly shows the amount in GBP, if the merchant selects GBP, so it's difficult to be misled.)

Even if it's a chip and PIN terminal, I would guess the screen clearly shows the amount and the currency you are paying in.

Or was it an old fashioned 'click clack' machine? If so, I guess you should have the cardholder's copy of the transaction slip showing the correctly crossed box. You could send a copy of this to Cap1, as evidence of the error.

Come to think of it now, I don't think I used my PIN.

The slip that was printed out did not have a currency selected: it had two boxes, for the foreign currency and GBP. It had "mark transaction currency [X]" and I put a cross in the box for the foreign currency. I then signed the bottom of this slip.

Okay, I found the cardholder's copy and it does have "Mark Transaction Currency" with no choice printed, but I crossed the foreign currency box. At the bottom of the slip it says NO SIGNATURE REQUIRED. :huh:

Biggles wrote: »

I don't think you can't tell what currency you've been charged in from the online list of transactions, I seem to recall that the original amount and currency doesn't display until the statement has been produced. Wait till you get the pdf statement and see what it says.

But the MC rate won't by any means be the one operative on the date of the transaction, it'll be the one operative when it was processed; for a largeish payment the difference could easily be £1.

The other transactions I have made in the past in foreign currency list the source amount online, and the mastercard conversion rate - this transaction was listed as a GBP purchase with no mention of conversion through the card - it was a fairly small purchase, and so the rate the shop gave was quite a bit worse.

I just received a message from Capital One who again fobbed me off with a copy paste message about Mastercard conversion rates being variable and a foreign currency transaction fee, which doesn't even apply to my card... :wall:

I have found the dispute form for Capital One, however, it says I must attempt to contact the merchant first, which might be tricky.

grumbler

What does the slip say about the amount and what currency is this amount in?

If it didn't require a signature, this sort of implies that it was a PIN transaction and the slip was just for your records.

xJonny

grumbler wrote: »

What does the slip say about the amount and what currency is this amount in?

HI grumbler, the slip has both currencies with check boxes next to the amounts in both currencies - I crossed the foreign currency one.

Aquamania

xJonny wrote: »

HI grumbler, the slip has both currencies with check boxes next to the amounts in both currencies - I crossed the foreign currency one.

Report any unrecognised or unauthorised transactions on your card account to the card company immediately.

Offer to provide them with a copy of your approval receipt if necessary

Having said that, I've never experienced the situation you describe. My receipts always specify the amount and currency authorised.

Otherwise if it's left for you to tick your copy of the receipt, how can the retailer know what you ticked? And how can it be sure what is manually ticked on your copy is the same as that on the retailers copy??? :huh:
(I've not seen carbon copy receipts since the days signatures were no longer required)

chattychappy

I've had weird things happen abroad - eg transactions where I've not had to enter a PIN or sign. (Not talking contactless).

In some cases I've been asked to tick the box then been given a second copy without a box ticked. This is OK cos ultimately it's for them to prove what you authorised. If you ticked the copy that they have, then it doesn't matter that your copy is unticked.

So agree, dispute it. Ultimately they will have to retrieve the receipt, but if the amount was small then they'll probably right it off.

With these transactions, it is typically the mastercard/visa rate that is used either way. The difference is that when you pay in GBP (ie Dynamic Currency Conversion), the current rate is retrieved by the terminal, then loaded nastily (typically 4%, though I've seen up to 7%), then fixed and put through as GBP. If your CC does the conversion, then the foreign amount is charged and converted by your CC on receipt and loaded according to your agreement (or not with Clarity etc).

The fact they are talking about being converted by Mastercard - are you sure you weren't charged in the local currency and it's just the GBP (correctly) converted amount that's appearing?

luci

bengal-stripe wrote: »

It's very easy to avoid, the next time check what gets charged before you sanction the transaction.

Unfortunately it's not that simple. The option to charge in the local currency or GBP only appears on the terminal AFTER you have entered your pin to agree to the amount in the local currency and handed it back to the merchant. It actually asks the merchant to Press 1 for GBP or OK for local currency.

I always tell them I want charged in the local currency, but I have had occasions where they have automatically chosen GBP, not from malice, just an automatic reaction. I have had no problem getting the transaction cancelled and redone.