halifax clarity card

vickk

well Halifax have been on to me today and the good news is they do still show on statements all the transaction and rate details for a foreign transaction despite being told different by their CS agent yesterday. The bad news is thr reason it did not show on my statement is that the hire company did the conversion at a rate preferential to them and charged my card in pounds.

I pointed out to the guy that the hire firm should not have done that without my permission and he said he could not comment on that but did say that when companies do that abroad they are entitled to use the buying rate as opposed to the selling rate.(or was it other way) either way it cost me around 30 pounds more.

Then came the nice suprise when he said as an apology for his agent giving duff info he was giving me 30 quid plus 5 to cover my phone calls. This still leaves me free to challenge the car hire firm although I won't hold my breath.

vickk

giblet10 wrote: »

Which hire car company was it?

It was malagacar.com and apart from this I have to say they were excellent in price, service and fuel charges. I would still use them but next time I would take up the option to pay in cash in euros which you can do if you take the comprehensive insurance.

zagfles

vickk wrote: »

well Halifax have been on to me today and the good news is they do still show on statements all the transaction and rate details for a foreign transaction despite being told different by their CS agent yesterday. The bad news is thr reason it did not show on my statement is that the hire company did the conversion at a rate preferential to them and charged my card in pounds.

I pointed out to the guy that the hire firm should not have done that without my permission and he said he could not comment on that but did say that when companies do that abroad they are entitled to use the buying rate as opposed to the selling rate.(or was it other way) either way it cost me around 30 pounds more.

This is more rubbish from them. The company is not allowed to convert the currency without your permission. Mastercard rules are crystal clear. They can only convert the currency if they ask you and you agree to it, and this must be done "clearly and conspicuously".

See section 3.12 http://www.mastercard.com/us/merchant/pdf/TPR-Entire_Manual_public.pdf

It seems a lot of CS staff aren't trained and just guess their way through the job.

Then came the nice suprise when he said as an apology for his agent giving duff info he was giving me 30 quid plus 5 to cover my phone calls. This still leaves me free to challenge the car hire firm although I won't hold my breath.

Well that's a result - but they should be charging back the car hire company as it seems they've broken Mastercard rules by converting the currency without your permission. They should take the hit not Halifax. Though I guess it serves Halifax right if they don't train their staff...

jennifernil

zagfles wrote: »

Even paper statements? ISTR online it didn't show the rate/foreign currency but the paper statements did, but I've not used mine since Feb...

As we are away for several months, I haven't seen the paper statements, but there is, as you say, nothing visible on-line.

It used to show up when you viewed actual statements on-line, but as OH has opted to continue to receive paper ones, I reckon what he has been looking at is now not a "real" statement, as someone else mentioned, so he is not getting the full info.

Certainly not my idea of progress!

jennifernil

King_Of_Fools wrote: »

Do you still have paper bills or just online ones?

One of the "benefits" of when they moved over from the Halifax to the Lloyds CC system a few months ago was that you could no longer have both paper and online statements but had to choose one or the other.

I am wondering if the change the OP is seeing is due to the "improved" Lloyds CC system.

Thanks, OH was adamant they no longer showed the rates on the "statements", but as he has opted for paper statements he is obviously no longer able to view all the info on-line.

He will not be pleased when I pass that on to him!

andyuk01

King_Of_Fools wrote: »

Do you still have paper bills or just online ones?

One of the "benefits" of when they moved over from the Halifax to the Lloyds CC system a few months ago was that you could no longer have both paper and online statements but had to choose one or the other.

I am wondering if the change the OP is seeing is due to the "improved" Lloyds CC system.

Just online statements

Seems that some people see different things, this is what my online statement archive looks like



If it makes the OP feel better i got caught out with DCC on one of the transactions without realising, all the rest were made in the local currency and the exchange rate is visible

emeraldbugle

I'd do a chargeback, in the hope it stops malagacar doing this to other people.

dburdon

Just been ripped by the same Halifax Clarity Card scam. On a transaction of 1,896.40 euros. I've been charged 1.177 to £1 on 6th June when the Mastercard rate quoted for that date was 1.1231. A difference of 4.6%.
A 4% margin means a £64 over charge!

reclusive46

dburdon wrote: »

Just been ripped by the same Halifax Clarity Card scam. On a transaction of 1,896.40 euros. I've been charged 1.177 to £1 on 6th June when the Mastercard rate quoted for that date was 1.1231. A difference of 4.6%.
A 4% margin means a £64 over charge!

Was this on a chip and pin transaction? If it not you'll find it quite easy to dispute it with Halifax and do a chargeback.

System

Are waters catty rather than peaceful?!

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

They don't earn enough to get the chance to use the card abroad. That's why.