Foreign Credit Card Use

shmuli9

Hi,
I flew recently via ukraine and picked up some good in duty free there, on the way back to gatwick. All the prices were in euros and the total came to 200 euros. when i presented my credit card (aqua rewards, so mastercard rate and no foreign purchase charges) they told me they would charge me in gryvna (ukrainian currency), i asked if the rate was accuarte and they said yes yes yes. I believed them and didnt have internet to check it up as i was roaming. now that i have returned i checked and i was overcharged at least £13. is there any way to retrieve this? can i complain to my credit card company?

thanks shmuli9

grumbler

You authorised the amount in grivna and they took it. I don't see anything to complain about.

And what was the point in paying in grivna if your card was in ££? The 'perfect' Mastercard rate applies to any currency, so you couldn't have gained anything by this.

Just learn the valuable lesson. Its price wasn't too high.
The only reason for retailers to offer you their own conversion is to make money on it.

Krash420

Actually if your card is in ££ and the currency quoted is EUR, you should let them to charge you in EUR. Any currency other than original quoted will include some form of margin for themselves.

By charging you in EUR you'd be certain that they are charging you the price quoted. There may be a transaction fee from the card provider, but I've found this to be cheaper than exchanging cash at a bureau de exchange even.

They, by charging you in another currency added their own margin when converting from EUR to that currency. You were then hit by the card fee, though Mastercards rates would have been reasonable.

eDicky

shmuli9 wrote: »

they told me they would charge me in gryvna (ukrainian currency),

Does it mean that you were given no choice, even though all items were priced in euros?

Ben8282

This is a difficult question.
On one hand I would say that if the goods in the shop were priced in Euros then you should have been charged in Euros.
On the other hand, you were in the Ukraine where the Euro is a foreign currency and Gryvna is the local currency and it would be perfectly normal and reasonable for you to have been charged in the local currency.
How does the amount charged in Gryvna compare to the price quoted in Euros?
I very much doubt that the shop has made any profit from this. The shop probably pay their wholesaler in local currency and maintain their bank account in local currency.
I would think the matter of displaying prices in one currency and demanding payment in a different currency is more a matter for local trading standards.

alderpoint

It is common in many parts of the world where prices are volatile for goods in "tourist locations" to be priced in USD or EUR or other relatively hard currency. When you agree to buy, the amount may then be converted into the local currency at some dubious* exchange rate which then used to actually charge you.

In such instances, the only way I have found of paying the displayed amount (whether EUR, GBP, USD or otherwise) to actually pay that amount in hard cash.

*I am not sure if the UAH/EUR exchange rate is formally agreed and by whom. It is also common for different "official" and "street" rates to be used.

None of this is anything to do with your CC company, and just a fact of life of trade in such parts of the world.

grumbler

alderpoint wrote: »

It is common in many parts of the world where prices are volatile for goods in "tourist locations" to be priced in USD or EUR or other relatively hard currency. When you agree to buy, the amount may then be converted into the local currency at some dubious* exchange rate which then used to actually charge you.

In such instances, the only way I have found of paying the displayed amount (whether EUR, GBP, USD or otherwise) to actually pay that amount in hard cash.

Duty free shops usually accept payments in some hard currency, but other shops are often not allowed to take payment in any currency except the local one (although they can break the law and do this).

shmuli9

Thats right. I wasnt given a choice. I would have been able to pay in euros in cash but since i was using a card it had to be in gryvna

shmuli9

Thanks for all the quick replies. Appreciate the help

eDicky

shmuli9 wrote: »

Thats right. I wasnt given a choice. I would have been able to pay in euros in cash but since i was using a card it had to be in gryvna

In that case, thanks for the warning - we now know that we'll be fleeced on the exchange rate for card use if we don't have cash euros available for a duty-free purchase. Presumably it was Kyiv Boryspil airport (KBP).

stifle

Had the same happen to me at Istanbul but a step worse: prices were quoted in Euro and then charged in Lira at the till before being Dynamic Currency Converted back to Euro for card payments