turkey -pros and cons

milkydrink

taxiphil wrote: »

They charged me in Lira. They charge everyone in Lira. Lira is their national currency, we tend to charge people in stirling here......... Am I missing something here?

But prices on the shelves are only given in Euros. The shelves do not say what it will cost in Lira. Ask them! They try to simplify it for the tourists.

There is no way you can pay in Euros unless you have Euro banknotes on you. True.

They make a big profit from their own Euro-Lira conversion rate, which isn't displayed anywhere. Actually they offer a far better rate than at "home" (wherever in Europe home is). Which is why most Turkey regulars bring cash & change over there. I think you will find the banks here, make a bigger cut. Silly me, you know that now from your credit card.

However, I thought they were charging me in £, because they said "that will be £82.XX", and pointed at the till screen which said "£82.XX", and I entered my PIN. Again, that is calculated at their rate.

It was only after I got my statement, and dug out the receipt, when I saw I'd been charged in Lira, and when I calculated the Euro-Lira exchange rate they'd used it was appalling. They charged in Lira BECAUSE YOU WERE IN TURKEY. THEY DIDN'T SET THE EXCHANGE RATE.


I have since found the £82.XX displayed on the screen is what they call a "projected" price, worked out with a phoney calculation process, which in plain English means it's not the actual price you will pay. But if you had paid in cash, you would have paid that. The UK bank, wouldn't have got their little cut.

The "projected" price had been achieved by converting the Euro price directly into £ at the daily bank rate, which of course is not how they are actually charging you! No, your credit card convert Lira to £.



Not irrelevant at all, because when I saw an item for 20 Euros, I did a rough mental calculation that the item would cost me about £14, and this influenced my decision to purchase it. Later on I found it had actually cost me about £16.

I am pretty good at maths, probably much better than your average person.
I can see a price in Lira, Work out what it costs in English. Pay in English & get my change in Lira & work out if its correct (in my head). I'm pretty fast too, but not as fast as the Turks who do it day in day out at lightning speed. You know what, they don't know how good my maths are, if they were as slippery as you say, surely someone would have tried it on, at least once. They never have. They've always given me the right change. The first day or two it takes me a minute or two after getting my change to check the conversion rates, by the end of the holiday, I'm nearly as quick as them.

MORPH3US

Very surprised by all the negative comments...

I've been to Turkey 4 times, once to Bodrum and 3 times to Hisaronu - just got back 2 weeks ago from my last visit.

I love the place, guaranteed hot weather, friendly people, loads of nice places to eat, cheap beer, loads of activities to do if thats what you want and lovely beaches if thats what you want...

That said, its not as cheap as it used to be and I think they are less willing to bargain with people in markets now...

Its funny though how people can experience the same things so differently.

I think Turks are much friendlier than Greeks...

Also someone said that they hated the jeep safari.... myself and gf LOVE it and have done it twice - £12 for a full days activities including lunch, bargain!!!

bestyman

Kimevans, A lot of your points refer to whatI have said .

Mc Donalds. Yes , all over the world Mc donalds ask you to Supersize. You understand the question so can refuse or decline ( depending on how hungry / fat / greedy you are ). In Turkey this is not the case, they are out to decieve you by pretending there is a language barrier when in fact there isnt

I have no probelm paying £1.50 for a cup of tea, but again your post illustrates the underhand behaviour there. If a full breakfast is £2 one would expect a cup of tea to be priced proportionally. Charging well over the odds for extras is not cricket. In every country I go to I eat local food but in Turkey what do you suggest we eat for breakfast??? Bacon and eggs seemed a good idea to me. Please dont imply Ive never been further than blackpool.

Taxiphil had a good point about the conversion rate. If it says on the till £100 thats what you expect to pay , afterall thats the point of having a till.

Having stayed all over the world the hotel in Turkey was the only one that would not let us take drinks back to our room.

As for the other points, well Kim, you are a female, perhaps thats why you like it there so much?

milkydrink

bestyman wrote: »

Kimevans, A lot of your points refer to whatI have said .

Mc Donalds. Yes , all over the world Mc donalds ask you to Supersize. You understand the question so can refuse or decline ( depending on how hungry / fat / greedy you are ). In Turkey this is not the case, they are out to decieve you by pretending there is a language barrier when in fact there isnt. Sorry I forgot the Turkish national language is English.

I have no probelm paying £1.50 for a cup of tea, but again your post illustrates the underhand behaviour there. If a full breakfast is £2 one would expect a cup of tea to be priced proportionally. Have you ever heard the term loss leader?
Charging well over the odds for extras is not cricket. I really don't think £1.50 is that big a deal, do you every go in Starbucks?
In every country I go to I eat local food but in Turkey what do you suggest we eat for breakfast??? Eggs, bread, fruit, yogurt.
Bacon and eggs seemed a good idea to me. Their bacon is not good, but then it is a muslim country..........
Please dont imply Ive never been further than blackpool. I don't know where you holiday, but it must be bl**dy cheap if you consider £3.50 for a full fried breakfast & tea expensive!

Taxiphil had a good point about the conversion rate. If it says on the till £100 thats what you expect to pay , afterall thats the point of having a till. Its Turkey, if you pay by card, you ARE paying in Lira. If you go to the US expect to pay in Dollars, if you go to Spain, Euros. Its not rocket science.

Having stayed all over the world the hotel in Turkey was the only one that would not let us take drinks back to our room. I find if you stay in a better class of hotel you won't encounter that problem. But yes I have read holiday reports about cheap'n'nasty places in Turkey that practice that. Personally the type of places I stay in wouldn't dream of searching your bag & have minibars in the rooms anyway.

As for the other points, well Kim, you are a female, perhaps thats why you like it there so much?

Yes, I am female. I can only guess at what you are implying. I am also happily married with a hulk of a husband, I've never found a Turkish man disrespectful to me, some joke & tell him what a lucky man he is (standard speel over there) but they make sure they are polite when they say it.


We all want different things from a holiday, but I find I can go 2 weeks without MacDonalds or a fried breakfast (actually I can go a lot longer), you should try it.

Voyager2002

taxiphil wrote: »

They price the stuff up in Euros (WHY, for heavens sake? It isn't their currency!!!), but if you hand over a card they charge it in Turkish Lira. The big sting is the conversion rate used by the shop between Euros and the Lira they actually charge - it's an awful rate. There is no way of actually paying in Euros, unless you have Euro banknotes on you.

Your own bank then converts the Lira into £ at their own rate and you lose out further.

You would need to be a mathematical genius and a psychic to know what the true price would be before purchasing - you'd need to convert their advertised prices from Euros to Lira at the shop's rate (which is a mystery) and then Lira to £ at your bank's rate (which you're probably unaware of on the spur of the moment in a foreign airport).

In fairness, you must have seen a price in lira before you signed the credit card slip or entered your PIN into the machine. And since lira is the currency of the country you were visiting, you must have known the exchange rate against sterling. So the final price should not have come as too much of a shock: if it did, blame your credit card company rather than the shop.

A_Guard_Swine

What would Bernard Matthews say !


Did a turkey bite you as a kid?

shudd1967

Ok, we are going in October for a chill out week and have been reading the debate here and just a little confused regarding which currency to take.

Do I take £ or Euro to spend and not bother with Lira, or just change a bit over to Lira? its not like to be fair we are planning on shopping too much, maybe a handbag or three.............going all inc but will go out and have a meal at least once somewhere locally and as Turkish as possible.

I had to smile about the go large Macdonalds bit, yes it happens in every Maccyd and it now happens in my local chippie when you ask for fish n chips!!!

zzzLazyDaisy

I love turkey. I always take sterling and change my currency when I get there. The exchange rates in hotels tend to be about the same as in the banks. Depends where you are going - I usually go to Fethiye area, there are a lot of british tourists there and and most places accept sterling. I went to Side a couple of years ago, and they were more geared up to europeans and most places took euros.

I am sure you will have a wonderful time!

shudd1967

Thank you. I was starting to get a bit confused as I had read somewhere a while back only take Sterling and either change it when you get there, or take a mix of £ and euros and some shops will take the euros and its easier.

We are staying in Turgetries just for a week at the Aegean Dreams, courestsy of XL and my clubcard deals!!!:j Never been to Turkey before, have done Tunisia a couple of times so we are prepared for the type of culture and sales pressure! mind you we had more hassle in Gran canaria a few years back from the restaurants literally trying to yank you in and the lucky lucky guys selling watches etc annoying you on the beach, when eating out etc.

milkydrink

I stayed at the Aegean Dream in May. Its really nice. How you upgraded to a seaview room? If not you could email them & do it, its worth it.
They provide beach towels, so you don't need to bring them. They also provide Lux & Dove shower gels & liguid soap (normally I wouldn't use non-branded shower gels, but Dove is different).
You will get "a little" hassle in the town & "a lot" in the market (its on Saturday morning & well worth a visit - the biggest in the area).
Across the road is a tour shop who gives a decent exchange rate & hires out decent (roadworthy) cars - hubby says the best we've ever had abroad.