This week, Whine Wednesday comes from a fast-casual dinner I had with a bunch of friends in Mexico City.
I am not even going to address the food that was mediocre as expected (a friend is in the restaurant business and wanted to check this one out), but rather the forced Mexican Pesos to USD conversion at an inflated rate that the waitress claimed they can nothing to do about.
Dynamic Currency Conversion
When withdrawing cash at a foreign ATM, you are often presented with a site where the ATM owner, rather than Visa or Masterdarc, can do the conversion for you and charges anywhere from 5% to 15% for this convenience (nothing but a daytime robbery).
This is sometimes made sound like if you couldn’t get cash out of the ATM without paying this fee, and you can sometimes need to press the RED button to cancel the inflated conversion and go with the Visa/Mastercard one.
Today’s Case
The Wingstop fast-casual restaurant presented the bill I would pay using a US-issued Visa card.
I immediately noted that the slip came with the USD chosen, and the USD amount was clearly presented as $105.36 instead of putting the charge through as 1680 MXN (roughly $99), inflating the charge by 6.4%.
The waitress claimed there was no way for them to cancel/reverse the transaction and that they could not charge in pesos if you paid using a non-local card.
Both of these replies are nothing but lies. I told them I would dispute the transaction and report them to Visa, but they couldn’t care less.
I opened a complaint with Visa.
And disputed the transaction with Chase.
Our Dynamic Currency Conversion Coverage:
Whine Wednesdays: Crazy ATM Conversion Offers In Greece (July 2023)
Beware Of ATM’s & Currency Exchange Services On Cruise Ships (Insane Fees)! (September 2022)
Remember Always Choose The Currency Of The Country You Are In (June 2022)
Reader Email: Another Marriott Scam In Greece (Hotel Processes Prepayment Using DCC) (July 2021)
Whine Wednesdays: Ridiculous ATM Conversion Fees (January 2021)
Whine Wednesday: Crazy ATM Currency Conversion! (February 2020)
Whine Wednesday: Non Disclosed ATM Exchange Fees – Case Piraeus Bank Greece (July 2019)
Whine Wednesdays: Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) Scam (Why It Pays To Use Amex) (October 2018)
Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) Example From Hilton Beijing (February 2018)
Reader Question: How To Avoid Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) Scam In China? (July 2017)
Be Careful When Renting Cars From Sixt Germany With Foreign Address / Credit Card (DCC Scam) (May 2017)
REMINDER: Check Those Credit Cards Slips Carefully For Not Getting DCC Scammed (May 2017)
Dynamic Currency Conversion: Case Hyatt Regency Phuket THB To CAD (March 2016)
Whine Wednesdays: Evil Raiffeisen ATMs In The Balkan (Terrible DCC Attempts) (July 2015)
SCAM: Dynamic Currency Conversions In Full Swing (Case: Park Hyatt Beijing) (July 2015)
Whine Wednesdays: Dynamic Currency Conversion Scam With A New Twist: Case InterContinental Cairo Semiramis (December 2014)
Whine Wednesdays: Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) Scam (September 2013)
Evil Credit Suisse ATM’s With Dynamic Currency Conversion at Zurich Airport (December 2012)
Withdrawing Money from the ATM’s at the London Heathrow Airport? Don’t Fall on the Travelex Currency Conversion Scam. (February 2012)
Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) And Why You Should Always Decline (November 2011)
Conclusion
Visa and Mastercard allow merchants to “offer” a Dynamic Currency Conversion option, but American Express doesn’t. It is, however, my choice whether to accept or decline it.
I have yet to be in a situation where this DCC would have resulted in a better conversion than one offered by Visa or Mastercard.
There is often an option with these terminals that you need to “cancel” the proposed conversion, and it will then process the charge using the local currency.
Have you also noticed that the DCC many ATMs offer is completely out of control and preys on people with zero financial knowledge who are happy to pay 10% to 15% extra?
I guess that they have concluded that those who choose this scam option are so financially challenged that there is no limit to their stupidity.
