It's quite common these days.

They are supposed to give you the choice of paying in euros or in sterling, but often they don't and 'don't know how to charge in euros' even if you ask.

In a mechanised transaction the bit they keep has a statement 'signed by you' that you have been offered the choice.

Hi Thanks for your reply.

The transaction was not via a paper voucher, so how could which had no policy / terms & conditions on it. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks for all your help

Ski girl, I'm a little confused - in your first post you say the transaction was via a paper voucher and then you say it wasn't. What exactly did you sign? Was it done via an old fashioned manual slip in which case he should have had a carbon copy to give you? Or was it via a print-out slip in which case you should have still had a carbon copy for your own records Or was it via a new 'chip and pin' machine in which case there would be nothing for you to sign but you still should have been given a copy of the slip. The lesson for the future is to refuse to use your credit card unless they can give you a copy slip.

Whenever you make a transaction abroad and it is priced in a foreign currency you are always hostage to what ever exchange rate the credit card company chooses to use on the date the transaction is processed. Hence why it is better whenever you can to make sure that the transaction is done in sterling, especially with a UK based company. Or of course pay cash in local currency in the first place. More and more I now use my debit card to draw cash locally and pay that way as my bank generally uses a more favourable exchange rate than the credit card companies do.

Of course this sometimes works to your advantage. In both the old Jugoslavia some years ago and in The Gambia more recently where inflation was rife, the local currency had depreciated so much by the time the transaction was processed that I eventually paid far less then I expected at the time.

SM

The trick they used to play was to price the event in £s and then when you paid via the card they would charge it to the local currency at THEIR exchange rate. naturally the bank have their little bit but it paled into insignificance with the extra charged by the Tour Operator. Luckily I spotted the fact as it was happening. In this case if the trip was priced in €s then that figure should have been charged, to which the bank add a small amount. Sounds to me like they quoted you in sterling and then wrote it out in their interpretation of euros. On the occasions I was involved with this was not mentioned by the rep unless I brought it up first and then it was downplayed.
That involved a couple of different TOs so it must be part of basic training.

Thanks for your reply.

The voucher the rep completed was a single piece of paper, like what you use to take out a magazine subscription. No carbon copy, I expected a photocopy of this for my records, but he never gave me a copy!

When I queried the transaction with my bank, they explained that the ski company had put the transaction through as customer not present. No voucher was used.

The voucher I authorised had the amount in Euros; however, the holiday company has since added an exchange rate and converted into sterling. This is clear from the hand writing on the voucher. They have still not agreed to refund the differnece.

Any suggestions?

Try reporting it to your bank as an unauthorised transaction - you have not been charged the amount you authorised. A little difficult to prove - but the holiday company is in the same position as it admits 'cardholder not present'

Thanks, and will do.....

I guess it is a lesson for us all, dont't trust Inghams.............

Mine were sun holidays but I was told that the card transactions could only be done in the local currency. Things must have changed.

Good news. The bank was extremely helpful (first direct) they agreed to refund the difference in the transaction, do not know they will dispute the transaction! All to do with they put it through as customer not present, however I had agreed to the transaction but not in sterling.

I still think it is disgusting that the holiday company tricked me in to this transaction and that is probably making a packet from this. The hotel I stayed in had approximately 70 rooms. That is a nice little profit over a ski season.

I want fall for this scam again...

Oh and I am still awaiting a response from Inghams..................

Glad you got this sorted out. I am quite surprised at Inghams though as they are usually pretty good with Customer Service.

Earlier this year we flew to Austria with Inghams and despite our confirmation invoice confirming meals included on the plane, we were actually charged on the flight for our meals.

We complained (as did others on the flight) to the reps who got us to fill in their form and told us to put it in writing when we got back. We did that, although we did send a nice letter as we found Inghams very helpful, and very unobtrusive during the whole holiday and we pointed this out in the letter. We got a cheque by return for £15.00 which is more than we paid for the sandwich and drink we bought.

Thanks...

I had hoped Inghams would have been more reasonable too...........

I guess it depends on who handled your complaint. I suppose you also had in your favour that a number of customers complained about the same thing at the same time. I bet that not everyone is aware of the exchange rate trick with credit card transactions!

At least you had a favourable experience.

Perhaps not directly related to this thread - but on the topic of using credit cards abroad, I recently used a Mastercard in Calais. I had taken some Euro cash with me, purchased at the local Post Office at a rate of 1.35 euro to the pound - commission free (!).

My recent credit card statement showed the following lines:

purchase at ???????? Calais Fra £227.15
Foreign Currency 314.96 Eur
& £6.07 Forex commission

Now, 314.96 euros divided by 227.15 pounds works out at a rate of 1.3866
and is hence better than 1.35 at the Post Office. So, I paid £6.07 commission - the rate's still better even including this (the £6.07 is included in the total sterling cost of £227.15).

My Morgan Stanley card applied an inter-bank rate of 1.4246 then charged about 2.75% commission - overall better than cash.

Try the Nationwide card/s I use them in Florida, better exchange rate than the Postie, M&S, Travelex etc. and NO transaction charges