Baja_Itzcoatl
Newbie
Posts: 14
Registered: 5-18-2013
Location: Southern CaLi
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I got ripped off in the Exchange Rate this weekend
I read here last week that said it was illegal in Mexico to charge you in Dollars only. Where they must show the Pesos price & to pay in pesos
when you can so they don’t screw you with their exchange rate. This weekend I hung out at Rosarito Beach/Puerto Nuevo and paid EVERYTHING with my
credit card. What a difference! I am doing this from now on, even with the 3% bank fee it’s a deal! However I noticed while looking at my receipts
that one of the establishments charged me in Dollars at their exchange rate ($1-14), instead of charging me in Pesos. I assume that is a loophole they
use to still get their Dollar price… is that legal for them to do??
I feel i may have been scammed.
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motoged
Elite Nomad
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Location: Kamloops, BC
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Use pesos when in Mexico....helps with the conversion problem....
Don't believe everything you think....
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dasubergeek
Senior Nomad
Posts: 694
Registered: 8-17-2013
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Unless you're at a corporate place, you can negotiate the tipo de cambio when you pay, but yeah, just pay in pesos. The cambios near the border
actually give pretty good rates if you don't want to dip your ATM card in a Mexican machine.
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Lee
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Location: High in the Colorado Rockies
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Quote: Originally posted by Baja_Itzcoatl  | However I noticed while looking at my receipts that one of the establishments charged me in Dollars at their exchange rate ($1-14), instead of
charging me in Pesos.
I feel i may have been scammed. |
Sorry to read you got ripped off, screwed, and scammed.
You signed receipts for charges, I assume, and noticed it later?
Wish I were trusting enough to use a credit card in Baja.
US Marines: providing enemies of America an opportunity to die for their country since 1775.
What I say before any important decision.
F*ck it.
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SFandH
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7431
Registered: 8-5-2011
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It's best to get pesos from an ATM and then go have some fun or shopping. I'm with Lee about using credit cards in Mexico, except in cases when you
absolutely need to for some reason.
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Udo
Elite Nomad
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Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
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Mood: TEQUILA!
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I have yet to trust any place in Baja with my credit card (especially the gas stations).
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Sweetwater
Senior Nomad
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Registered: 11-26-2010
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Mood: chilly today hot tomale
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I've followed the advice from the board and used pesos for most of my transactions. OTOH, I've traveled with others who simply used their card like
they would in the USA. Pemex, hotels, restaurants and stores were all given the card for billing. They all got receipts and I've never heard that they
were skimmed or scammed. The new cards are chipped to provide additional protection and I am discussing Credit cards, not Debit cards. If the OP got a
poor exchange rate, it should have shown on his receipt and he could have declined payment on the spot.
Everbody\'s preachin\' at me that we all wanna git to heaven, trouble is, nobody wants to die to git there.-BB King
Reality is what does not go away when you stop believing in it. -Philip K Dick
Nothing is worse than active ignorance. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1749-1832, German writer, artist and politician)
When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I\'ve never tried before. - Mae West
Experience is what keeps a man who makes the same mistake twice from admitting it the third time around.
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5118
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Have been using credit card here in Loreto wherever possible without any problems.
Get the best exchange rate without foreign transaction charges.
Like today, 16.22 to the dollar
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9011
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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I thought using credit cards was actually safer than using a debit card. Your liability is limited with a credit card, assuming you notify them
promptly. A debit card can be taken up to your daily max.........or even worse, if it is compromised.
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mtgoat666
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 20163
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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| Quote: Originally posted by Baja_Itzcoatl | I read here last week that said it was illegal in Mexico to charge you in Dollars only. Where they must show the Pesos price & to pay in pesos
when you can so they don’t screw you with their exchange rate. This weekend I hung out at Rosarito Beach/Puerto Nuevo and paid EVERYTHING with my
credit card. What a difference! I am doing this from now on, even with the 3% bank fee it’s a deal! However I noticed while looking at my receipts
that one of the establishments charged me in Dollars at their exchange rate ($1-14), instead of charging me in Pesos. I assume that is a loophole they
use to still get their Dollar price… is that legal for them to do??
I feel i may have been scammed. |
As pt Barnum said, there is a sucker born every minute!
I thought everyone knew:
Don't use credit cards (heck they are not really accepted outside of urban areas).
Use pesos, not dollars.
If you do use credit card, make sure vendor charges your card in pesos and not dollars.
Keep good records when you use credit cards, because so many vendors are doing credit card fraud your head will spin!
Cash is king!
Feel the Bern!
Peace out!
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bajajurel
Nomad
Posts: 276
Registered: 6-17-2009
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Fishing for fun
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Get a Schwab card, they reimburse all fees etc. Use it to draw Pesos out of an ATM = best exchange rate and you don't have to hassle with getting
Pesos before you depart.
bajajurel
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ZipLine
Nomad
Posts: 109
Registered: 7-16-2015
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If that is the worst you ever get "ripped off" in your life, you aren't really trying. Get out there and take a few risks!
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13241
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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Interesting question though....can or can't establishments legally charge in dollars? I do believe we were asked in one hotel on this European trip
whether we wanted to be charged in dollars or zloty.
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
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Wife just got back from Cozmel....All prices and charges were made in Dollars only
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J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
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Ripped
Geeeezzzzzzzzzz. I have lived hear for quite a while. On a given day / hour you will not get the top posted exchange rate any where any time its
caller cost of doing business. I would bet the person doing the complaining couldn't calculate the exchange rate in their head if someone walked up to
them with a wad of Foreign currency to consummate a purchase.
Folks use PESOS its the Coinage of the land .
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mtgoat666
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 20163
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Hot n spicy
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Do they charge mexicans in dollars? The restaurants have 2 menus? One in dollars, another in pesos? Ask for both menus, choose the lowest price!
[Edited on 8-15-2015 by mtgoat666]
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Marc
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
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My rules for a two weeker.
Estimate a budget & buy X2 in coin of the realm. Pays everything.
Depending on where I will be also USD. So in Baja about $500.
Two credit cards (one is AMEX) just in case.
Never use ATM.
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J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
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Mood: Easy Does It
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| Quote: Originally posted by Marc | My rules for a two weeker.
Estimate a budget & buy X2 in coin of the realm. Pays everything.
Depending on where I will be also USD. So in Baja about $500.
Two credit cards (one is AMEX) just in case.
Never use ATM. |
I have lived here over 14 years .WE use the ATM exclusively always at the bank I draw out the Max. and when that's gone we get more. One time at the
Bank the machine at the Bank went thru the motions and no Pesos came out. I went inside and the head teller showed me a computer print out that noted
the transaction. She said they would notify my bank and for me to call them also My bank said by law they had to make it right and that it would take
2 to 3 days for it to show up and it did.
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