- Thread starter maxsmom
- Start date
Anyone been ripped off at Punta Cana Airport?
Can you elaborate more details. Were you scammed, overcharged, what exactly happened, where, with whom, legit store, or some guy hanging around, etc.
Sure. While waiting to leave my
husband went to the Farmacia Pharmacana in terminal 2. He needed to purchase a
box of 10 feminine hygiene products for me. (tampons.) The girl working told him 10.00
US and then ran our Mastercard. The receipt said 980.00 pesos. Of course my
husband questioned this, and she said it was 10.00 but the decimal was not
working. My husband knew this to not be true, and explained how she got to
980.00 pesos. The girl was becoming angry and ripped up our credit card receipt
so now we had no proof of what she was charging us. My husband tried to get her
to credit our card and forget the whole thing, but her English was getting
worse. She told him it would not go through as a charge because she ripped up
the receipt and took him to the ATM to try to get him to pay more money! He
eventually gave up, and I opened my credit card statement today and there is a
charge for 61.93 US dollars. I guess if thats what they cost and she told us that it would be one thing. I understand products such as that are going to br expensive, but she was deceitful.
husband went to the Farmacia Pharmacana in terminal 2. He needed to purchase a
box of 10 feminine hygiene products for me. (tampons.) The girl working told him 10.00
US and then ran our Mastercard. The receipt said 980.00 pesos. Of course my
husband questioned this, and she said it was 10.00 but the decimal was not
working. My husband knew this to not be true, and explained how she got to
980.00 pesos. The girl was becoming angry and ripped up our credit card receipt
so now we had no proof of what she was charging us. My husband tried to get her
to credit our card and forget the whole thing, but her English was getting
worse. She told him it would not go through as a charge because she ripped up
the receipt and took him to the ATM to try to get him to pay more money! He
eventually gave up, and I opened my credit card statement today and there is a
charge for 61.93 US dollars. I guess if thats what they cost and she told us that it would be one thing. I understand products such as that are going to br expensive, but she was deceitful.
Something's not right.
On my credit card statement it always shows the amount of foreign currency, the exchange rate and the converted $CDN amount (in your case I expect the converted $US amount).
$980RD pesos is about $30US (at 32.5 : 1) so I'm not sure where the 61.93 comes from unless it was $1980RD pesos which would convert to about $61US (at 32.5 : 1).
I'm not doubting the sequence of events at all but the math just doesn't make sense. I would dispute the charge and let the bank sort it out.
Good luck.
Gregg
On my credit card statement it always shows the amount of foreign currency, the exchange rate and the converted $CDN amount (in your case I expect the converted $US amount).
$980RD pesos is about $30US (at 32.5 : 1) so I'm not sure where the 61.93 comes from unless it was $1980RD pesos which would convert to about $61US (at 32.5 : 1).
I'm not doubting the sequence of events at all but the math just doesn't make sense. I would dispute the charge and let the bank sort it out.
Good luck.
Gregg
Just to confirm a detail, the pharmacy does not belong to the airport and therefore it wasn't really the airport that ripped you off, although I agree it's not the kind of enjoyable experience you look forward to on vacation. I'll be forwarding this post to the airport manager so he can look into it and make sure some sort of measure is taken. If you can clear up any other details, it would help.
another moral...pay cash!
not sure if she was trying to scam you...or was just incompetant.
have you called your credit card company to get the charge off there? i am sure if you explain the product you were buying they will quickly say TMI...and give you your money ;-)
not sure if she was trying to scam you...or was just incompetant.
have you called your credit card company to get the charge off there? i am sure if you explain the product you were buying they will quickly say TMI...and give you your money ;-)
I think the airport has a hand in this. they lease these places to the vendors...and should be partially responsible for repetitive scams. They cant turn their head and claim innocence for things that ARE GOING ON.
Isolated incidents are different....
that could be an INDIVIDUAL only.
I know the only time I got a bum deal on my credit card was when i paid for the helicopter flight on the north coast...the prices was in dollars...but they charged the credit card in pesos, and the exchange was way off. They told me what the rate would be.....but what the bank took in JUST the transaction was much higher than the fee in dollars they advertised and said they were charging...and that didnt include the fee my bank charged me for converting the transaction.
but I felt I would rather use the credit card at larger businesses and use my cash for little places than vice versa.....
thats the price of paradise
bob
Isolated incidents are different....
that could be an INDIVIDUAL only.
I know the only time I got a bum deal on my credit card was when i paid for the helicopter flight on the north coast...the prices was in dollars...but they charged the credit card in pesos, and the exchange was way off. They told me what the rate would be.....but what the bank took in JUST the transaction was much higher than the fee in dollars they advertised and said they were charging...and that didnt include the fee my bank charged me for converting the transaction.
but I felt I would rather use the credit card at larger businesses and use my cash for little places than vice versa.....
thats the price of paradise
bob
There is a possibility that this is what happened:
First, tampons do not cost 10 dollars a pack. Not in a pharmacy and not even in an airport pharmacy.
The price MIGHT have been 198 Pesos ($198)
That's about 6.5 dollars
The store clerk charged your credit card, and the decimal did not work somehow, and your card got charged 1980 pesos ($1980) instead.
That would result in the US$62 approximately, the amount you were actually charged.
In this course of events, the clerk did not lie (she approximated the price to 10 US dollars - maybe she did not know the exchange rate, whatever) but I think 320 pesos for a pack of tampons is high.
Then, she charged the peso price and the decimal did not work, resulting in ten-fold charge.
Negligence? Intention? No one can say for sure. Either way, she should not have ripped or thrown away the receipt.
Also, she may have been right that it was not possible to issue credit, cardnet and visanet (local card processors) have problems with that kind of things, many times there are even problems releasing credit card holds (from hotels, car rentals), etc, and many times AUTHORIZATIONS pass as charges.
So she might have been right about her being unable to issue you a credit.
Senores, here, many people do not know how to process credit cards, on many occacions I have processed my card and completed transaction (swipingm, keying, etc.) myself at stores, gas stations, etc., because the staff was incompetent.
First, tampons do not cost 10 dollars a pack. Not in a pharmacy and not even in an airport pharmacy.
The price MIGHT have been 198 Pesos ($198)
That's about 6.5 dollars
The store clerk charged your credit card, and the decimal did not work somehow, and your card got charged 1980 pesos ($1980) instead.
That would result in the US$62 approximately, the amount you were actually charged.
In this course of events, the clerk did not lie (she approximated the price to 10 US dollars - maybe she did not know the exchange rate, whatever) but I think 320 pesos for a pack of tampons is high.
Then, she charged the peso price and the decimal did not work, resulting in ten-fold charge.
Negligence? Intention? No one can say for sure. Either way, she should not have ripped or thrown away the receipt.
Also, she may have been right that it was not possible to issue credit, cardnet and visanet (local card processors) have problems with that kind of things, many times there are even problems releasing credit card holds (from hotels, car rentals), etc, and many times AUTHORIZATIONS pass as charges.
So she might have been right about her being unable to issue you a credit.
Senores, here, many people do not know how to process credit cards, on many occacions I have processed my card and completed transaction (swipingm, keying, etc.) myself at stores, gas stations, etc., because the staff was incompetent.
i am opting for incompentancy......what the?...the decimal isnt working?????? Sounds like someone who just got hired and doesnt know what to do. Wasnt there a manager to talk to?
next time...as a traveler...you MUST think of these things before you travel!!!!
next time...as a traveler...you MUST think of these things before you travel!!!!
G
gary short
Guest
I have seen several cases on my DR debit card where items were charged double. Usually a claim with the bank resolved it within 5 working days.
But, I do not charge high amounts over card system in DR. For things over 1000 pesos, I prefer to withdraw from ATM or bank branch and pay cash. Now I only charge amounts under 1000 pesos, just IN CASE. That's something to say, when I was living in the ol'good'USA I was a card freak, I charged everything, and that means everything, even a 3 dollar latte at Starbucks, to a VISA.