I have been a loyal and happy customer of Playero for quite a few years, and I started using my credit cards there a couple of years ago. There has never been any problem. My cards have never been cloned and the conversion to U.S. dollars has always been at the full prevailing exchange rate. But something has changed there as of about 6 weeks ago. I began noticing that the charges on my U.S. bank credit card were taking a significant hit on the prevailing exchange rate. At first I blamed my own bank for this, so I tried using different credit cards. But the exchange rate was no different no matter which card from which bank that I used. Thus it became obvious that the problem was on the Playero end of things.
So I went to Playero today to see if I could find out the reason for the dramatic change in exchange rate for all credit card purchases for the past 6 weeks. I brought receipts to show them what I was talking about. I pointed out that they were only giving me about 47.7 pesos per dollar on all my credit card purchases during the past 6 weeks, yet prior to that they were giving me about 49.7 pesos or whatever the prevailing rate was at the time. I even showed them receipts for recent credit card purchases at Super Pola and other local stores which showed that they were giving me about 49.7 pesos per dollar when using the same card at the same time that Playero was only giving me about 47.7 pesos per dollar. That’s about a 4 percent hit on all purchases that somebody is profiting. The Playero girl explained to me that they changed their credit card processor about 6 weeks ago, so clearly that is the reason why the use of a credit card in their store has suddenly become so expensive. And perhaps Playero gets a kickback on this excessive charge – I don’t know.
I spoke to a girl by the name of Maxiel and tried to explain to her that Playero would lose business from me as well as other customers if this continues. The predictable Dominican response was just a shrug. So then I asked to speak with her jefe or somebody in charge, thinking that perhaps someone with more authority might have some concern about losing business and could do something about this. Maxiel told me that her jefe was not in the store. So I asked when he would be in the store, and again she just shrugged and said she had no idea. So then I asked for the name of her jefe, and she said she didn’t know that either.
So if anymore from Playero who cares about their business reads this post, you need to be aware of this problem if you aren’t already aware. Your new credit card processor is turning off credit card customers due to their outrageous conversion rate from pesos to U.S. dollars. But if nobody at Playero cares, then I guess I don’t either. Fortunately there is another major supermarket in town who uses a credit card processing company that is not ripping off their customers.
So I went to Playero today to see if I could find out the reason for the dramatic change in exchange rate for all credit card purchases for the past 6 weeks. I brought receipts to show them what I was talking about. I pointed out that they were only giving me about 47.7 pesos per dollar on all my credit card purchases during the past 6 weeks, yet prior to that they were giving me about 49.7 pesos or whatever the prevailing rate was at the time. I even showed them receipts for recent credit card purchases at Super Pola and other local stores which showed that they were giving me about 49.7 pesos per dollar when using the same card at the same time that Playero was only giving me about 47.7 pesos per dollar. That’s about a 4 percent hit on all purchases that somebody is profiting. The Playero girl explained to me that they changed their credit card processor about 6 weeks ago, so clearly that is the reason why the use of a credit card in their store has suddenly become so expensive. And perhaps Playero gets a kickback on this excessive charge – I don’t know.
I spoke to a girl by the name of Maxiel and tried to explain to her that Playero would lose business from me as well as other customers if this continues. The predictable Dominican response was just a shrug. So then I asked to speak with her jefe or somebody in charge, thinking that perhaps someone with more authority might have some concern about losing business and could do something about this. Maxiel told me that her jefe was not in the store. So I asked when he would be in the store, and again she just shrugged and said she had no idea. So then I asked for the name of her jefe, and she said she didn’t know that either.
So if anymore from Playero who cares about their business reads this post, you need to be aware of this problem if you aren’t already aware. Your new credit card processor is turning off credit card customers due to their outrageous conversion rate from pesos to U.S. dollars. But if nobody at Playero cares, then I guess I don’t either. Fortunately there is another major supermarket in town who uses a credit card processing company that is not ripping off their customers.