General Chat

[Tegis]

On 24/01/2021 at 22:49, Tegis said:

Hello Villa Talk, can I ask for a favour? My missus runs a Gardening business with courses as part of it. With Covid she needs to boost the online-part and has started a Youtube channel. To give her a little subscriber-boost I would very much appreciate it if you fine folks can add her to your subscriptions. (No need to watch the content as it is in Swedish)

The primary goal is a custom channel URL which requires 100 subs.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCynQf9IQqOFzfU1zQ5XcGAg

 

Thank you

/tegis

VillaTalk rules!!!! Time to set up AdSense and be filthy rich!!!!

 

 

[Demitri_C]

Not a happy bunny today. Anyone git any experience with 'foreign currency conversion fees" ?

I paid for one of the hotels to barbados on booking.com on my santander debit card as a free cancellation in july. They charged me two payments then the above fee of £54.89. So me thinking total has been paid as when you add conversion fee it makes hotel total for barbados hotel.i went out there and on checking out hotel said i was short of payment of £54.89! So i had to pay it again in cash over there.

Got back booking.com told me they didnt receive that payment to query with santander. Ring them up and they told me that i been charged that fee as the currency had been converted to barbados money when i made payment!

I was like £54 **** pounds for a transaction fee thats excessive and i wanted that money reimbursed. They refuse so i got utterly pissed off and closed both my accounts with them.

I just cant believe they would rather keep £50 and lose all the money i put in there. Fools

Be warned if this happens to you just pay at the property cash

Edited April 6, 2023 by Demitri_C

[Davkaus]

I am so confused. None of this makes sense.

Surely if you're paying booking.com for a hotel, you're charged in British money if you booked it on their UK site. If there's foreign currency involved (which there shouldn't be if you paid for it in the UK!), if anything surely it'd be your bank that charges you for it? And if it's a currency conversion fee for booking on booking.com, why on earth are the hotel asking for it? 

Is the idea that you were billed X in Barbados Dollars, that converted to Y in UK money, you paid Y, then someone (your bank?) has charged a transaction fee of £54.89 which has meant you've only paid Y - 54.89 to booking.com? And they haven't said anything, then the hotel has realised you haven't paid enough?

This just isn't how anything works, surely, your bank would send Y to booking.com, who send that to the hotel, and the bank would separately charge you a conversion fee. they wouldn't just charge you a conversion fee, and take it as a cut out of money you're sending to someone else leaving you short on the amount you meant to pay?  

FWIW, Santander's foreign transaction fee is 2.95%, did the hotel cost you a couple of grand? In which case, suck it up, moneybags  

[Seat68]

24 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Not a happy bunny today. Anyone git any experience with 'foreign currency conversion fees" ?

I paid for one of the hotels to barbados on booking.com on my santander debit card as a free cancellation in july. They charged me two payments then the above fee of £54.89. So me thinking total has been paid as when you add conversion fee it makes hotel total for barbados hotel.i went out there and on checking out hotel said i was short of payment of £54.89! So i had to pay it again in cash over there.

Got back booking.com told me they didnt receive that payment to query with santander. Ring them up and they told me that i been charged that fee as the currency had been converted to barbados money when i made payment!

I was like £54 **** pounds for a transaction fee thats excessive and i wanted that money reimbursed. They refuse so i got utterly pissed off and closed both my accounts with them.

I just cant believe they would rather keep £50 and lose all the money i put in there. Fools

Be warned if this happens to you just pay at the property cash

I would write to them clearly stating the time line of events, explain card used, amount paid locally and the amount took from your account. I have just looked on Santander and the fees are all below 3%, 100% conversion fee seems ridiculous.

[Demitri_C]

21 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

I am so confused. None of this makes sense.

Surely if you're paying booking.com for a hotel, you're charged in British money if you booked it on their UK site. If there's foreign currency involved (which there shouldn't be if you paid for it in the UK!), if anything surely it'd be your bank that charges you for it? And if it's a currency conversion fee for booking on booking.com, why on earth are the hotel asking for it? 

Is the idea that you were billed X in Barbados Dollars, that converted to Y in UK money, you paid Y, then someone (your bank?) has charged a transaction fee of £54.89 which has meant you've only paid Y - 54.89 to booking.com? And they haven't said anything, then the hotel has realised you haven't paid enough?

This just isn't how anything works, surely, your bank would send Y to booking.com, who send that to the hotel, and the bank would separately charge you a conversion fee. they wouldn't just charge you a conversion fee, and take it as a cut out of money you're sending to someone else leaving you short on the amount you meant to pay?  

FWIW, Santander's foreign transaction fee is 2.95%, did the hotel cost you a couple of grand? In which case, suck it up, moneybags  

Sorry for confusion as i was just as confused as you. At first i thought it was hotel, then i thought it was booking but seems its santander.

I assumed paying on booking.com in the uk with a uk card you would be paying it all off with no foreign conversion fee. If i paid it abroad then yeah i would get it.

Yes it waa a couple grand (i take it you have never been barbados as yoh cant get them cheaper than that!!)

Youe scenario is what they have done and they have refused to refund me. So bye bye santander 

24 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I would write to them clearly stating the time line of events, explain card used, amount paid locally and the amount took from your account. I have just looked on Santander and the fees are all below 3%, 100% conversion fee seems ridiculous.

Thanks. Its **** ridiculous honestly they are just taking peoples money and not giving a shit. If i had known this i would have just paid on my revolut card

[Xann]

1 hour ago, Demitri_C said:

... got utterly pissed off and closed both my accounts with them.

Fair play. More people should do this.

[Demitri_C]

1 minute ago, Xann said:

Fair play. More people should do this.

Im literally so fed up of banks bullying people  mismanging our money and just keep my money indoors. 

I was reading if everyone took 20% of their money out of banks the banks would go bust

[choffer]

1 minute ago, Demitri_C said:

I was reading if everyone took 20% of their money out of banks the banks would go bust

...and we'd all immediately lose 80% of our money  

[Demitri_C]

Just now, choffer said:

...and we'd all immediately lose 80% of our money  

Its abit worrying though whwn you think of that. I was watching some videos of Nigeria  anout how they being charged to take out money as alot of them need cash. 

[Genie]

8 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Im literally so fed up of banks bullying people  mismanging our money and just keep my money indoors. 

I was reading if everyone took 20% of their money out of banks the banks would go bust

This is why the government back upto £85k if a bank goes under. In removes the need to panic and take money out.

[Davkaus]

I don't blame Santander here - you've paid in a foreign currency and it's the done thing to charge for that service (though it's bizarre they've deducted it from the amount paid, instead of just sending the full amount to the merchant and charging you a separate fee?)

The fault IMO is with booking.com, and it seems that is just how they operate, they display pounds for your "convenience" but charge you in the hotel's local currency

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-6565951/A-foreign-exchange-fee-added-reservation-Booking-com.html

I've just had a look at some random hotels in Barbados, and this is pretty shit. "No credit card fees" (by us, lol). "£279 includes taxes and charges" ("But not all of them, ha :D")

 

 

Yet look down at the small print, looks like a scam to me

Quote

You will pay the hotel in the hotel’s local currency (BBD). The displayed amount (in GBP) is indicative and based on today’s exchange rate. 

Little Good Harbour may charge additional fees not shown above. See the fine print to read more about this property.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Davkaus

[Demitri_C]

3 hours ago, Davkaus said:

I don't blame Santander here - you've paid in a foreign currency and it's the done thing to charge for that service (though it's bizarre they've deducted it from the amount paid, instead of just sending the full amount to the merchant and charging you a separate fee?)

The fault IMO is with booking.com, and it seems that is just how they operate, they display pounds for your "convenience" but charge you in the hotel's local currency

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-6565951/A-foreign-exchange-fee-added-reservation-Booking-com.html

I've just had a look at some random hotels in Barbados, and this is pretty shit. "No credit card fees" (by us, lol). "£279 includes taxes and charges" ("But not all of them, ha :D")

 

 

Yet look down at the small print, looks like a scam to me

For me all three parties have done shit.

Santander not confirming what thw hell the fee is, booking.com provided a price and not mentioning anything about the "extra fee" ans the hotel for the above you have quoted.

Honestly ive booked so many hotels abroad not just in europe but outside toi and I've never had this issue.

Just want to warn those for future reference so you dont get screwed and informed like i did. Pay cash at the property or use a revolut card

EDIT

Why give you the option to pay now then if price changes when you get there? They should not provide a option to pay now if your going to get extra fees added on like i did 

Edited April 6, 2023 by Demitri_C

[Tom13]

The top of the window for this site has changed colour for me on mobile. I like it.

[Xela]

6 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Im literally so fed up of banks bullying people  mismanging our money and just keep my money indoors. 

I was reading if everyone took 20% of their money out of banks the banks would go bust

How do they bully people?

[cheltenham_villa]

6 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Im literally so fed up of banks bullying people  mismanging our money and just keep my money indoors. 

I was reading if everyone took 20% of their money out of banks the banks would go bust

This isn't really true. About 70 percent of the money in banks is owned by about 2 percent of that banks custome base. If those people took 20 percent of their money than a bank might struggle. These people won't do that though because a) they like earning interest b) most of this money is in fixed term accounts c) the millions of pounds held in cash wouldn't be protected and you'd feel a bit silly having it lay around.

 

[Demitri_C]

Feck me i thought this was unai emery

[Seat68]

6 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Feck me i thought this was unai emery

Looks familiar….
 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Seat68

[mjmooney]

33 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Feck me i thought this was unai emery

Nah. THIS is Unai Emery: 

Edited April 13, 2023 by mjmooney

[sidcow]

2 hours ago, mjmooney said:

Nah. THIS is Unai Emery: 

I don't want to sound racist but all Unai Emery's look the same to me. 

[Demitri_C]

When you go to wish and try get unai emery