Deposit refund cost me because of exchange rates

[mexico8]

We were pressured by a web site travel agency to make a hasty deposit because there was only one cabin left to book on a cruise we wanted to take.   A day or two later we found out that the cabin was not big enough to accommodate my mobility scooter so we cancelled.   The deposit was refunded to our credit card within a week or two and we ended up losing $163 because of the difference in the US and Cdn. exchange rates.   The web agency won't do anything about it.   Any recourse that we have to get that money back?

[DHP1]

I’m assuming you paid in US dollars and if so, there not much you can do (my opinion). All our cruises that we booked online are quoted in Canadian dollar and therefore, any refunds are in Canadian dollar. 
 

[canadianbear]

We’ve been stung before but with excursions that are popular so pre-booked & paid in US funds.  Of course covid hit so cruise was cancelled.  We lost also with the exchange etc.  It annoys me but not much we can do.  We book a cruise always in Canadian funds.  
 

I don’t think you have any recourse unless they could have held that money to put towards a different cruise for you.  

[Fouremco]

Unfortunately, none of the parties involved have any control over fluctuations in the exchange rate. Had the initial deposit and later refund taken place on different dates, you might have made a profit. 

 

Also, take into consideration whether or not your financial institution charges a currency conversion fee. Even if the actual exchange rate was identical for the two transactions, you could have lost 2%-3% because of the conversion fee.

 

[daisy-mae]

It's because of the spread - the difference between the buy and sell rate when two currencies are involved in a transaction. Even without the customary conversion fee charged by most banks and cc issuers, the amount received as a refund will almost never match the amount paid.

[Lady Arwen]

11 minutes ago, daisy-mae said:

It's because of the spread - the difference between the buy and sell rate when two currencies are involved in a transaction. Even without the customary conversion fee charged by most banks and cc issuers, the amount received as a refund will almost never match the amount paid.

Hmmm, our deposit refund from a few months ago was identical to the amount we paid.  I was told our refund would always be what we paid (in Canadian dollars).

[daisy-mae]

Yes, the deposit refund will be the same if you are dealing in only ONE currency.

 

The problem arises when the amount payable is in US funds and your credit card issuer does the conversion. When you request a refund, the funds are converted back to CDN at a different rate.

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, daisy-mae said:

It's because of the spread - the difference between the buy and sell rate when two currencies are involved in a transaction. Even without the customary conversion fee charged by most banks and cc issuers, the amount received as a refund will almost never match the amount paid.

I have a credit card (Visa) that doesn't charge FX fees. I was in a store once where I was charged an incorrect amount, and then it was corrected, and the difference was pennies on an admittedly fairly small amount.

 

That said, I would prefer to pay in CAD$ when I can to avoid this issue; I would know what the cost would be and not gamble on a future exchange rate.

[mexico8]

Thank you all for your replies.   We do try to book in Canadian dollars when we can but it was not possible with this TA.   I won't make that mistake again.   Lesson learned (once again).   Hard head!

[mexico8]

Thank you all for your replies.   We do try to book in Canadian dollars when we can but it was not possible with this TA.   I won't make that mistake again.   Lesson learned (once again).  Hard head.

[john2003]

This seems like a lot of money for the delta on a deposit.

[SEPTEMO470]

SORRY FOR YOUR EXCHANGE PROBLEM >> BUT IF YOUR CREDIT CARD HAS 

TRAVEL INSURANCE YOU COULD INQUIRE AS TO A CLAIM. 

SUGGEST YOU FIND A GOOD CDN TRAVEL AGENCY  ALSO APPLY FOR A 

A U.S, FUND CREDIT CARD >> ANNUAL FEES AND TERMS VARY WITH EACH COMPANY BUT WELL WORTH THE EXCHANGE HAZARDS. 

[hancogran]

I had the same thing happen last month.  We had two cruises booked in U.S. funds (Holy Land and Transatlantic  B2B for  Oct. 2022).  Due to DH's health issues, I ended up having to cancel a few weeks ago.  

 

Since each cruise was approx.12 - 13 days, the deposit on each was $900 U.S.   I think we ended up losing about $200 due to the exchange rate when I cancelled.  This was the first time I've ever booked in U.S. funds and only because we knew the TA and got a fantastic group rate.  I've always booked direct with Royal Caribbean in the past (Canadian funds) and I think we'll go back to that.  

[senorjim]

22 hours ago, mexico8 said:

We were pressured by a web site travel agency to make a hasty deposit because there was only one cabin left to book on a cruise we wanted to take.   A day or two later we found out that the cabin was not big enough to accommodate my mobility scooter so we cancelled.   The deposit was refunded to our credit card within a week or two and we ended up losing $163 because of the difference in the US and Cdn. exchange rates.   The web agency won't do anything about it.   Any recourse that we have to get that money back?

On a couple of occasions we have had a similar problem. Both times a polite call to our credit card company (TD Aeroplan Infinity Privilege Card) resulted in the differences being credited back. We were told it was goodwill and exchange rates are beyond their control. Don't think the amount was as high as yours though. You may have to ask the phone rep to escalate your concern.

Jim

 

[mexico8]

4 hours ago, senorjim said:

On a couple of occasions we have had a similar problem. Both times a polite call to our credit card company (TD Aeroplan Infinity Privilege Card) resulted in the differences being credited back. We were told it was goodwill and exchange rates are beyond their control. Don't think the amount was as high as yours though. You may have to ask the phone rep to escalate your concern.

Jim

 

Thanks for this information.   I had asked via their web site for a credit and they refused but I will try to call and discuss it with them.   We also have a TD Aeroplan card so that might help.   

[iancal]

This is just one of many reasons that we use a separate credit card for FX transactions that does not charge an inflated FX fee.  Prior to covid we were typically traveling out of the country for 5 months per year.  This no fee  card made a difference.  

 

Most Canadian bank cards charge a hidden 2.5-3 percent fee on top of the prevailing FX rate.  So on a pay/refund situation, barring any sudden currency changes,  the difference between the buy amount and the refund amount on your card will be 5-6 percent.

 

You can see the Visa exchange rates here. It depends on the day the transaction is processed and I believe the time.  My understanding is that the rate can change slightly  three times a day.    Every transaction that we have spot checked over the past five years has come across accurate to the third decimal point!

 

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

Edited March 16, 2022 by iancal

[lots-of-km2]

On 3/15/2022 at 12:35 PM, mexico8 said:

Any recourse that we have to get that money back?

 

Aside from the interesting idea of trying to pursue an insurance claim (and I'd be curious to know if you succeed with that),  I don't think you have recourse.  The only way you can preserve the $ value is to accept a cruise credit with the cruise line in USD rather than a refund -- and apply it to another cruise in future.  That would preserve the USD value, but would lock up the funds.     

 

Sometimes a very lucrative price is a compelling reason to purchase a cruise in USD rather than CDN. If you aren't a snowbird with a US bank account and cheaper access to US dollars,  a CDN credit card that doesn't charge US Forex fees is worth considering.  Still, with a CDN card that doesn't charge Forex,  you're subject to currency value fluctuations and the possibility of losing some $ when you obtain a refund.  Gotta weigh it out every time. 

[Senga]

That's a lot of money to lose!  We always use a Canadian travel agent so we'll be covered by TICO in case of bankruptcy.  You think it won't happen to a cruise line but upscale Crystal did.

[iancal]

My understanding is that TICO only provides a maximum $5K protection per person. 

 

It has not kept up with inflation.

 

You probably have far  better protection through  your credit card chargeback challenge process assuming you are within their timeframe limits between the charge transaction and the failure event.

 

We typically buy cruises with 8 weeks of embarkation.  We price in CAD, USD, for NA cruises.  

 

We often buy travel products in foreign currency when the savings are significant or when that is the vendors currency.  Not an issue but....often the lead time is less than a month, sometimes days.

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by iancal

[Senga]

Unfortunately we don’t get credit card coverage since we’re over 65 so 5K a person would be better than nothing.

[iancal]

45 minutes ago, Senga said:

Unfortunately we don’t get credit card coverage since we’re over 65 so 5K a person would be better than nothing.

It is not about insurance.  It is based on your credit card agreement.    We are both well past 65!
 

if you pay by credit card and the vendor does not deliver, or goes bankrupt, within a given number of days (usually several hundred) you can apply to the credit card issuer to reverse the transaction, ie credit back the charge.

 

This is the reason why you should always pay with a credit card and never with your debit card, cheque, or cash.

Edited March 17, 2022 by iancal

[RobTheGob]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

It is not about insurance.  It is based on your credit card agreement.    We are both well past 65!
 

if you pay by credit card and the vendor does not deliver, or goes bankrupt, within a given number of days (usually several hundred) you can apply to the credit card issuer to reverse the transaction, ie credit back the charge.

 

This is the reason why you should always pay with a credit card and never with your debit card, cheque, or cash.

 

I remind people of this protection often - in most cases, you are very well protected when paying with a credit card.

 

One exception - you often don't have the same protection if you only charge a portion of a charge (a.k.a. a deposit).

[mexico8]

Update to my loss of $163. on my Visa credit card because of the US/Canadian exchange rate.  I called today and got the nicest agent at TD Canada Trust Visa centre.   She spoke to a Supervisor and they made a "one time only exception" for me.   They are going to refund the entire  amount on our Visa Card.   I am more than happy with them.   We do have a lot of our accounts with them and I think they consider us pretty good customers.  We have multiple accounts - savings and stocks and chequing account etc.  We also pay over $200 annual fee for the Visa card.   

 

I will be extra careful in the future with these types of payments involving US dollars etc.   Lesson learned.   

 

Thanks again for the advice I received.   Appreciate it

[mexico8]

On 3/16/2022 at 10:44 AM, senorjim said:

On a couple of occasions we have had a similar problem. Both times a polite call to our credit card company (TD Aeroplan Infinity Privilege Card) resulted in the differences being credited back. We were told it was goodwill and exchange rates are beyond their control. Don't think the amount was as high as yours though. You may have to ask the phone rep to escalate your concern.

Jim

 

Jim, I was encouraged to pursue my credit with Visa  because of your post.   Thank you.

[*Miss G*]

Happy to hear you had a positive outcome.  As an aside, you can always put a courtesy hold on a cabin directly with the cruise line, requiring no money down.  The hold will drop off after a few days if the deposit has not been paid.  The cruise line also has the ability to extend the hold if you need it.  

 

Also for consideration, I believe agencies are allotted a certain number of cabins so it may have been that there were cabins available with other agencies or the cruise line itself.  Or they could have just been using a (dirty) sales tactic.