AirBnB messing with foreign currency - someone needs to call them on this
IF YOU USE AIRBNB OUTSIDE THE USA YOU WILL WANT TO READ THIS!
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Every time you use airbnb to rent a place where the price is given in a currency other than your "home currency" Airbnb will take more than 3% that, by agreement with Visa, they are not allowed to take.
I'd like to get a bunch of people contacting Visa and Airbnb to get pressure on airbnb to allow the option (which is already required by the agreement with visa) of charging in the currency of the customer's choice.
Here's a link to a form you can fill out and send to vcf@visa.com
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Have you ever found a great deal on airbnb, saw just the price you were looking for, and then been dismayed that airbnb charged you in a different currency, at THEIR (worse) currency exchange rate, and (to add insult to injury) added a 3% exchange fee on top of that? In my personal experience I just lost over $50 making reservations for a conference - lost it by airbnb charging me for a currency exchange that was both unnecessary and in breach of their agreement with Visa!
My visa credit card is just as happy being charged in euros, in dinar, in leke, in lira, in rubles, or in yuan as it is happy to be charged in dollars. So why does airbnb feel the need to convert a currency that I don't want converted instead of just charging in the currency the transaction was negotiated in?! Visa gives me a great exchange rate and I want to take advantage of that rather than the highway robbery that Airbnb charges.
I have tried really hard to get airbnb to allow me to charge in different currencies. Previously you could twist your arm behind your back and bend over backwards and make it happen, but recently they have closed off all possibilities for this: they require you to pay in the currency THEY choose (adding the percentage for their bad exchange rate and their 3% exchange rate because ... well, that's money in their pocket).
After a little research I have discovered (as far as I can tell) that airbnb is actually in breach of the agreement with VISA when they do this. What they are offering is DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) and it is allowed, but only within very specific guidelines. (Have you ever gone to an ATM and they offer to convert the currency for you but when you do the conversion yourself you realize they are charging you a 10% fee or something? Same thing...) Here are the guidelines required by Visa (I'm re-wording for brevity and clarity - the actual link is below):
* It has to be optional - they can't require it
* they can't even make DCC the default option
* they can't disallow use of the local currency
All this means that Visa requires merchants (i.e., airbnb) to allow you to pay in the local currency where the transaction took place. If I rent a house in Euros then Visa requires that I be allowed to pay in Euros.
We need a bunch of people contacting BOTH Visa AND AirBnB to report this situation and see if we can't get airbnb to change their ridiculous policies:
VISA: +1 800-847-2911
AIRBNB: +1-855-424-7262
CAPITALONE: +1-800-955-7070 (you do know CapOne doesn't charge int'l transaction fees, right? and I got no kickback for telling you that...)
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More details & links follow:
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Here's the article that got me thinking about this (after my frustration losing more than $50 pointlessly):
https://danielpocock.com/disabling-dcc-on-airbnb
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If you want to read the Visa agreement, check out
https://usa.visa.com/…/…/15-April-2015-Visa-Rules-Public.pdf
on page 370 and following (it's only about a page and a half and pretty clear).
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Here's the definition of DCC, from Visa themselves: Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)* occurs when the
merchant converts the purchase amount from the merchants’
currency to the cardholder’s local currency, based on the
cardholder’s payment card account number. The merchant
submits the transaction for processing in the converted
currency, and typically charges a fee or mark up on the foreign
exchange rate. (https://usa.visa.com/…/VBS-01-AUG-14-Optimize-Cross-Border-…)
---
From wikipedia: Visa Chargeback reason code 76 explicitly covers situations where the "Cardholder was not advised that Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) would occur" or "Cardholder was refused the choice of paying in the merchant’s local currency". Customers have a strong chance of successfully disputing such transactions, especially in situations where they pay with a credit card and where Verified by Visa or Securecode is not involved.
(in other words, if airbnb didn't give you the option to pay in the local currency you can probably get your money back - I'm not sure where this would stand ethically so I'm not going there, but it's significant that it's a big enough issue to offer this option)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_currency_conversion)
---
A few articles about DCC in general:
http://www.smh.com.au/…/dynamic-currency-conversion--robber…
http://www.canstar.com.au/…/what-is-dynamic-currency-conve…/
---
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Every time you use airbnb to rent a place where the price is given in a currency other than your "home currency" Airbnb will take more than 3% that, by agreement with Visa, they are not allowed to take.
I'd like to get a bunch of people contacting Visa and Airbnb to get pressure on airbnb to allow the option (which is already required by the agreement with visa) of charging in the currency of the customer's choice.
Here's a link to a form you can fill out and send to vcf@visa.com
---
Have you ever found a great deal on airbnb, saw just the price you were looking for, and then been dismayed that airbnb charged you in a different currency, at THEIR (worse) currency exchange rate, and (to add insult to injury) added a 3% exchange fee on top of that? In my personal experience I just lost over $50 making reservations for a conference - lost it by airbnb charging me for a currency exchange that was both unnecessary and in breach of their agreement with Visa!
My visa credit card is just as happy being charged in euros, in dinar, in leke, in lira, in rubles, or in yuan as it is happy to be charged in dollars. So why does airbnb feel the need to convert a currency that I don't want converted instead of just charging in the currency the transaction was negotiated in?! Visa gives me a great exchange rate and I want to take advantage of that rather than the highway robbery that Airbnb charges.
I have tried really hard to get airbnb to allow me to charge in different currencies. Previously you could twist your arm behind your back and bend over backwards and make it happen, but recently they have closed off all possibilities for this: they require you to pay in the currency THEY choose (adding the percentage for their bad exchange rate and their 3% exchange rate because ... well, that's money in their pocket).
After a little research I have discovered (as far as I can tell) that airbnb is actually in breach of the agreement with VISA when they do this. What they are offering is DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) and it is allowed, but only within very specific guidelines. (Have you ever gone to an ATM and they offer to convert the currency for you but when you do the conversion yourself you realize they are charging you a 10% fee or something? Same thing...) Here are the guidelines required by Visa (I'm re-wording for brevity and clarity - the actual link is below):
* It has to be optional - they can't require it
* they can't even make DCC the default option
* they can't disallow use of the local currency
All this means that Visa requires merchants (i.e., airbnb) to allow you to pay in the local currency where the transaction took place. If I rent a house in Euros then Visa requires that I be allowed to pay in Euros.
We need a bunch of people contacting BOTH Visa AND AirBnB to report this situation and see if we can't get airbnb to change their ridiculous policies:
VISA: +1 800-847-2911
AIRBNB: +1-855-424-7262
CAPITALONE: +1-800-955-7070 (you do know CapOne doesn't charge int'l transaction fees, right? and I got no kickback for telling you that...)
===============
More details & links follow:
===============
Here's the article that got me thinking about this (after my frustration losing more than $50 pointlessly):
https://danielpocock.com/disabling-dcc-on-airbnb
---
If you want to read the Visa agreement, check out
https://usa.visa.com/…/…/15-April-2015-Visa-Rules-Public.pdf
on page 370 and following (it's only about a page and a half and pretty clear).
---
Here's the definition of DCC, from Visa themselves: Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)* occurs when the
merchant converts the purchase amount from the merchants’
currency to the cardholder’s local currency, based on the
cardholder’s payment card account number. The merchant
submits the transaction for processing in the converted
currency, and typically charges a fee or mark up on the foreign
exchange rate. (https://usa.visa.com/…/VBS-01-AUG-14-Optimize-Cross-Border-…)
---
From wikipedia: Visa Chargeback reason code 76 explicitly covers situations where the "Cardholder was not advised that Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) would occur" or "Cardholder was refused the choice of paying in the merchant’s local currency". Customers have a strong chance of successfully disputing such transactions, especially in situations where they pay with a credit card and where Verified by Visa or Securecode is not involved.
(in other words, if airbnb didn't give you the option to pay in the local currency you can probably get your money back - I'm not sure where this would stand ethically so I'm not going there, but it's significant that it's a big enough issue to offer this option)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_currency_conversion)
---
A few articles about DCC in general:
http://www.smh.com.au/…/dynamic-currency-conversion--robber…
http://www.canstar.com.au/…/what-is-dynamic-currency-conve…/
Hi there, I've run into the exact same problem as you have with Airbnb. Did you ever manage to get them to charge you in the currency of your choice? If not, were you able to get Visa/CapitalOne to reverse the charges? Cheers
ReplyDeleteI have not yet been successful with AirBnB. I have resisted actually getting Visa to reverse the charges to date because I am sure AirBnB will simply pass that on to the hosts and I am unwilling to do that to "innocent bystanders." However, I found a way to complain to Visa that allowed the specific complaint of DCC violation and have submitted that complaint.
ReplyDeletecan you please share the link for complaint?
ReplyDeleteI can't remember where I found the form, but here's the copy I downloaded, hosted on my own dropbox for your downloading pleasure: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5l5ed2kls00ute8/DCC%20Complaint%20Form.pdf?dl=0
ReplyDeleteI sent that to vcf@visa.com after I filled it out.
Peter, what came of your complaint to Visa? I'm trying to assess whether I should complain to Airbnb, file an arbitration action against Airbnb as provided by their TOS, complain to Visa, file a chargeback, or do something else TBD. Appreciate your sharing your experience if you can!
ReplyDeleteNot quite sure this is the same thing, but I recently booked accommodation in my home country of Aus and paid in AU dollars but was charged a foreign transaction fee. I only realised when checking my credit card statement! Not happy.
ReplyDelete