Anyone else had problems w/gas station clerks on Bonaire?

[mike_s]

So Mike, do you expect to pay using US dollars in another country and be given change back in US dollars ? I'm confused.....

No.... it doesn't bother me to pay local currency. nor does it bother me to get back local currency.

However, in most Caribbean vacation destinations (islands, etc), the products for sale are priced in US Dollars and not in the local currency. This is one of the reasons that items are often paid for in US dollars. that and a majority of the tourists are from the US and the 'locals' want to make it as easy as possible for them to spend those dollars they are carrying. heh.

About the only time you'll see something priced in local currency that a tourist goes into is the grocery store or a gas station. Some Grocery stores in some countries even ring up the price in both prices, as they did in Aruba for example.

The Bahamas for example even sets their currency as a direct even exchange to the US Dollar. (maybe not the best idea lately with the value of the US dollar weakening, but oh well.).


Basically the US dollar is kinda the 'default currency' for a lot of the western hemisphere, like the Euro has become for most of Europe.


One of the reasons that stores give back the change in local currency is they profit slightly from their own set "exchange rate". I pay in US Dollars, but get local currency change. However, the small amount of change I get is computed at an exchange rate that is likely not as good as you could get at a local bank. But here you're paying for convience and it's a small amount and un-noticeable.

However, what I'm talking about is that when at a restaurant, etc and the prices are in US Dollars, you pay in US Dollars, and then they bring your change back in local currency at an exchange rate that benefits them, then they bring you the incorrect change hoping you won't notice because the denomination of currency has changed.

Its bascially petty-theft. it happens every day in all tourist locations that 'exchange money' like this. It's joked about and called "Gringo Tax"

Thats why many folks exchange money for the local currency when they get there. So they don't get taken advantage of with the 'store exchange rate' and get short changed on the amount to be returned to them.

In the case with the purchase of gasoline above, I guarentee you that money wasn't a mistake and went in his pocket. But this isn't a Bonaire problem. It's widespread across the caribbean.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

Got that part right Mike, it "isn't a Bonaire problem". That's what makes almost everyone's stay there so peaceful, the overall lack of Bonaire being a serious tourist trap. Anyone who thinks they're getting ripped off by Bonaire gas stations has not filled their tank with Gringoland gas lately. We're not talking petty crime here--grand larceny maybe. // ww

 

[b1gcountry]

I think I lost a couple guilders at the pump once. I couldn't do the math in my head, though, so I just left it with God. If she needed the buck or two bad enough to steal it, she is welcome to it. But it just as well might have been my mistake, and I would have felt bad accusing her because of my poor math.

 

[scubadale]

I think I lost a couple guilders at the pump once. I couldn't do the math in my head, though, so I just left it with God. If she needed the buck or two bad enough to steal it, she is welcome to it. But it just as well might have been my mistake, and I would have felt bad accusing her because of my poor math.

That solidifies the case of there being a "Gringo Tax".

Not all of us are willing to support the criminals or those that "can't count".