buff
Contributor
Many divers have questions about buying online. I will not pursure the moral/ethical arguments of doing it on this post. I am someone who has purchased quite a bit of "kit"(English phrase that I like) online and I have had an experience that I would like to share with others who are going to engage in international commerce.
In June of this year I bought about $1000.00 worth of dive gear from DiveInn in Spain. I put it on a credit card which I had gotten specificaly for this purchase. I did not know DiveInn and didn't want them to have access to my checking account by giving them my debit card number. The transactions with DiveInn were wonderful and I paid the credit card off and then cancelled it. This week I decided to get a dry suit and trusting DiveInn I used my debit card. Looking at my checking account today I see a debit for $13.89 for currency conversion fee levied by my "good friends" at Wells Fargo Bank for all the effort they expended changing those electronic pesos into electronic dollars. The difference between my first and second purchases at DiveInn were the use of a "credit card" and the use of a "debit card" respectively.
Now, while the $13.89 is not a lot of dough, considering I paid $700.00 for the whole "kit"- it is an unfortunate and unessecary(can't spell that word) expense. I will argue with Wells Fargo about this one but I'm sure they have some fine print, somewhere that says that there will be a fee imposed for international transactions. I am sure all banks do this.
Moral: Don't use your "debit" card use a "credit" card. There should be no currency conversion fee on the later. In addition, you have a month to pay for your high priced "kit" and if somthing goes wrong with your purchase the retalier hasn't already been paid so it gives them an incentive to solve the problem.
Mike
In June of this year I bought about $1000.00 worth of dive gear from DiveInn in Spain. I put it on a credit card which I had gotten specificaly for this purchase. I did not know DiveInn and didn't want them to have access to my checking account by giving them my debit card number. The transactions with DiveInn were wonderful and I paid the credit card off and then cancelled it. This week I decided to get a dry suit and trusting DiveInn I used my debit card. Looking at my checking account today I see a debit for $13.89 for currency conversion fee levied by my "good friends" at Wells Fargo Bank for all the effort they expended changing those electronic pesos into electronic dollars. The difference between my first and second purchases at DiveInn were the use of a "credit card" and the use of a "debit card" respectively.
Now, while the $13.89 is not a lot of dough, considering I paid $700.00 for the whole "kit"- it is an unfortunate and unessecary(can't spell that word) expense. I will argue with Wells Fargo about this one but I'm sure they have some fine print, somewhere that says that there will be a fee imposed for international transactions. I am sure all banks do this.
Moral: Don't use your "debit" card use a "credit" card. There should be no currency conversion fee on the later. In addition, you have a month to pay for your high priced "kit" and if somthing goes wrong with your purchase the retalier hasn't already been paid so it gives them an incentive to solve the problem.
Mike
