Overcharges to Credit Card from Divetank.com

[battles2a5]

Reefhound- you have a good CC company. I got the same foreign exchange charges. I have done a lot of work internationally and I got those charges all the time from Europe, SE Asia, South/Central America, etc. Total BS but those poor credit card companies have to make money somehow!!!

 

[jeraldjcook]

What kind of screwball credit card charges you a $50 fee for an international transaction? I use credit cards in Mexico all the time and there's never been even a $1 extra charge.

The bank I worked at in the past charged fees for international transactions. If you had this bank's Visa card, when you made an international transactions, Visa charged the bank a fee for currency conversion, etc, and the bank passed it on. It's up to the card issuer from what I understood, which was very little.

 

[PinkPADIgal]

DiveTank is a great company and they have excellent customer service. Richard and his staff work hard to make sure everyone is taken care of.

However, they are located in British Columbia. Like many companies that do business in the US, they ship product to their Blaine, Washington wearhouse to keep shipping costs to a minimum.

Because they are based in Canada, they must charge your credit card in Canadian funds. If you purchase from them using your credit card, be prepared for exchange rate charges on your card. The exchange rate can fluxuate and every bank charges a different rate. The US dollar is weak against the Canadian Loonie right now, so it does not work to anyone's advantage. I travel across the border frequently, and I have seen differences as much as $.25 per dollar exchanged, depending on which bank you go to. That is a lot, especially if you are purchasing a drysuit.

It sounds Richard and his team are working with their US customers to make sure you have the price you were quoted. If this doesn't work, purchase through your LDS or a US based on-line dealer.

 

[ReefHound]

I had to do some checking because this really surprised me and it turns out exchange fees are the norm. One thing that threw me was I was thinking the $50 fee was a flat transaction fee and it's really a percentage fee. So for a $1400 drysuit, then a 3% fee would run about that. For some reason I had this image of charging a $30 dinner and getting hit for another $50.

Here's an article I found about this. VISA charges a 1% for all exchange conversions but the bank issuer can add another 1% or 2%. The examples cited range from Capital One which absorbs all fees and "doesn't charge a dime" to Bank of America which hits you for 3%.

 

[Web Monkey]

Nevermind. I didn't realize DiveTank was in CA.

You're on your own when ordering from outside the country. The number of ways to get hosed is limitless.

I wouldn't even be surprised if you were hit with a customs or "expiding" from the shipper fee months later.

 

[vladimir]

The examples cited range from Capital One which absorbs all fees and "doesn't charge a dime" to Bank of America which hits you for 3%.

Which is why everybody should have a Capital One card. Mine saves me hundreds of dollars a year.

 

[Divetank Dive Shop]

DiveTank is a great company and they have excellent customer service. Richard and his staff work hard to make sure everyone is taken care of.

However, they are located in British Columbia. Like many companies that do business in the US, they ship product to their Blaine, Washington wearhouse to keep shipping costs to a minimum.

Because they are based in Canada, they must charge your credit card in Canadian funds. If you purchase from them using your credit card, be prepared for exchange rate charges on your card. The exchange rate can fluxuate and every bank charges a different rate. The US dollar is weak against the Canadian Loonie right now, so it does not work to anyone's advantage. I travel across the border frequently, and I have seen differences as much as $.25 per dollar exchanged, depending on which bank you go to. That is a lot, especially if you are purchasing a drysuit.

It sounds Richard and his team are working with their US customers to make sure you have the price you were quoted. If this doesn't work, purchase through your LDS or a US based on-line dealer.

If there is ever a over charge to a client, we will credit back or Paypal back the difference. We can charge in US currency at times, however since we are the world's largest Bare Dealer(being a canadian company) we do charge in Canadian dollars 80 percent of the time. These complaints are still over and above 20-%25 percent of MSRP that we sometimes give to clients price matching the daylights out of Divetank Sales Staff, leaving margins low as can be, its still works out to be a big discount over MSRP. Please Members, call our store or email us with problems, we will address them with the most importance, Customerservice@divetank.com Thanks again.

Richard Hally -family member since 1978*

 

[HenrikBP]

Another happy Dive Tank customer here. Bought a full set of Apeks regulators and a Suunto computer from Richard some 4 months ago. Great price and no extra cost for a custom XTX200/XTX50 set-up. They even took back a DIN-to-yoke adaptor with no restocking fee. A little snag with the return was easily ironed out with a phone call.

Henrik

 

[BORG]

You know, I don't know why instead of using a credit card to order a suit in this situation, use a money order for the exact amount. Sure you have to depend on the mail unless you want to overnight it to Divetank. That way, the credit card companies won't be able to hose you in their many various ways for the exchange rate.
This may be one way to keep everybody happy, maybe, maybe not.

 

[Cave Diver]

You know, I don't know why instead of using a credit card to order a suit in this situation, use a money order for the exact amount. Sure you have to depend on the mail unless you want to overnight it to Divetank. That way, the credit card companies won't be able to hose you in their many various ways for the exchange rate.
This may be one way to keep everybody happy, maybe, maybe not.

One of the problems here, is that the OP didnt expect a problem to begin with. And if you do have a problem with a transaction, credit cards often afford more leverage in getting the problem resolved. Once a check is cashed, there is little that the purchaser can do.