The Grand Turkish Currency Bazaar

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The Grand Turkish Currency Bazaar

Monk, who considers himself to be very organised when it comes to currency matters, finds himself getting very frustrated and annoyed at the currency situation in Istanbul.

The Turks seem to have some kind of misapprehension that they are already part of the EU. When booking hotels on the Internet, all prices were quoted in euros - not Turkish lira. Monk naively assumed that this was an 'indication' of price for the convenience of Europeans so that they don't have to convert Turkish lira to compare prices.

Having spent time in Istanbul, Monk now realises that the euro, and maybe even the dollar, is actually a 'shadow' currency prefered by the Turks. That's fine with Monk except that, actually, when it comes down to paying, everything then gets converted back to Turkish lira at some notional rate that is beyond the control, and possibly the comprehension, of the poor tourist. The Turks seem to think that it's their God-given right to to play the currency exchange game on every transaction and cream off a little for themselves - this is tantamount to usury which Monk thought was forbidden by Islam.

By way of example, Monk's hotel. The price quoted was €80 per night but the email correspondence said that the bill could be paid in Turkish lira. OK thought Monk, there is atcually a TL price that is definitive and, if you pay by euro, then the current, 'notional' exchange rate is applied. The hotel people, Monk thinks, are honest, decent people, but this concept is so deeply engrained that it doesn't occur to them that something stinks about the whole thing. Monk had enough TL in cash to pay the entire bill and so said he wanted to pay in TL. OK they said and they then converted the EURO price quoted, at some exchange rate known only to them, to TL. At this point Monk said, 'I don't want exchange rates to complicate things, I'll pay in euros'. Monk has a euro credit card (more about that in a later post) that ensures the absolute best exchange rate back to sterling, so, he asked 'If I pay with this, will it DEFINITELY be charged in euros?'. 'Oh yes' they said, so Monk said 'Go ahead I'll pay in euros'. When the transaction had gone through and Monk checked the credit card slip, it had been converted to TL, the hotel says, by their bank. At this point, Monk could have asked to void or credit the transaction but he was so worn out by it he gave up, on this occasion, and put it down to experience.

So the net result is, that an otherwise canny person like Monk, has now been hit by a double exchange rate penalty having paid a (reasonable) exchange rate from sterling for the euro to sterling transaction on his euro credit card and, on top of that, a probably crippling exchange rate from TL to euro applied by the Turkish bank (or was it the Turkish hotel - who knows?).

Even the shuttle bus back to the airport had to be paid for in euros. But it's not just private enterprise that plays the game, the state likes a little tickle too, however, Monk had been pre-warned about this. Coming into Turkey at Fethiye harbour one has to pay a Turkish visa fee. You would expect the state to want to deal in its own currency - but no. It insists on UK£10 or 15 euros - the poor Eurozone countries get a rough deal compared to the UK - another example of the exchange rate bazaar.

Why don't the Turks do as just about every other country in the world does and use their own currency as the basis for their pricing? Or, if they want to do things in another currency, then do it entirely in that currency. But this straddling of 2 currencies is dishonest. If they need to make money on exchange rates to cover their costs for hotels or restaurants or whatever, then their prices are wrong. Just increase the prices so they reflect the true cost to the tourist. We'll all know where we stand then.

The Turkish tourist industry seems to be one unofficial currency exchange market without any regulators. All this leaves a nasty taste in the mouth on top of all the other scams and hustles that abound in Istanbul, and maybe even in Greater Turkey. It leads Monk, maybe unfairly, to think that cheating and stealing from tourists is considered fair play.

SO - beware currency exchange, or any other monetary transactions, in Istanbul - it's a bazaar!

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Comments

[Turkish Exchange Rate]

http://turkishliraexchangerate.com/
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