Short change at some Bureaux de change? 


Trading Standards are warning overseas travellers to be vigilant when 
buying their holiday money from Bureaux De Change.  

Following a recent nationwide investigation carried out by Scottish 
Local Authority Trading Standards Departments, officers were 
disappointed at the practices identified in some of the establishments 
visited. Results of the project have been released to coincide with 
National Consumer Week

The visits were carried out by Officers working in pairs. At 16% of 
premises, the first officer, who didn’t ask what the exchange rate was, 
was given a lower rate than the officer who had entered 10 minutes later 
and who did.  This means that if a consumer didn’t ask then they were 
losing out on £1.12 for every £25 spent.

A spokesperson from one of the Authorities involved in the project said, 
“There are Regulations in place that cover Bureaux de Change but some of 
the problems we have encountered are not caught within them.  The 
practice of giving people better rates of exchange if they ask is not 
covered. However we feel that this is a practice that shouldn’t be employed 
by reputable traders.  If there was a statutory duty on all bureaux de 
changes to display their exchange rates for customers to view prior to 
purchase this would allow customers to shop around for the best deal.  
At the moment it is up to the individual establishment to decide if they 
want to display their rates which can contribute to the practices 
highlighted.”

Chairman of SCOTSS Ken Daly said, 
“I must admit to being surprised at these findings as I, along with 
most people, wouldn’t have thought that customers would need to actually 
ask the rate of exchange to get a fair deal for their holiday money.”  

Trading Standards also warned consumers to be vigilant for traders who 
are claiming ‘Best Rate in town’ as this is not necessarily the case.  
Margaret Ann Headrick Trading Standards Officer from South Ayrshire 
Council who explained, “It became apparent during this project that 
consumers should definitely shop around to get the best rate as on one 
of the days checked the rate varied from 1.34 Euros to 1.40 Euros and 
that was between establishments that were only 3 minutes from each other.
On this same day one of the travel agents claiming ‘Best Rate in Town’ 
was not and was worse by 1.9 cents.  A manager from one of the Bureaux 
de Changes also remarked that they estimate that only about 12% of people 
in their area actually shop about for currency meaning that approximately 
78% of customers are probably not getting the best rate on offer.”

Officers involved in the project from around Scotland are currently 
working with the traders who breached the Regulations and will be 
notifying the head offices of the traders who are charging different 
rates to consumers.

If anyone has any complaints about holidays and bureaux de changes they 
should contact Consumer Direct on 08454 040506 or their local Trading 
Standards Service, which will be found in their local directory or on
this website.


Notes for Editors

The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) National Consumer Week will run 
from 20-25 November 2006. The theme this year is “Hey Big Spender - 
take a little advice from us” and focuses on the problems, pitfalls 
and best practice for consumers when they make major purchases, 
including homes, cars, holidays, furniture and audio-visual equipment.

National Consumer Week, which has been running for 17 years, provides 
a platform to inform and educate consumers; to support fair traders; 
and to lobby businesses, trade organisations and the Government to 
improve the service to consumers.  TSI and Local Authority Trading 
Standards staff are supported by Consumer Direct the national consumer 
advice helpline funded by Government.

SCOTSS spokespeople are available for interview; please contact 
angela.blair@scotss.org.uk for further details or phone 07769715243

The survey was undertaken by 12 local authorities from throughout Scotland.

The project was initiated after Officers in South Ayrshire Trading 
Standards in the course of their routine duties noted discrepancies 
in the amount that consumers received when changing money