Avoid being ripped off by some exchange outlets in Krakow and elsewhere

As someone mentioned before, use your ATM/Debit card. My Bank charge $5 per withdrawal in Foreign countries and the exchange rates are far better than forex dealers. Since I use credit card for most major purchases I probably used ATM 4 or 5 times throughout my luxurious 9 day holiday in Poland last year.

Don't understand people who become "tourists" when crossing a border. They wouldn't go to such places in their own country right? It's the same in their country as in any other other.

The problem is people are too quick to shout " rip off " or " cheat " they just don't get the idea, it is their own responsibility to source the best deal. As I mentioned previously in this thread, it is normal for a price differential of 20% in Poland or any country ( UK- Ireland, USA ) No-one hands it too you on a plate, its all preparation and research.

I don't agree, If you mean 1-2 percent difference or known commission like in airport, alright this is not a rip off. But if you get different price only because you are a foreigner or tourist this is clearly rip off and you are not the one to blame.

OK, I see your point. I don`t buy auto gas at Orlen filling stations because they are about 10% most expensive than others.

However, the prices of auto gas are displayed on giant boards next to the station. In case of exchange offices, they use various tricks with exchange rates and their display. In the Polish forum to which I gave a link in my first post I read many complaints that rates were changed during the transaction, behind the customer`s back! What is it if not a rip off?

To be honest I find this whole thread a bit surreal. I mean, how many ATM's are there in Kraków or for that matter at Floriańska?

Put your debet card in, get your money...sit down with a beer and enjoy the scenery.
Wasting your time comparing kantor rates is so mean. It reminds of these guidebooks (do not know if they still are published) "Europe at 30 USD per day" or something like that.

If you have to spend half your holidays penny-pinching...what is the use of going on a holiday whatsoever? For sure you could save a few złoty somewhere in a kantor somehow, but what is the point?

Admire the Rynek, walk through Planty, admire the Flemish tapestries at Wawel..., get healthy in the salt mines...so many things to do.
Kantor hunting????

Surreal in general means bizarre or dreamlike.

I don`t think so. Forums are full of complaints by Poles and foreigners.

Also other major cities in Europe are marked as rip-off centers. E.g., Prague.

praguepost.com/news/2840-exchange-offices-shun-law.html

A worker at one of the kiosks who requested anonymity due to fears of losing his job told The Prague Post the entire business model is fraudulent and geared toward tricking customers.

There is hardly anything surreal in it.

I do not agree. Tourists can just ignore the kantors, take money from any ATM and have a good time.

To be "ripped off" by kantors or shops is an art that has been carefully developed in order to pick up customers who are cavalier about the price just as the customer presented in the OP:


The strategies for "price targeting" techniques are excellently described in a book by Tim Harford, "The Undercover Economist", from which I am quoting this passage:

I once spotted a particularly inspired trick while on a search for crisps. My favorite brand was available on the top shelf in salt and pepper flavour and on the bottom shelf, just a feew feet away, in other flavours, all the same size. The top-shelf crisps cost 25 per cent more, and customers who reached for the top shelf demonstrated that they hadn't made a price-comparison between the two near-identical products in near identical locations. They were more interested in snacking.

And another one, as well from the US:

Amazon used to tailor their prices based on their records of individual customers. The company really was able to offer "money on" vouchers: two customers buing exactly the same product would be offered different prices based on what, if anything, they had previously bought. [...] Customers started to realize that if they deleted the cookies on their computers, they were offered different, often lower prices. And when they found out what the company was doing, there was an outcry. Like Costa [the coffee bars chain described earlier in the book], Amazon has promised not to do it any more.

Guys, especially the ones coming to Poland for EURO 2012, it is high time to refresh our knowledge about exchange sites where customers are ripped off.

In Krakow most outlets are OK, only a few use con practises.

A piece of advice: look carefully at the price which is displayed on electronic board in the window. If 10 outlets show 3.99 zlotys for one eur (just an example), the 11th might try to dupe careless clients by 3.39 zlotys.

Also, you should demand that the cashier/teller writes on a piece of paper the sum of money you give them and the sum you should receive after exchange. This might be used as a proof. Therefore, always carry a pen and a notebook. if he/she refuses, go to another outlet.

Here is a list of exchange outlets in Poland

quantor.pl/kantory/en

Krakow
quantor.pl/kantory/krakow.html#rateHeading

Wrocław
quantor.pl/kantory/wroclaw.html#rateHeading

Warsaw
quantor.pl/kantory/warszawa.html#rateHeading

Gdańsk
quantor.pl/kantory/gdansk.html#rateHeading

Poznań
quantor.pl/kantory/poznan.html#rateHeading

We were ripped off today in the very same Kantor that the first message talks about. The rates were not noticible on entering the shop, husband asked if the rate displayed for £'s was correct.

, he said yes. I Said I wanted to change £100 he took money gave us the printed receipt and cash at the same time we immediately knew it was wrong 387 zlote insread of the 520 we were expecting. Asked for our money back but he was just having none of it and was very surly. Has marred our trip, did plan to return but not now.

@Harrisontour
How on earth can you let them get away with it??

Simple solution is to stand outside the Kantor and ward off any potential customers. They will soon pay up.

You can always go to the newspapers and tell them your story. You can warn people off on social media (Facebook and others).