Comments on: Changing money in Bali

By: jeroxie

jeroxie — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:41:25 +0000

@Experimental – Just an experience so I thought people should know about it

@Lorraine – Dodgy indeed but lesson learnt

@Injera – It does too. Will be very careful next time.

@Trissa – Never believe “Best Rates” signs anymore

@Blackswan – I agree. It can be quite daunting.

@Jessie – Better be careful than sorry.

@Mardi – We are fine but was kind of pissed off. Lesson learnt.

By: Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite

Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:11:48 +0000

Grrr – poor you but good for you for posting it to hopefully help out some others…

By: Jessie

Jessie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:14:46 +0000

I am so sorry you had to experience that on your vacation! I never had the opportunity to use a money changer but I will keep this in mind when I come across one. That is very frustrating!

By: Blackswan

Blackswan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:34:09 +0000

I’ve heard a lot about people getting duped but I guess I’m really lucky. Touch wood, I’ve not encountered any of these incidents thru my years of travelling except corrupted uniform personnels in Paris, China, Indonesia & Malaysia, trying to get money/gifts from me. It’s scary because they’re security officers at the airport or policemen in the streets. They can do anything they want :<

By: Trissa

Trissa — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:33:53 +0000

I’ve never been cheated by a money changer but my sister changed all her money once in a store that gave her really lousy rates and when I asked her why she went there she said “because they put a sign infront that said BEST RATES”… hmmm… thanks for sharing!

By: Injera

Injera — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:22:13 +0000

We’ve been lucky changing money when we’ve travelled, although I was once in southern Thailand when the Asian financial crisis hit, and most of the “reputable” money changers were quickly out of cash. We had to resort to a less formal operation, but didn’t do too badly out of it.

I guess it pays to be extremely vigilant.

By: Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:13:36 +0000

Same thing happened to us the first time we went to Bali. They counted it and showed us the piles etc and then gathered it all up in a pile wherein they then proceeded to dump some in their own lap. We saw it and took our AUD and exchanged it at the hotel instead!

By: Experimental Culinary Pursuits

Experimental Culinary Pursuits — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:14:16 +0000

Wow, I always try to exchange at the airport or at the bank, so haven’t encountered this yet, but it seems very dodgy and frustrating indeed! Thanks for sharing your experience, and I’m sorry you had to deal with all of that!

By: jeroxie

jeroxie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:56:56 +0000

To everyone:
Thanks for all your response and I do apologise that I am not replying individually. Just got back from holidays and so many emails to go through at work.
We have learnt our lesson and this is a caution for everyone to be wary when travelling. This does not apply to just Asia. We have travelled Europe and there are similar money changers. They work the same way and like to create confusion.
So be safe when travelling. Change at the bank in that country or really big money changers. Lower rates but a peace of mind.

Cheers
Penny aka Jeroxie

By: Belle@OohLook

Belle@OohLook — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:10:45 +0000

Thanks for the great advice. I think we are a little too trusting in Australia, so it’s worth being more careful (and suspicious?) when we travel overseas.

By: Drick

Drick — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:06:55 +0000

many places I have visited are the same no matter what country…normally try to go to a bank or get just enough at the airport (poor rate) to get us through…

By: another outspoken female

another outspoken female — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:03:40 +0000

The downside to Bali is being constantly hassled (what’s your name, where are you from, come to my shop, here’s a free scratchie – oh my goodness you won a prize!…) and the many ways some of the locals are out to rip you off. But do you blame them? We are so obviously rich by comparision, outsmarting the rich white folk or sucking us in with a sob story is part of the Bali experience. The upside to Bali is the wonderful food, culture and of course the people too.

The first place we stayed in Bali was a great, budget guest house in Sanur run by expat Australians. We asked them where to change money and they told us the closest, trustworthy money changer. No problem. I was not ripped off. My partner thought he’d go elsewhere for a better rate – watched like a hawk, got ripped off. THEN went back to do it again to see if he could catch them out. He caught them on one slip up, they corrected it but in the end even though he’d counted it in front of them, later he recounted and found it was short. He seemed amused by it. But these were small amounts, maybe max $50 AU. Elsewhere on holiday I found the places mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide didn’t rip us off.

On our recent trip to Malaysia we marveled at the financial honesty and the lack of being hassled. It was a refreshing change but I’ll always have a soft spot for Bali, despite the annoyances

By: Trix

Trix — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:41:04 +0000

I’m glad you still have some money left! You and mister be careful, girly!

By: Rochelle (Acquired Taste)

Rochelle (Acquired Taste) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:19:59 +0000

Hate it when you can’t trust people sometimes. At least people that come here now know what to look for and what to steer clear of!

By: David

David — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:32:18 +0000

Oh man,Vietnam was notorious for counting your money really fast and dropping bills on the floor. They do this especially when you are exchanging money in large amounts knowing that you don’t want to count the large bills in front of everyone to avoid the risk of getting robbed while riding on your scooter. Then in Thailand, it seems like everyone wants to sell you rubys and the Tut Tuts always take you everywhere else but your intended location. Crooks!

By: Cheah

Cheah — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:19:22 +0000

Thanks for sharing the tip. Never been to Bali before, so will know what to do should I go there in future.

By: Conor @ HoldtheBeef

Conor @ HoldtheBeef — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:53:04 +0000

That really sucks, so sorry you got ripped off! (I typed “you poor thing” but then realised that using the word “poor” is probably inconsiderate in this case!). I hope you managed to quell your stress with a cold drink after all of that, and thanks for the tip.

By: foodlovee

foodlovee — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:37:56 +0000

we change here before going over there.

By: Cookin' Canuck

Cookin' Canuck — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:17:16 +0000

Ugh, how frustrating! When you’re traveling in a foreign country, the last thing you want to worry about is getting conned.

By: kristy

kristy — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:54:56 +0000

Oh yeah, must be extra careful next time! These guys were trying to play tricks with you. Shame on them!!!! Luckily, you aware of it.