I agree with ToriB it sucks that they aren't taking the USD anymore. My BF who is also Mexican uses USD quite frequently and I have found that in a lot of places it's the norm.. There has actually been a few occasions where his pay was even in USD!!! lol
I cant use pounds sterling in Spain ! I think its great that so many places here accept 2 currencies- its not the "norm" around the world.Our local store loves a US dollar- still give a rubbish rate though .
Is it 90% or 70%? I was told at the Walmart, 70%. In any event, Costco will take a $100 bill for a pack of gum and gives a good exchange rate.
In my experience (Mexico and much of South America) It is the norm in areas which see a lot of Americans. They've learned they can make an extra 10-30% by screwing you on the exchange. Here, Oxxo pays a reasonable rate, around 12.70 today, while Extra pays 10-1. Guess where I spend my money?
In case you didn't know, lots of countries use USD$ interchangeably with their local currency. Mostly in the Caribbean but they are out there. The Bahamas for example in on a one for one exchange rate and accepts both. Mexican tourist locations also readily accepted USD$ until the last year or so. However the change over hasn't been applied consistently so it really sucks when you head to the store expecting USD$ to be accepted without restrictions and get there and find out differently. Kind of like if you went to the grocery store expecting to use your VISA card only to find out that they only accept MasterCard now. Might want to understand the situation better before less than supportive responses. Jamie
I don't want this to turn into yet another discussion about where we are and what we should be using as currency, cause I get in. I am not in the US. Point is, Employers DO pay employees in USD, Stores DO accept USD for transactions and we need places to spend them. I know of landlords whom are Mexican that ONLY take USD's as rent. So instead of places making things confusing and putting all kinds of math as part of their restrictions, how about making a cap amount.... or place the supposed 10% "law" at every shop in Mexico so we don't end up at a store with three bags of groceries in the piss rain with no way to pay for them.
Im confused. When I have USD I immediately go to one of the little exchange rate places that are all over in downtown and exchange my USD for pesos at the place with the best rate (recently got 12.80) to avoid all that hassle. Tor why dont you just exchange your money or is there a reason you want to hold onto the USD
I don't know why ToriB might use Walmart to exchange rather than a casa de cambio, but I can tell you why I do! Sometimes I know I need to go to Walmart anyway, so rather than exchange, I figure I will just buy what I need and get the pesos I need at the same time. If I am not planning on buying stuff there, then casa de cambio it is! But then again, when living there I never had dollars...only time I would is when my husband would receive them for tips.
Exchange rate at gran plaza walmart that day was 13.70. Walmart always has the best rate, so why wouldn't I use them. Not that I really needed peso change. When you are commission only, and most of your customers only have USD, then my pay ends up being in USD. I need to get the best bang for my buck. I went shopping with $50 and my change back was 15% of the transaction, not 10%, that is why the said it can't be don't. If the exchange places had a good rate, I'd use them. But they don't.
