THIS JUST HAPPENED TO ME MOMENTS AGO. I just got back from Walmart. I tried to pay for $228.16 Mxn with $50 US. Their stupid new rule, effective 21 (I think) June, is that if you pay in US Dollars, you must buy 90% of what you are paying with. More simply put, they can only give you change (in Pesos) less than or equal to 10% of the amount you paid. And the most you can spend is $250 US, if paying n dollars, which is not a bad thing. WELL, I GUESS THAT RULES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN. First thing I did was tell the cashier I did not want anything in that case. Next, I went to the English speaking "greeter" and told him I have lived in Cancun for 7 years and have never heard of such a thing. He took me to a closed cash register and showed me the new policy, printed and posted on yellow paper. It also said that this was a federal banking requirement, which is ABSOLUTELY NOT THE CASE. He then asked if I would like to speak to "the big boss" and asked if I would like to speak to him. Hell yes I did. I told him what happened and he told the other guy to let me pay with my $50. We went back to the register, and this was at one of the 8 or 9 "20 items or less" lines and there was lots of rejected items, including mine, in a single cart. The cashier was instructed to ring me up and take my $50 and no over ride was needed. The exchange rate, which by the way is posted at Customer Service, is a very good $11.90. So what good is this stupid rule if they can break it just like that. This could be a huge customer relations nightmare for Walmart. No one really launders money at Walmart, $50 or $100 at a time. This is beyond stupid. One reason it is stupid is that the money ends up back in the US and to convert pesos to dollars costs Walmart more than what they can generously buy dollars for from people like you and me. The very helpful greeter guy told me the taxi drivers were furious as they actually come in with big bills and make small purchases, just to convert dollars to pesos. I was advised by the greeter guy to email Walmart corporate in Bentonville, AR, which I may very well do. Does anyone want to help me stir the pot on this? I will for sure be on that bandwagon. Cheers
Yep. Too bad but expect that scenario more and more all over Mexico since the new fiscal provisions put in place by Hacienda (Mexican IRS)a few months ago to curtail money laundering. It used to be an advantage for a business to take USD and make some money off of the exchange rates. Now, with the new regulations, it is more difficult for businesses, individuals and even tourists to a certain extent to pay in U.S. dollars. They are regulating that currency more since it is the favorite of drug traffickers. It would be nice if there were some sort of publicity campaign to let people know and explain the reasoning behind the policies.
TJ, At least I can sort of understand the new policy as it has to do with cash. What really bugs me about Walmart is that you can't pay with a US credit card if you purchase over a certain amount (something like $75 or 80 USD). I had a MAJOR ordeal trying to make a purchase at the store back in April, when this policy started. Since then, I have either avoided the store altogether or paid in cash. Not sure if they are still punishing the American travelers/residents with this stupid policy, as I haven't attempted to pay by credit card since "the incident" but I've seen quite a few people that appear to be foreign have credit cards denied when they are checking out in front of me. What a hassle.
Jim, Well, it is a stupid policy. If you make things too hard for tourists to spend money, it is quite possible that is exactly what will happen when the word gets around - they will stop spending money. I remember a few months ago when it became impossible to walk into a bank with USD, to walk out with MXN in the absence of an account there. BUT, in other parts of Mexico, this policy was not in place. For example, during this time, I was in SMdeA and walked into the bank, got in line behind other English speaking people, and converted $500 or so USD to MXN. No hassle except that they made a photocopy of my passport. These rules seem selectively enforced, especially in Cancun. And to lie about it being a federal banking rule is just wrong. If it were a rule, one could not spend dollars in Costco, City Club, Soriana etc with a completely different set of rules. Last night, a friend told me that he went into Walmart a few months ago and the guy in front of him paid with $100. So he pulled out a hundred and they would not take it. When questioned, the cashier said "he is Mexican and you are not." Being possibly more stubborn than I am, I did not ask but it would not surprise me if he just walked out of the store and left the food there to be restocked. Susan - I think all of us foreignors will admit that sometimes it is so very hard to do business with businesses in Cancun. You want to spend money and they won't sell you something because it is not priced. They will not honor the posted price for one reason or another. This happened to me a couple a days ago when they charged me $23 for two items priced at $10.50. The cashier was not trying to rip me off; they just had not changed the prices on the shelf and would not honor. I was buying for someone else or would have walked out over the principal of the thing. I think today I will go to the other two Walmarts and see if they have signs up and/or refuse to take dollars. Maybe even visit Sams and Bodega Aurrera, both Walmart companies and see what happens. And maybe a couple competitive stores too. I happen to be in possession of some USD today and will be on a mission. It's too hot to fish or play golf.
I was able to make a purchase at Wal Mart in early May for over $100 using my US based credit card without any problems. Are you telling me that if I want to buy a TV or a refrigerator they will not accept the US based credit card that I have? How dumb is that? Also I guess now I cannot use the great exchange rate they give to make a minor purchase to get $20 exchanged to pesos? This is insane on the part of Mexico to think that we will launder cash by buying a pack of gum or a TV. I can see maybe a car but small items like Wal Mart carries? Who comes up with these absurd rules?
DETECTIVE TJ IS ON THE MISSION. First, here is the Memo that only Walmart on Xcaret, aka the "tourist Walmar" has posted on 8 1/2" x 11" yellow paper. You can see that they are attributing this to Hacienda, and it was effective June 29, 2011. Yesterday. I went to Costco, which of course ahs nothing to do with Walmart, but a Hacienda ruling should be enforced everywhere. I made a purhchase of $300 and paid with $100 US. Got my change in pesos and they barely looked at the bill. The rate was a good deal less than Walmart's posted rate, but that has been the case lately. HERE IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING. I then went to Walmart on Comalcalco and to Sam's Club, and made purchases in the $100-$200 range, both times paying with $50 US. ZERO PROBLEMS. They looked at the bills for the usual stuff, gave me my change at $11.90 to $1.00 and I was out the door. WHAT'S NEXT? I think today I will complete the cycle of Walmart owned businesses, and see what happens at Superama and Bodega Aurrera, althogh I think we all know what the results will be. CONCLUSION AND WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? My obvious conclusion is that this is someone's unilateral decision not to accept US Dollars at the Walmart where nearly every Walmart shopper who is a tourist shops, as well as many ex pats who live in Centro and they blame it on Hacienda as if it is some sort of government rule that poor little Walmart dare not break. Yet, another Walmart, and Sam's Club, and no doubt Superama and Bodega Aurrera, do not follow the new "law". Do you think they didn't get the memo? What a joke. Is this something Profeco can deal with? If not, what agency can? Can Walmart solve this simply by posting an honestly worded "notice" that they no longer accept dollars for change in excess of 10% of the dollars tended? Can you imagine the calculations going on in some cashier's head when she can barely do a transaction in pesos and get it right and get it done quickly, and have the change in the drawer to give to the customer. Can we impose some pressure on the largest retailer in the world for what is going on in one store that happens to be in another country from their headquarters? Would they even give a damn? Or, am I making much ado about nothing? I think this forum is about helping each other and many of us visit the Cancun Info Forum, Trip Advisor or whatever. This will have a big affect on shoppers who go to Walmart knowing they can pay in dollars, only to find out they cannot, unless they spend some difficult to calculate amount, or bring only small denominations and still have to do the calculations. It can be a huge public relations nightmare for Walmart here in Cancun. I am glad V returned yesterday and I hope some of you will post your suggested way to stop this absurd policy, THAT THEY ARE PASSING OFF AS A LAW. Again, Walmart actually makes money when they take dollars. Not only on the sale of their products but on the exchange rate as their profits end up back in the US in dollars.
Whatever you do, good luck my friend. Of course you are free to do what you want and if it were the 60's I might even join you but sorry to say this, I can't see any good coming out of this project T.J.. :deadhorse::deadhorse::deadhorse: :banghead::banghead::banghead: If you expect consistency in training and regulation enforcement here, you are setting yourself up for many headaches. And your unhappiness will not change the situation. You are saying, "let's all get together and change the way things are done in Mexico!" :banghead::banghead::banghead: The law actually changed about a year or so ago and implementation has been slow and uneven but I just don't see them going back and changing the laws because a WalMart customer (or 100 WalMart customers) complain. Many, many hotels, banks, tourist-related businesses and exchange houses all over the country have already complained loudly and... :banghead::banghead::banghead: Not that righteous anger can't be a real adrenalin rush but I just don't think the brick wall will come tumbling down. JMHO
A Mexican friend of mine was just in St. Pete beach in Florida and when they tried to pay for their groceries with Mexican pesos the same thing happened! They wouldn't accept them! The cashier flat out refused to take the pesos for payment!
We just use pesos...I try not to use any dollars anymore. Much easier since we stopped using dollars.
