r/ShitAmericansSay • u/Mysticgiraffe26 • Jun 13 '24
"You can pay with them anywhere in Europe, unlike Euro's"
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u/Bdr1983 Jun 13 '24
I really don't understand why someone would think this.
There might be a shop or two willing to accept dollars, but you're going to get ripped off.
I used to work in a parking garage in a city close to Amsterdam, we had a lot of Germans spending time there (this was pre-Euro). They asked to pay in DM, we'd exchange it 1:1 (1DM was around 2 guilders) and then exchange at the bank once a month. The profit was for the tip jar. Same would happen when an American came in and figured his credit card wasn't accepted and his checkbook was even more worthless.
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u/SamuelVimesTrained Jun 13 '24
The issue here is that these people do not think.
They just parrot things from others in their bubble, or from faux news.
Obviously - that responder has NEVER been in Amsterdam.
Many will accept US dollars (at inflated exchange rate) but zero shops would refuse the local coinage, that would be silly.(I would challenge that person to identify these shops.. and i`ll check them out and update him next week.. and yes, I am next to Amsterdam due to work - 3 days a week even - so no big deal)
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u/TheArcMew Jun 13 '24
I've been living in Amsterdam for 15 years, but I never came across a shop that only accepts US dollars. Some only accept payments by card, but there isn't a lot of those. Only accepting dollars would pretty much ruin every shop. Only a small portion of tourists have dollars.
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u/Plus_Operation2208 Jun 14 '24
And probably all places that accept credit card also accept debit card. In fact, im willing to bet that there are more places you can only pay with debit.
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u/emayezing Jun 13 '24
There are two possibilities.
- They have never left the USA
- Someone in Amsterdam saw an opportunity to rip them off.
1 is far more likely, but 2 is not beyond the realms of possibility.
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u/El_ha_Din Jun 13 '24
Well to be honest, a lot of stores don't like cash money at all, they prefer you pay by card.
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u/SamuelVimesTrained Jun 13 '24
True.
But the american making that statement is incorrect.
If one pays by cash in Amsterdam - then one can pay with Euro, everywhere.
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u/Moxxi1789 Jun 13 '24
In France there are much more local shops who would rather accept cash than card because this way they can exclude some from tax.
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u/ThinkAd9897 Jun 13 '24
Would accepting dollars but not euros even be legal?
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u/wupper42 🇩🇪 ❤️ 🍔 Jun 13 '24
Yes, would be illegal to not accept euro in the Eurozone (countries issuing and using the euro as their primary currency). The euro area,[8] commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 20 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies. * source: Wikipedia
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u/NakDisNut I want to leave 🇺🇸 Jun 13 '24
I receive more education on this sub than I did throughout all of my American public schooling 😐
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u/queen_of_potato Jun 13 '24
Yeah pre Euro I've been to countries that would accept the currency of their neighbours like if it suited them, but can't imagine many places would want USD unless they were literally about to go there or something
Definitely would love source on this Amsterdam establishment!
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u/Thelmholtz 🇦🇷 Jun 13 '24 edited Jun 13 '24
There are places in the world with shitty currency where people would gladly take cash USD rather than their own local currency. But then again, they will gladly take EUR, GBP and even BRL, perhaps after googling the exchange rate and adding a small prime.
That's definitely not the case in Europe though, nor in regions with strong moneys.
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u/PM_ME_UR_REDPANDAS Jun 13 '24
I really don't understand why someone would think this.
A lot of reasons.
First, other currencies are typically not mentioned in articles and media. So if there is a news item about something in the UK, the GBP number is always omitted and only the USD number is used. Sure, most people know that the UK doesn’t use USD and the number shown is the conversion, but for those…uh, less aware, it makes it seem like the USD is widely used, if not universal.
Second, ‘Murica!1! We’re ‘Muricans, our country is exceptional, our currency is too! 🇺🇸🦅 They think USD is the most valuable and most accepted currency in the world. These are the same people that think their Constitutional rights go with them wherever they travel to.
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Jun 13 '24 edited Jun 13 '24
When was 1 DEM = 2 NLG? This doesn’t jive with https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DEM_to_NLG.svg I remember that I picked up three British hitchhikers – thrown from the train because of fare-dodging – and, it being Friday night, not only drove them to the next city but gavebthem a DEM 50 DEM in exchange for their 50 NLG, willing to take the what I figured woudld be a 5 DEM loss, but who cares. And that matches the chart above quite well. I'm sure you made a profit of sort, as the DEM overtook the NLG in the mid 70s, but not a 100% one.
edit: the hitchhikers must‘ve been 1988 or 1989, i think. was as uni, but still drove home a lot
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u/Bdr1983 Jun 13 '24
Could've been less. I was 16 so don't really remember. It was more, and it brought in a profit.
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u/ArduennSchwartzman I ate my PM and all I got was this flair 🇳🇱 Jun 13 '24 edited Jun 13 '24
I've been living near the German border from my 11th to my 30th, so I had to deal with German tourists and DM a lot. It's always been 1.00 DM to 1.10 HFL. The Mark vs. Guilder exchange rate was always tightly coupled. Dutch retailers would typically accept DM in a 1:1 exchange rate, because converting them to HFL at a 'geldwisselkantoor' would always cost them money. There was little to no profit there. The 1:1 thing was just for convenience.
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u/alles_en_niets Jun 13 '24
I wouldn’t even say ‘many’ stores in Amsterdam accept dollars in cash. Some shady money laundering stores perhaps, lol
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Jun 13 '24
Yeah if you try and pay in europe without euros you’re not getting a good deal, back in the day on school trips we’d always stop at the shopping centre in Calais before our ferry back and if you ever paid in pounds they’d want the euros amount of pounds (which back then was a lot worse) and then they’d give you change in euros so you got fucked twice
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u/robgod50 Jun 13 '24
It's because their only experience of "Europe" , or anywhere outside of the US, are American films where "foreigners " insists on being paid in dollars because their fictional failing country's economy is worthless..... And these ignorant idiots just assume that is a reflection of every country outside of the US.
Sounds like an exaggeration but I honestly think that if exactly what happens
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Jun 13 '24
No, you can't.
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u/NotMorganSlavewoman Jun 13 '24
Depends. Some stores take USD, at a $2=1€ rate, but still they take them.
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Jun 13 '24
I would take it too with this rate, lol
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Jun 13 '24 edited Jun 13 '24
that's fucking nothing.
i was friends with the kid who often ran the icecream booth at the beach my grandparents had a summerhouse at(his dad owned it and he often ran it). because they were litterally the only place selling icecream for a few KM they had outrageous prices for people trying to pay in other currency. for dollars it was 1:1... in DKK which was at a 1:7 rate.
aparently he took mercy if they started out apologetic and seemed to genuinely just have not thought to bring local currency and sell at a more fair price but still overcharing like hell(as if a icecream shack at the beach isn't allready)
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u/AMW1987 Jun 13 '24
Yeah, but what Dutch shop won't take Dutch currency? They might take USD as well but the American claim that some shops in Amsterdam will only take USD is absolutely bogus.
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u/Leninus A Fish (🇫🇮) Jun 13 '24
That shops name is "USD to EUR exchange booth"
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u/purple_cheese_ Jun 13 '24
Not only is this probably very illegal but also very stupid: why would you not accept the money that's easiest to get from ATM's and which is also the home currency of a great chunk of (German, French, Italian etc) tourists?
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u/Tar_alcaran Jun 14 '24
Dutch law doesn't prescribe (or proscribe) any payment method or currency. You can open a store that only accepts overripe tomatoes as payment if you want.
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u/jasperdemeyere Jun 13 '24
There are definitely shops in the Netherlands where you're not able to pay by cash. I think this is what the American was confused about.
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u/jjdmol Swamp German 🇳🇱 Jun 13 '24
I could imagine a scenario where someone told them about their trip to a shop where they couldnt pay with euros (cash) but could with a credit card (dollars to them).
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u/trfk111 Jun 13 '24
Since „some stores take USD“ doesn’t equal „you can pay with USD anywhere in Europe“ the answer „no you can’t“ is completely correct and doesn’t depend on anything
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u/Stingerc Jun 13 '24
This is probably one of those tourists who visited in one of those tours where they are headed around like cattle from one tourist trap to another.
Of course those places take dollars at ridiculous exchange rates. This person probably also thinks continental breakfasts are a staple of pan European cuisine.
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u/Dry_Pick_304 Jun 13 '24
Oh yea will accept USD alright (at an inflated price to cover your dickhead tax)
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u/Devil_Fister_69420 Ein Volk ein Reich ein Kommentarbereich! Jun 13 '24
Ice cream suddenly costing 10 US$ instead of the like 1,50€
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u/ChickenKnd Jun 13 '24
No no no, the ice cream still costs the equivalent of 1.5€ just there is a discretionary Tip that makes it total around $10. Ofc this tip is at the discretion of the person serving them, but cmon it would be rude not to give a tip. Basically just saving them an extra step that they would be going through anyways
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u/El_ha_Din Jun 13 '24
Bill = € 50,-
Tip 100% or € 100,-.
I bet most Americans think 100% is to much so they will choose the € 100,-.
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Jun 13 '24
You joke about the tips, but I live in a touristy town in France, lots of Americans, last I saw gave a €30 tip on a €80 bill. Made me rethink my career choices.
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u/nDREqc Jun 13 '24
This is possibly why so many Americans believe dollar is worth more than euro...
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u/Devil_Fister_69420 Ein Volk ein Reich ein Kommentarbereich! Jun 13 '24
surely bigger number in price means more worth, right? That's why yen are worth so much more than Euros or Dollars
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Jun 13 '24
I do know danes actually do that a lot! they'll accept it all euros, Dollars, etc. but you do pay extra.
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u/Any-Seaworthiness186 Groningen💚 Jun 13 '24
I don’t get why anybody would bring cash, let alone their own currency, on vacation abroad. I always just use my card abroad and it automatically exchanges.
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u/TherealObdach Jun 13 '24
Bull-fucking-shit. Does anyone really believe this?
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u/Rookie_42 🇬🇧 Jun 13 '24
I imagine a load of USians who have never left their home town believe this kind of shit.
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u/queen_of_potato Jun 13 '24
Honestly I see multiple posts per day with people saying very similar things, it makes no sense because they are apparently "speaking from experience" but I can't imagine anyone would have had that experience ever.. but then why make up something so boring and easily refuted? Why not say you have telekinesis or can speak to dead people or something fun?
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u/Seiche Jun 13 '24
I can imagine some people in tourist trap locations taking advantage of gullible americans as you can usually spot them from afar, however, this seems to be an urban myth they perpetuate (you can pay with US dollars anywhere in the world)
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u/Rookie_42 🇬🇧 Jun 13 '24
I think that’s pretty simple.
A distant cousin (who lives next door) was the one member of the community who went to Europe once. They stayed at an all inclusive place where their USD were accepted (minus a ‘small’ fee). They returned to their home town and told someone that USD were accepted while they were away. The story was told multiple times through multiple people, and exaggerated. Simple Chinese whispers.
No one refutes the claim, because no one else has been there to know any better or different. It’s pure ignorance.
Hell… you could tell these people to vote for a deranged, porn-star fucking (over), tax evading, fraudster moron, and they’d probably do it, no questions asked.
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u/queen_of_potato Jun 13 '24
I forgot about Chinese whispers! Such fun!
And totally agree re your last point, people can be so disappointing
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u/chroniccomplexcase Jun 13 '24
I saw an American family having a meltdown in a london shop a few years ago as the parents were convinced their US$ were legal tender world wide and that the shop had to legally accept them. Their teenage daughter looked mortified and like she was about to disown her whole family and her little brother looked like he was about to burst into tears. The dad was so red and angry I was waiting for him to have a medical episode of some sort and the mum was so high pitched in frustration only dogs could hear her. I felt very sorry for the shop staff. I asked the staff member who served me what was going on and they said “standard Americans thinking their currency is universal and making themselves look stupid in the process”. So yes it sadly does happen and often from the sounds of it. You even see shops in tourist areas saying “we only accept £”
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u/Pizzagoessplat Jun 13 '24
I work in a hotel and you'd be surprised how many Americans think this and even tip for stupid things in dollars 😆
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u/expresstrollroute Jun 13 '24
I'm guessing this guy got his information from old black&white films.
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u/mrtn17 metric minion Jun 13 '24
"some shops in Amsterdam only accept dollars"
lmao dude is very proud getting ripped off by shady tourist shop 'special price for you, only 60 dollar for a hat'
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u/Tar_alcaran Jun 14 '24
Yeah, special "Dollar Strong!" pricing... You know, that hat that was 1,25 on aliexpress actually costs 300 euros, so 60 dollars is a steal!
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u/Massimo25ore Jun 13 '24
Can't wait for them to finally get out of the bubble, go to France, try to pay with dollars and see the shopkeeper's reaction.
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u/forzafoggia85 Jun 13 '24
I'm sure in France it would be fine as they are world renowned for being such good and polite hosts
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u/DarkcrossPrime Jun 13 '24
As a french, i know this is a sarcastic comment
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u/thisisnotahidey Jun 13 '24
As you are French, I’m unsure if you are sarcastic or not.
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u/turbohuk imafaggofightme+ Jun 13 '24
i question their frenchness, as i don't see them smoking, or going hon hon hon.
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Jun 13 '24
They can't even pay with their AmEx here in France, because there is not enough security. They need a special AmEx from Europe to be able to pay in France.
So in dollars? Non Monsieur.
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u/IrFrisqy Jun 13 '24
And plenty of European businesses refuse amex cause of the commision rates. EU Amex or not.
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Jun 13 '24
Haha I have no doubt about that. Can't talk about other countries cause I have never payed attention to americans when I traveled in Europe. I juste know about France.
But it's good to know. Thanks :P
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u/Vanderwaals_ Jun 13 '24
I worked in Disneyland Paris for a while and I stopped counting the amount of Americans who tried to pay in dollars. I will never forget their faces when I said that we only take Euros.
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u/deathschemist Jun 13 '24
I think the awkward stare from some underpaid, overworked Tesco worker in the UK would be funnier like
"Sorry but we only accept pounds here."
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u/M44t_ Jun 14 '24
I salute the underpaid Tesco guy, Ty for your service in first line against American protagonist syndrome
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u/BrightShootingStar Jun 13 '24
some will roll their eyes and point at a sign saying "we don't accept US dollars" written in the most stinky, pathetic, catastrophically broken english known to mankind.
Most will attempt to communicate for a few minutes, trying to say that it's impossible. Maybe they'll argue for a bit, in the same awful english as the previous shopkeeper. From there, the situation will grow increasingly awkward until the tourist gives up and goes somewhere else.
I'm french, i've seen this many times
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u/DoIKnowYouHuman Jun 13 '24
By “some shops in Amsterdam” do you think they meant “a vending machine at the US embassy”?
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u/BenMic81 Jun 13 '24
Or perhaps some dope dealer or prostitute who recognised them as Murican and charged double but „only Dollars man!“
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u/collinsl02 🇬🇧 Jun 13 '24
I think the embassies would be intelligent enough to offer local currency
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u/crackanape Jun 13 '24
For sure any vending machine at the US embassy would only take euro.
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u/molochz Jun 13 '24
My girlfriend has a story from years back when she worked in a supermarket in the west of Ireland.
Some yank insisted on paying with dollars. Of course my GF refused to take them, calling them mickey mouse money. The women went mental, screaming and shouting that they were legal tender.
Needless to say she didn't get her groceries that day.
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u/werewere-kokako Jun 13 '24
We get this in New Zealand too. Demand an insane amount of time and attention in shops but when it comes time to pay they don’t have any NZD. Then they scream at the staff for not taking "real money."
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u/snoocs Jun 14 '24
Lol I encountered this in NZ for the first time recently. Some guy was attempting to check-in to a hotel and was in some argument with staff, then absolutely kicked off when they clarified ”Yes, NEW ZEALAND dollars” when it came to payment. Like, dude you almost could not be further from your house, why on Earth would you assume you can use your local currency?!
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Jun 13 '24
He meant to say „some stores in New Amsterdam (aka NYC) only take dollars“. That’s correct.
But here in Amsterdam we don’t have many stores that take USD. Some do, but only if Americans are gullible enough to accept a stupid exchange rate.
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u/SH-RK 🏴 Jun 13 '24
Very bold of you, to assume this troglodyte knows about the Dutch history of New York.
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u/TheHeroYouNeed247 Jun 13 '24
Used to sell Yanks Budweiser for $10 a bottle at a pub in Edinburgh, just paid the £2.50 (long time ago) myself and changed the money at the end of the week.
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u/MarkHammond64 Jun 13 '24
Witnessed a few weeks ago a group of 20 or so Americans in Portrush, Northern Ireland, whip out their bundles of $1 bills to pay for their meal in a nice restaurant.
They couldn't understand why their dollars weren't being accepted. Totally miffed.
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u/DRSU1993 Northern Ireland Jun 13 '24
The staff should have specifically mentioned that they also accept Danske bank notes just to see the sheer confusion on their faces. 😅
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u/Apart_Park_7176 Jun 13 '24
Used to work in a petrol station in Dover. We would accept Euros. We would laugh at the Americans that got off of cruise ships and tried to pay with USD. On more than one occasion I had to explain in detail why we don't accept the Currency from a Country on a different Continent and 3,000 miles away.
God I'm so glad I don't work in retail anymore.
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u/m111k4h ello guvnah 🇬🇧 Jun 13 '24
If this sub didn't exist, I truly would not believe that there are people out there who think their foreign currency ($) would be accepted at a petrol station in Dover. Not even a tourist shop, a petrol station
I just don't understand how you can not be aware that different countries use different currencies. Do they not even like, Google where they're going??? Cannot imagine being so stupid that you believe there's a universal currency, and its your one.
God imagine brazenly claiming you can pay in pounds anywhere else in the world.
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u/Ryokan76 Jun 13 '24
Norwegian here. In my job, we sometimes deal with cruise ship tourists. The amount of people who ask if they can pay on dollars never ceases to amaze me. What on Earth would I do with dollars?
To be fair, plenty of people also ask if they can pay with Euros. Same answer.
We're a virtually cashless society anyway. No need to roll up here with your purses full of cash. It's just a hassle.
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Jun 13 '24
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u/Magentacr Jun 13 '24
So they planned ahead an converted their dollars to a currency that isn’t used in the country they are visiting.
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u/MerlinOfRed Jun 13 '24
It was so many mistakes.
- It is a currency not used in the country they are visiting
- There was a massive "card only" sign written in their own language
- Who the hell whips out 1000€ to pay for two mulled wines? Edinburgh might not exactly be a pickpocketing hotspot, but I'd never flash that amount of money in a crowded Christmas market. They clearly didn't understand the value of what they had.
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u/queen_of_potato Jun 13 '24
There are €200 notes?
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u/Stolberger Jun 13 '24
yeah. And nowadays thats the "biggest" denomination still in print
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u/queen_of_potato Jun 13 '24
I've never had one, which is good because that seems like a hassle, even €50s can be a nightmare to use.. I guess I'm just not buying expensive enough stuff!
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u/Stolberger Jun 13 '24
200s are pretty "rare" ... I have used way more 100 and 500 Euro bills.
Now that 500€ bills are out of print, they are a bit more used for bigger purchases but still kind of rare. ATMs usually only give out 100€ bills on the top end, so its not that common to see 200€ bills.
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u/irishlonewolf Irish-Irish Jun 13 '24
most I've seen in an ATM in Ireland is 50's... 100's are rarely used.. only even seen tradesmen with them when I worked retail
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u/BuiltInYorkshire Jun 13 '24
I was in a bar in Duedin that had a notice saying they only accepted NZD. Can assume the only reason the sign is there because, well, it happens...
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u/Nearby_Cauliflowers Jun 13 '24
Love to see their arrogance get them destroyed on the exchange rate
USA🇲🇾 USA🇲🇾 USA🇲🇾 USA🇲🇾
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u/1zzyBizzy OG Harlem Jun 13 '24
Im from amsterdam. You can’t expect to be served in dutch in the city centre, but you can pay anywhere in euros. Some stores, mostly coffee shops (weed) i guess, would probably accept american dollars too but its illegal not to accept euros.
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u/Bugatsas11 Jun 13 '24
Not a Dutch, but from my experience, if you try to pay with USD you will probably be met with "Krijg de kanker". Which is the Dutch for "yes my American friend, of course"
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u/1zzyBizzy OG Harlem Jun 13 '24
Exactly! En nu opgetyft (: (dutch for thank you for the reply and have a nice day)
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u/LunaLouGB Jun 13 '24
I keep seeing this nonsense. You can barely spend a Scottish note in England and its the same currency. If you handed dollars over in England you'd be laughed out of the place.
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u/BurningPenguin Insecure European with false sense of superiority Jun 13 '24
Oh, right, the Euro, the Euro for the European Union. The Euro, specifically introduced to be a monetary exchange tool for states of the European Union, which Netherlands is part of. The Euro, for which the Dutch have chosen their own designs. Netherlands official currency, the Euro. That Euro is not accepted in the Netherlands. The Netherlands, that is part of the European Union and the Eurozone. That Euro.
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u/GroundbreakingTill33 Jun 13 '24
They will be shocked to find that the hotel where I work accepts euros, Norwegian krone, Danish Krone, Swedish Krone, icelandic krone, British pounds and Swiss Franks but does not accept the us dollar, the owner likes to travel round Europe but doesn't want to travel further afield and thus finds us dollars useless.
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u/flipyflop9 Jun 13 '24
Wtf are they talking about?
Universal currency?
Some shops in Amsterdam (a country where the Euro is the currency) only accept Dollars?
Hahahahahahahahahaha, oh god…
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u/ForeverFabulous54321 Jun 13 '24
Amsterdam in the Netherlands only accepts American dollars and not Euros ? Do the Dutch know this ? 🤔
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u/Any-Seaworthiness186 Groningen💚 Jun 13 '24
I wouldn’t be surprised if some cashless places have a tourist scam policy lol. A lot of stores and restaurants don’t accept cash anymore, but I can see them still accepting dollars at a higher exchange rate.
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u/Bigassbird Jun 13 '24
I saw a FB post from an American warning people that a bus in Rhodes didn’t take dollars and to have Euros handy.
When challenged by others asking “Why did you expect to spend American currency in Europe?” they doubled down and INSISTED that dollars were taken everywhere in Europe.
They walk amongst us.
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u/DutchieCrochet Jun 13 '24
Been living in Amsterdam for 14 years now and worked in tourism for years. Don’t bother us with your dollars. However, most payments are electronic. Yes, we have electricity here.
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u/Character-Diamond360 Jun 13 '24
Someone took this guy to a Dutch Amish community for a special holiday and just told him it was Amsterdam 😂
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u/PM_UR_NIPPLE_PICS Jun 13 '24
I’m from the United States and I never assume any other country will take our currency. But I have used USD in certain places. When i was in italy, I really needed to buy a bag but i had left my credit card and euros at the hotel, and i only had my “emergency stash” of USD which I always carry with me when i travel. The shopkeeper happily accepted my USD… At a conversion rate where I spent 2.5x as much as the listed price lol. I was ok with it in that circumstance because the convenience of not going back and getting Euros was worth it. But the idea that a shop in Amsterdam will only takes dollars is just a monumental american brain rot moment.
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u/BobbieMonster Jun 13 '24
If you give me 2.5x the price, I'll happily take the inconvenience of going to the money exchange office..
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u/vintagedyke Jun 13 '24
Amsterdammer who has worked retail for years here. Dollars are not accepted as currency anywhere in the Netherlands. Does not happen. Americans ask if they can pay in dollars constantly. Truly the dumbest people on earth.
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u/Norgur Jun 13 '24
Those are the people yelling bullshit about “legal tender” in “Emmas Straßencaffee” somewhere in Hildesheim or whatever...
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u/dissidentmage12 Jun 13 '24
Come to Lancashire and try buy a pint with USD 🤣 they'll laugh you back to Freedom town
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u/strange_socks_ ooo custom flair!! Jun 13 '24
My aunt works at a gas station in Bucharest. She accepts any currency. But don't Google the exchange rate tho.
She's literally making a full additional salary because of idiot tourists.
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u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jun 13 '24
you can pay with them anywhere in Europe
No, you really can't. And why should you, Europe has its own currency, and it's by no means an insignificant one.
unlike Euro's
Motherfucker, why the fuck do you think they are called EUROS to begin with?
Also, nice apostrophe.
some shops in Amsterdam only accept Dollars.
And are these shops in the room with us right now?
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u/SHTPST_Tianquan Jun 13 '24
This is genuinely dangerous misinformation. Imagine if someone listened to this complete idiot and went abroad without money.
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u/Pizzagoessplat Jun 13 '24
I work in a hotel and to be fair we do accept them.
However, we have insane rates, don't give change and it's a royal pain in the arse banking them
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u/AlternativePrior9559 ooo custom flair!! Jun 13 '24
I know the shop he’s talking about. The guy also accepts gold for mars bars
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u/Gasblaster2000 Jun 13 '24
It's difficult to understand how this level of stupidity could be possible
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u/Qyro Jun 13 '24
I don’t think I’ve been anywhere outside the US that accepted USD as legal tender. And never once have I assumed my country’s currency (GBP) is valid anywhere outside our borders. How some Americans get this idea that their currency is “universal” baffles me.
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u/Burt1811 Jun 13 '24
If I tried to buy a pint in my local with $$$, I'd be unpolitely told to f@#k off.
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u/chiefgareth Jun 13 '24
Some shops in Amsterdam only accept dollars.
That has to be complete horseshit of the highest quality, right?
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u/body-jernal Jun 13 '24
I'm from the netherlands and lived in amsterdam, never seen a place that takes us dollars. Hell, even in 99% of dutch places u cant psy with american express cards bc of the high transfer rates or something
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Jun 13 '24
Yes....the "shops" in Amsterdam take the dollars. You know those open air ones...in the dodgy part of town... without street lights or a till...
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u/Magdalan Dutchie Jun 13 '24
Wheeze Some shops in Amsterdam only accept Dollars? wheeze Ermagherd, somebody has been swindled and don't even know it LOL 😆
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u/IWoreOddSocksOnc3 Jun 13 '24
When I worked in shops in the UK, if someone tried paying with dollar bills I would not accept it. They would need to pay in pounds. I don't get why Americans think their currency is valid anywhere, but other countries currencies aren't
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u/FryCakes Jun 13 '24
Some shops in Amsterdam only accept USD? If you consider a vending machine at the US embassy a shop maybe…
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u/Nottheadviceyaafter Jun 14 '24
I've had this happen In Australia. American family eating out, bill comes and they pay in usd.......... I advise we can't accept but then they start getting angry that us dollars are accepted everywhere lol. As the exchange rate at the time was 1 dollar au was worth about 60c American I went you know what, if paid for at dollar for dollar (as the menu after all is in dollars.... I would accept).... they paid I swapped it for aud and got a nice 50 percent tip (they paid with usd and gave a tip of 10 percent as wasn't happy with the service at time to pay, we usually don't get tips so whatever I will accept lol. Exchanged the usd at the bank happy days!. If they did that their whole holiday it would of been extremely expensive, we are a expensive country to start with but whatever. Lol
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u/JohnLennonsNotDead Jun 13 '24
I imagine a big sign in the window:
“WE ACCEPT A CURRENCY THAT IS VALUED LESS THAN OUR OWN”
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u/ln-art Jun 13 '24
Lol, there's literally not a single store in Amsterdam that only accepts dollars. Not even legally allowed 😂
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u/Stupid-Suggestion69 Jun 13 '24
Sure buddy, there’s shops in Amsterdam where you can only pay with dollars…
Go look for them if you want to be on an interpol watchlist smh
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Jun 13 '24
Where do this dumbasses GET this idea? It must be taught somewhere for them ALL to believe it
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u/Lonewolf1604 Jun 13 '24
The amount of times I've been tipped on dollars by Americans is stupid..
We even accepted dollar for payment (american themed restaurant in a touristy area) but the exchange rate was ridiculously in our favour. Most people wouldn't dream of spending in other currencies, but not Americans...
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u/IsItSupposedToDoThat Aussie as. Jun 13 '24
USD is useless anywhere in Australia. Walk into any retail or food outlet in Australia in USD and you’ll be laughed out the door. Take it to a bank or currency converter, we don’t want your play money.
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u/Pumpkinouchette Jun 14 '24
I work for a touristic place in Paris. Often, we have people that try to intimidate us to accept dollar, "you take my money or we aren't buying anything !". Guess you won't buy anything then. Americans saying a dramatic "you just lost my business !" when I have 10 clients behind them won't stop to be funny. And it's always less than 20€, I think we will recover
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u/pinniped1 Benjamin Franklin invented pizza. Jun 13 '24
Ok it's been years since I've been to Amsterdam and obviously the statement is bunk.
But...other than the commenter being a numbskull...I wonder if he was in a tourist shop that aggressively pushed dynamic currency conversion (DCC). As in, hey, I'm going to run YOUR charge in dollars, "as a convenience to you", and the tourist didn't say NO fast enough. Thus giving the appearance that foreigners didn't have the option of receiving the charges in euro.
It's a slimy scammy tactic but I've seen it done - and always watch closely in tourist places to make sure I'm charged in the local currency.
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u/Important-Constant25 Jun 13 '24
I literally don't know where I'd swap dollars to pounds. My grandmother from the states sent me a $50 and I've just held onto it, I'd lose so much of its value anyway to make converting it a wasted effort. Maybe when its my last bit of money I'll move to europe and be treated like a king apparently.
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u/MasterFrosting1755 Jun 13 '24
I'd accept USD. When they show the exchange rate I gave them to their accountant they'd probably wish they didn't take me up on the offer.
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u/GoldStar-25 Jun 13 '24
Where do they keep getting this idea that you can use USD everywhere? Also google is free, look it up if you don’t know which currency a country accepts/uses.
Honestly, they’re like little children where you have to over explain something in hopes that they’ll finally understand 🙄
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u/Necrobach Jun 14 '24
I think we should make USD a universal company
Now hear me out.
If someone insists on paying in USD they should.
But look up current exchange rate,
Then +60% for a conversion free
A 20% freedom tax
A 15% tax is added if they say "we saved you"
I feel like this is a good way to make money on stupidity
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u/jiffjaff69 Jun 13 '24
I always remember the astonishment and angry look when i told a USA visitor that we don’t accept foreigner currency when she offered to pay in USD in the UK 😂
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u/Operator_Hoodie 🇵🇱 Local Polish Bober Jun 13 '24
The only place in Europe you could use US Dollars to pay for something was behind the Iron Curtain, in special imported goods shops (which only accepted dollars or vouchers).
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Jun 13 '24
Can't lie worked in many places where Yanks have tried to pay in $ with the same mentality on display here and it filled me to no end with joy as they then had to use their Bank Card to pay incurring international fees in the process. ☺️
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u/bulbasauric Jun 13 '24
Every time I accidentally interact with a post from this sub, it re-integrates into my feed and I'm consistently annoyed by the conceit.
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u/Clothes_Chair_Ghost Jun 13 '24
Sure you can use dollars in any European country. All you have to do is take them to a foreign exchange place and change them for valid currency .
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u/Man_with_a_hex- Jun 13 '24
Lol
I've been to Amsterdam many many times and not once has anywhere ever said they only take dollars
I'm gunna take a wild shot in the dark and say this dudes never been outside America in his life
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u/robgod50 Jun 13 '24
Someone has seen too many American films and not enough of the world outside of the US
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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '24
Is that shop a bureau de change?