Travellers Cheques in Valencia, Spain

I have just been to the Benicassim Festival in Spain (which was fantastic by the way) followed by 2 days in Valencia. I bought 900 euros of travellers cheques and some Euros to go with.

When I tried to cash the cheques in the banks of Valencia I was told that they do not accept them. I found this to be amazing – they are American Express which I thought was universal accepted. Apparently not! I was staying at the wonderful Medium Conqueridor hotel double checked with hotel reception… they confirmed that travellers cheques are not accepted in Valencia!!

With useless cheques I was forced to withdraw cash from the holes in the wall paying Lloyds TSB over £2 in service charges each time I did so.

I have just been to my local Lloyds TSB branch to return the cheques to them as they were not fit for purpose. Lloyds TSB suggested that they buy them back from me £707 after I paid £800 for them. I refused to accept a loss of £93 on cheques that can not be cashed in my chosen holiday destination.

Having returned to the office and phoned both the Lloyds TSB helpline and my own branch, everyone confirms that its tough luck and I must surrender the cheques at the current rate of exchange and lose almost £100. I consider this unacceptable.

Has anyone else encountered such problems with American Express Euro travellers cheques in Valencia? What remedy have I got to get my money back?

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This entry was posted by Ben on July 30, 2009 at 2:34 pm, and is filed under Travel problems. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

Comments (2)

#1 written by Ben
about 3 years ago

Quote

I posted the above message on Travel Supermarket forums and received advice that Amex travellers cheques are accepted in Valencia but at a select range of places. When I thought that they were accepted everywhere, I was incorrect.

Now got to hang onto the cheques until I can use them when I next go abroad.

Moral of the story – use cash machines abroad. I believe Nationwide accounts let you withdraw without charges.
#2 written by Ben
about 3 years ago

Quote

OK so I have embarked on another Euro trip and am typing this on a laptop in Madrid.

Now when I was in the Lloyds branch trying to return my cheques the cashier asked me to sign all of them. I did this and was then offered £700 pounds which I declined. With signed cheques I was worried that I would not be able to cash them abroad so rang American Express to ask for them to be re-issued (or better still refunded). The Amex representative informed me that a refund was impossible as the cheques were good (I disagree) and that it was not necessary to re-issue the cheques. Instead when presenting them for cashing I should sign them again and the counter clerk would have no problem accepting. I was dubious about this advice but as Amex are the “experts”, I took it to be accurate and set off on my trip.

Just like in Valencia, in Madrid I struggled to find somewhere to cash the cheques. I asked at Tourist Information and the hotel desk and was told that there were very few options. I searched the web and found a Tripadvisor forum post from 2007 that recommended Santander bank. The next day I found a Santander and was sent from branch to branch to find one that accepted travellers cheques. When I finally found a branch that did and waited in line for 15 minutes, the cashier told that because the cheques were already countersigned he could not accept them. I was quietly furious. American Express told me thatthe cheques would be fine despite my having already signed them.

Next I searched the Amex web site for locations in Madrid and find that they only have them at the airport. I took a train to the airport and changed my cheques. I had to pay 1.5 % commission even though I was at an Amex desk.

Moral of the story – American Express travellers cheques are not fit for purpose when travelling to Spain. Lloyds TSB should not sell these cheques to their customers.

Travellers Cheques in Valencia, Spain

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