Crusader Couple lose out after the Brexit vote
FOREIGN exchange turmoil during the Brexit vote and a bureau’s promises that two holidaymakers claim were broken about fixing favourable rates have cost them several hundred pounds. Brian Gledhill and his wife Sandra still feel very let down by the poor hand they say they were dealt by currency provider Travelex during the EU referendum week in June.
Aware they needed to change more than £3,000 into US dollars for a trip to Florida, they realised the looming vote could lead to sterling fluctuations. Sandra called their local branch in Leeds on June 22, the day before the poll, to check.
According to her: “A woman in the bureau told me it did not have enough dollars in stock but they could get the full amount for us for Friday, June 24.
“I was told they could lock in the rate I had been quoted but if it was even better on Friday then we could have that. This set our minds at rest so we waited.”
But when the Gledhills called to collect their dollars, Brian recalls: “The rate had tumbled. I reminded the lady what she had said but we were told no lock on our rate offer had been applied.”
Following a complaint they made in mid-July Travelex emailed the Gledhills to confirm that due to volatilities around the EU referendum the company’s exchange
CARDS CAN PAY OFF
“FREqUENt travellers should consider a pre-paid currency card such as Centtrip and transfer when rates are best,” says Andrew Hagger, personal finance expert from moneycomms.co.uk. He also recommends finding a credit or debit card with low foreign usage costs, such as MBNA Everyday Plus or Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and buying ahead as airport rates are very rarely as good. rate guarantee, offering the best rate anywhere on the day within a five-mile radius, had been suspended from June 23 to 27.
It again offered the best-rate deal now available but could not match the one offered prior to the vote.
When we put the matter to Travelex it confirmed what it had told the couple: that it did not have enough dollars available when Sandra first called on June 22.
A spokesman added: “Our policy is we never lock in rates unless an order is placed and payment made.
“The service team also explained to them that our Exchange Rate Guarantee and online ordering for future dates were suspended from June 23 to 27.
“This is why it wasn’t offered to Mr Gledhill when he called on those days.”
However, this response is flawed, claim the couple.
“Travelex agrees that I first called them on June 22, when their guarantee was still in place,” Sandra complained to Crusader.
She also argues that their actions were consistent with what they were first told. “After the phone call we did nothing because we believed there was protection for our money.
“But no one in their right mind would have done that if they thought that there was a risk.
“I would have immediately bought what they had and gone somewhere else for the rest – or tried another company for the whole amount. It’s logical that we would have acted differently had we been told what Travelex says happened.
“We couldn’t and are not disputing Travelex’s rules. But there is a difference between those and what happened to us.”
But with only verbal exchanges and no paper record the Gledhills had a problem.
Sandra was also unable to pinpoint the exact time when she made the key call so there’s no recording available either.
When we asked the company to consider making up the difference as a courtesy because of the circumstances it stuck to its position.
The Gledhills, who were never under any obligation to accept Travelex’s post-referendum rates, eventually found what they considered the best one now available through travel agent Althams.
“We’re now a lot wiser after this,” says Sandra. “If you are promised something get it in writing.”