Many of us relax in the gentle tropical climate, admiring the natural beauty of Bali. We melt under the radiant smiles of Indonesians and are melted by their sugary politeness. How could anything bad happen here!
Don’t forget that Bali is not in the seventh heaven, but still on planet Earth. It is a beautiful island that can give you many pleasant moments. But don’t forget to be careful about security and especially financial security.
We present you the ten most popular tricks of exchangers, thanks to which you can lose your money.
1) Dumping part of the money during multiple recalculations
It seems as if the money has already been recalculated and you are sure that everything was issued normally. But the employee takes the money to count it again, pretending to be squeamish. At this moment he drops some of the money under the counter.
If the changer counted the money and handed you the packet, be sure to count it yourself. He may then take the bundle out of your hands and count it again. Take it and count it yourself again. Do not leave the changer with the last word. Do not leave the money changer until you have counted all the money yourself after it has been in the hands of the money changer.
2) Arrange the money into numerous piles
It would seem that everything should be visually clear. Here’s a million, here’s another one, here’s a third. In fact, the more such piles on the table, the more difficult it is for you to visually control each one. And if you lose focus, the money from these piles gets dumped under the counter at the money changer. Often they are dumped at the moment of putting all these packs into one common one.
When you have been given the final bundle, take it as a whole and count the whole amount again. After that, don’t give it out to recalculate it again if everything adds up. Thank them and leave. If you need to change a lot of money, for example, 1000 dollars, and you are afraid that you will not be able to hold the whole bundle of rupees in your hands, change 500 dollars first. Change it, it all fits, put the money in your bag. After that, change another 500 dollars.
3) Different exchange rates for different denominations
In Bali, dollars of different years of issue and different series have different values. On the sign of the exchanger is written the rate for new hundred-dollar bills. Therefore, if you suddenly change bills of a different denomination, you may be given a smaller amount.
Before you change the money, show your bills and ask if the exchange rate for dollars applies to them.
4) The absent-mindedness game
Applied even in proven exchange offices that look respectable. You are simply undercharged part of the amount, expecting that in a serious exchanger you will not expect to be cheated. If you notice, they just say “ah, sorry, I made a mistake…”. such carelessness… aye-aye-aye”.
If the final amount does not add up, just tell the exchange employee about it. Most likely they will just give you the missing amount.
5) Device collusion
When calculating the amount you should receive, the employee clicks the keys so cleverly that they click an amount less than what you should end up receiving.
It’s unlikely that your phone will collude with the money changer during your time at the exchanger. Before you do the exchange, calculate on your phone how many rupees you should get as a result of the exchange.
6) Attack on two fronts
While you are concentrating on getting your amount counted correctly and watching the money changer’s hands, a pickpocket enters the point and empties your bag.
If you enter a money changer, hang your bag or backpack in front of you. Never behind your back or on your side. If someone tries to lean on you, move away from that person. Driver! Keep your distance!
7) Muddy people in the exchange
If you are concentrating on exchanging and counting money and suspicious-looking, tattooed, angry-faced people enter the exchanger, you feel threatened, want to leave sooner, and don’t count the money carefully. These may be “actors” working in collusion with the exchanger to create a stressful condition in you.
Avoid stress at all costs. If you are stressed, you are acting illogically and to your own detriment. This is important not only for the situation with exchangers. Just keep your distance with such people, be confident and continue to methodically count your bills.
8 ) What do rupiahs look like?
If you’re new to Indonesia and you’re not very familiar with banknotes, and the zeros make your eyes water, you may be given a hundred thousand instead of a million without batting an eye. And ten thousand can be given for a hundred.
Many people call Indonesian money “wrappers”. Bright and beautiful. And not always so big. Pay attention to how the bills look. There are old and new banknotes. They can slightly differ in color, differ in pattern. Pay attention to the number of zeros.
9) The exchange rate at the point ends with 999 or 99
Thus the final amount you should receive is not rounded, contains a lot of change. If you don’t know much about Indonesian money, you may be given the wrong amount.
This is also where your knowledge of Indonesian money comes in handy. Try taking a crash course in familiarizing yourself with it before changing a large amount.
10) Smokescreen
Many tricks are used to divert your attention from the billing process. Sometimes a basket with offerings to spirits and a stick of incense is placed very close to the customers, so that the smoke goes into their eyes. And then you can hardly think of such a pious and devout man, as if he might harbor some treachery against you? This is not the main maneuver, but in combination with the above, it adds its mite.
There’s no weapon against a smokescreen. It’s an offering to the spirits. You can’t touch it. But if you observe all the previous rules of safe exchange of money, the spirits will probably favor you, and not the guy with lusciously polite manners and nimble hands.
More tips:
- Do not change a large sum of money at the airport at once
There is not the most favorable rate. Exchange 20 – 50 dollars to get to your hotel, maybe eat until you find a money changer. The exchange office at the airport is open even deep at night. Exchange rates at hotels are usually very unfavorable too.
- change the bulk of your money at chain exchange offices
It is better to change money in a bank or choose an exchange office that belongs to a large network. It is not profitable for the management to encourage fraudsters in their company, and it is much more profitable to keep a good reputation. Many exchangers are marked on the people’s map of Bali. Write reviews on good exchangers and they will be added to the map.
