Change Offices in Icmeler

[toonarmybarmy]

I have seen a number of posts advising people to avoid the change offices as if they were going to rip you off when ever possible.
I always thought this a bit strange as I have always used them without issue.
For example, last night the advertised rate was 2.82. I changed £100 and received 282tl. What I would say is there were some people in there who had changed £500 and had the whole place held up as they were arguing that they had been given 20tl less than they should. Well after 3 recounts they accepted that it was correct. I watched it being counted and it was.
Now these people will probably think and tell everyone who will listen that they were ripped off!
The only advantage I can see is that when the rate dropped to 2.78 bars and supermarkets were still offering 2.8 so, if you changed £100 you would gain 2tl (70p)
Maybe some people have had genuinely bad experiences. But I have always been fine.

Tim

[Chris221273]

Maybe the government or who ever have changed it then tim.
We went to a change office last year, near ICR and they charged us 2% 'Government Tax'!
That's the only reason we never went back.
Chris & Anita

[noodles1609]

We didn't get charged in May, but we went in with a Turkish friend who got us a "better rate" - thats not to say we couldn't have got that rate anyhow, I've no idea, it was a good rate and we didn't get charged. I have to say that we've never used the change office before because of the charges, I've no idea how we know about the charges, whether they actually do charge or not, or even if the rates are better or not! Could be one of those urban myths I guess!

[dragon]

This is a post that I made last October.
'My OH made the mistake of going to the Change Office by the Set. He only went there because the rate happened to be higher there than with any of the supermarkets at that time. He asked if there were any charges, tax or any other deductions and he was told no and so thought everything would be above board. When he got back to the apartments he realised that money had been deducted. We went back there and were told that there were charges and even though we said that he had been told that there were no charges, and the person that had said it was sat there, he just said that there were charges. He was aggressive and two other men joined in as well and they weren't pleasant either. As we couldn't prove that they had lied there was nothing we could do except avoid them in the future. I mentioned to another couple as they were coming in that they'd be better off going to a supermarket because of the charges. At this stage he blew a gasket and started ranting and even threatened us with the police and said that it was illegal to use the supermarkets. I queried as to why if it was illegal, that the exchange rate they offered was advertised in the supermarkets. He said that the supermarkets were being fined but were continuing as the fines weren't high. There was no point prolonging the conversation as obviously if the fines were low then it isn't considered to be the serious crime that he was making it out to be.

We were also told that even though the rate changes loads of times during the day the sign outside is only changed a few times a day so the rate outside won't be the rate that they use but the one that is on their screen in the office. So having the sign outside is misleading. As we were leaving he had the gall to give us a 'priority card' so we wouldn't have any charges the next time we went there. Don't know which planet he came from but how he thought that a tourist would return there after being treated like that I can't imagine.

This is the first time that we've ever used a Change Office and the last and we will only ever use the supermarkets in the future even if the rate is lower as no way would I ever give them any business whatsoever. I agree with 'smc4761' that the question asked shouldn't be 'are there any charges?' but 'how many lira will we get for £x?' as obviously in our case we were lied to even though they were asked if there were any charges, tax or deductions which actually covered all the deductions that could have been made.

So AVOID THE CHANGE OFFICE BY THE SET STEAKHOUSE LIKE THE PLAGUE as the man that we spoke to was a nasty piece of work and the others weren't much better.

Sorry this post is so long, just realised it's longer than some reviews, but I think a warning is needed'.

This year we found that the best rate was in Richard's Place where it was 2.82 but it was 2.8 it loads of places.

[Fanny]

Must admit that I avoid change offices in Icmeler too - and simply because we were charged some kind of fee/tax/commission
Call it what you like, we changed X at Y rate and there was a deduction from what we got paid
Great news if they've stopped doing this, but I prefer to give £££££s to local shops when am changing money. At least that way, they can sit on it til the exchange rate improves for them

[sueles810]

We would never use the change office by Tandori Sizzler, we decided to try them this year for the first time as we usually use the little shop next to Tandoriwho was always good. Its a good job my husband has his wits about him and always watches them like a hawk wehen they count the money out, it was a lady counting the money, she started counting if out fine but then near the end she tried to count a couple of the 10 lira notes as 20s, she was counting it really fast, hubby spotted it though and asked her to count it again, she did the same again, he said no count it slower and stopped her dead when tried the 10 for 20 trick near the end, and lo and behold a 20lira note appeared from under the counter
needless to say we wouldnt go back there ever, she may be a rich lady if she does that all the time
must confirm tought it is the change office by tandori and not the little shop next to them, they are great
regards
Sue

[jodiffer]

Just got back this week after 2 weeks staying at Kapmar
Went into Change office next to Set on 1st Night changed £ 100 20 Lira short
asked woman to check (sorry)
Went into Change office next to Set on 3rd Night changed £ 200 30 Lira short
Young man (sorry)
Went into Change office next to Set on 5th Night changed £ 100 20 Lira short
Same man (sorry again)
Dad went in £ 200 ( 30 lira short) sorry again after putting it through counter
Went into Change office again on last day just for bit of last minute buys £ 60 10 Lira short

Spoke to other guests at hotel they had all experinced the same on average 20 lira short
EVERY TIME YOU CHANGED MONEY THE OTHER 2 STAFF WERE WATCHING HIM/HER COUNT
They also look to see if you are watching them count it ,each time the missing momey was handed over from the counter not the till so it had obviously been done on purpose,the last day i just stood and held out my hand and said ( and the rest).
Should have avoided after first day but quite enjoyed catching them out.
How much must they make off people who dont understand the Lira or dont bother to check
This place needs a Wealth warning on the door.
Rip Off ,Con Men, call them what you wish but if you have to use this place be careful and count your money before leaving the shop.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS

[Fanny]

Thanks for that timely reminder Joddifer
Have to say I like your style and clearly the folk in the change offices don't have the same excellent memory for faces that workers in restaurants and bars have!!

Must say that I ALWAYS make a point of 1. working how much Lira I should be getting and 2. counting it out myself in front of them - even in supermarkets
Used to be a bit embarrassed to do that, but after my own Change Office experience, am a bit harder in that regard now

[juju]

We used Change place next to Tandoori Sizzler last two weeks no problem whatsoever...also used shop next to it no problem.Never had a problem with changing money.At dalaman airport on monday we bought nothing but was 29YTL i think for McDonalds and their exchange for sterling was 2.5 something!

[dragon]

This place needs a Wealth warning on the door.
Rip Off ,Con Men, call them what you wish but if you have to use this place be careful and count your money before leaving the shop.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS

So it is as I thought that they're rip-off merchants. So glad that you weren't intimidated or spoken to in a threatening manner though.

It's very foolish of them as all they do is change money so as they develop a bad reputation (deservedly) then they will run out of customers. Their problem is that Icmeler is different to other resorts as so many people come back time and time again and as people boycott their office and also spread the word then the only business they will have will be from new people coming to Icmeler. These new visitors will also quickly learn not to go there.

In all the years we have been going to Icmeler we have never had a problem with anybody, even the few mistakes in the bills and restaurants I feel were genuine, as they were so busy. Very foolish of them to operate in this way as Icmeler was quieter this year and will probably be even quieter next year if the economic climate doesn't improve.

[kirky]

never change my money office always bar or shop alot people go holiday sorry not clued on will get ripped off i was one them many years ago alcudia spain 18 euro slice melon on beach sorry not again

[GG.CUT]

Hello

Hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday, i heard it rained heavy day after we left ? did it get any cooler after the rain? Well we have booked to go away for a week in September to Majorca and hoping it will be a good few degrees cooler than Icmeler lol.

[forestred]

Have just returned from 10 enjoyable days in icmeler,only downside was rip off change office.I was changing a hundred pounds a time so it was easy to work out.On my first night the girl at the change office counted out 285tl as i watched.When i got back to the hotel i counted the money again and i was 10tl short.I was realy annoyed at being ripped off.The next time i changed money i counted it myself in front of her and the money was correct.On the third time i changed money i saw how she did it and when i counted the money was 10 tl short.When i pointed it out she counted it again and said sorry and produced 10tl from the counter.The trick was she gave me my 285tl in 20,10 and 5 tl notes.she counted out 160tl in 20 and the rest in 10 plus one 5tl note.When she got to 140 she put doen a 10tl note instead of a 20tl note and counted 160 then carried on counting the rest of the money correctly.Every time i went in i got the same notes 140tl in 20s the rest in 10s and one 5tl,and every time she counted 160 in 20s