Where Not To Shop, And How Not To Pay

This is technically a post about PolCard and them charging in U.S. Dollars again, but this time I had to add the merchant – who kind of sucked during this process.

On Wednesday my wife walks into this store called Silver Line on Nowy Swiat to get a Christmas Gift for my Sister-in-law. She was with another Expat and didn’t want to seem a little crazy (like I tend to be I suppose) so when the receipt came back and showed that she had been charged in Dollars (she was not given a choice), she humbly asked the woman behind the counter why she was charged in Dollars. Apparently the woman took offense, and shrilled back ‘What’s the Problem?!” and was generally unhelpful. My wife left frustrated because she had basically been cheated by about $4 on her purchase.

So after she tells me the story – I go back the store on Thursday to fix the situation. I insist on the Shopkeeper refunding the credit card (in Dollars) and charging me separately for the same amount in Zloty. At first the Lady in the store insisted – “No Way! Can’t Be Done! Impossible!” And she maintained several times that it was IMPOSSIBLE to fix this. Then another customer walked in, and I said “But it is possible, because I’ll simply call my credit card company and have the charge reversed.”

That threat seemed to make a difference.

The lady then got on the phone (with PolCard maybe?) and spent nearly 10 minutes finding out how to get the charges refunded to my credit card, in Dollars. In the end, that's exactly what happened. I paid with a different card and was on my way.

Of course, this wasn’t perfect. The exchange rate had dropped from one day to the next, so the amount I paid ($76.96) was less than the price refunded ($75.33) by $1.63 – which would have been a loss, but I figure that with the proper exchange rate, I ended up only spending $73.12. So me going all the way back down there and making her fix the error, saved me a whopping $2.21 overall.

But that’s not the point!

The point is that every single time that an Expat gets charged in Dollars without being given a choice – we should say something. A colleague points out to me that all this is likely to do is upset the store workers, but at some point, if it’s wide-spread, they will stop forcing this on the consumers.

Maybe.

In the mean time, there are two lessons here:

1. Please refuse to accept being charged in Dollars when you’re not given a choice

2. Unless you want to deal with a not-pleasant woman when jewelry shopping, do not go to Silver Line on Nowy Swiat!



And as a side note – If you are the proprietor of Silver Line and you’d like me to remove the references to your horrible customer service – I will take all references off this post for the price of 1.63 American Dollars. That’s what I estimate I got over-charged. See? I’m thrifty, but I am fair.

Toy R Us Is Now Open

Toys R Us, Blue City Mall, Warsaw, Poland

Just to follow up on the earlier Post about this... Toys R Us is now open in Blue City Mall.

I went this week and tried to take lots of pictures to show everyone what a great store it is. This is the only one that I took before being approached by Security:

One picture of the inside - with an approaching Security Guard

So the security guard approached me and told me that I was not allowed to take pictures. Of course this doesn't seem to be a written policy, but rather the policy that he just made up. I have a problem when people try to pull my leg, so I tried to reason with him by telling him that I'm a semi-famous blogger, and I really am a big deal. But he didn't seem to buy it.

So I agreed that I would stop taking pictures if he took a picture with me. And much to my surprise, he agreed:

The Security Guard, me, and my thumb

But getting back to the actual store. It was great. Bigger than I would have imagined (bigger than Smyk, not as big as a real Toys R Us) and the prices are so good (especially with the strong Dollar) that I think that Santa will buy Legos here, then take them back to the US to deliver them... Especially with the favorable exchange rate, the prices are very competitive.
Also - they have an English Web Site! (Although decidedly unhelpful to any actual shopping…)


And one last anecdote: I accidentally let my credit card there and my wife went back the next day to get it. When she showed up she explained who she was and they made her identify the name on the card before they gave it back... which she did.  Then she goes through the store - buys a couple more items and when she checks out, they ask to see her ID to accept her card. So they have no problems handing over a credit card in a man's name to a woman, but paying for something with your own credit card might get you carded... Just sayin.

Pardon My French

Another suggestion by a fellow Expat on a place to get nails done... and whatever it is women do at such places:

"One place that isn't cheap, but new and very good:  Pardon My French, manicure and pedicure.  It's located across from the Hyatt.  They speak English and they seem to be getting a large following among expats.  They have a service called Shellac.  It's a relatively new procedure, and not many places do it.  The manicure lasts for weeks.  I'm into my second week, and my mani/pedi still looks fresh.  Only thing:  they don't take credit card (and it isn't cheap)"

Fashion House Outlet Center

A review by another Expat:


"...I stumbled up on the Fashion House Outlet Center out by the framing shop and I thought you might want to check it out.  I didn't see it under your "shopping" entries.  We thought they had really good deals at the five shops that we bought items at, and ended up getting designer duds for really great prices.  Luckily they have a website:  http://www.fashionhouse.pl/index.php?mall=4.  Many of the stores we saw there are nice stores at Galeria Mokotow and Zlote Tarasy."

The iPhone 4s Is Coming To Warsaw

Supposedly on the 11th of November, iSpots in Warsaw will start to offer the iPhone 4S. You cal call them starting today to make reservations for one.

If you're interested in reserving yours, call this number: 800702322
I haven't made my reservation yet because I can't possibly justify a new phone... but if you're into that kind of thing. I'm sure that it's about time to renew your cell phone contract soon right?

Toy R Us Opening in Poland

Yep - You read that right!

And just in time for the Christmas Season.

The Warsaw Business Journal reports that soon (and I've heard possibly as soon as next week) the new Toys R Us at Blue City will open up as a new competitor to Smyk.

May the best store win!

Pay for Parking with your Mobile Phone

OK, all this stuff about paying for bus tickets with my mobile phone is pretty neat, but this is blog is called "Save Cash in Warsaw", and so far all this system has done is cost me a little extra when I fund my mPay account.  When do I start saving cash?

The answer - probably the first time you pay for parking downtown.

You know the usual system.  Once you've found a spot to park, you have to find the ticket dispenser, you feed it, get  little slip of paper for your dashboard that says how long you can park, and off you go.  But nearly every time, you either have not enough coins to feed the meter for as long as you expect to be parked, or you have too much, and you overpay, getting back to the car well before your time expires.  If you're nice and someone nearby is lucky, you hand them your parking slip with the extra 30 minutes on it just as they were about to pay. Otherwise, those paid minutes go unused - wasted, even.  Wouldn't it be cool if you could just pay for exactly the amount of time you're going to be parked?

With mPay, that's precisely what happens.  Not only do you not have to go hunt down the machine to get a parking slip, but you only pay for the exact amount of time that you need.  Not only that, but if you originally set it up with a maximum time (more about that later) and you find you're running behind, instead of running back to the ticket dispenser and to the car with a new slip for the additional minutes, you can just pay for more parking time from wherever you happen to be, without returning to the car at all!

OK, so how does this magic work?

There are a couple of steps you need to take before you can use this system for parking.  Firstly, you need to register your plate number(s) in the mPay system.  Log into your mPay account, select "my parking" and then "my vehicles" from the left sidebar menu.  Enter the license plate number(s) of your vehicle(s) without spaces, and hit "add".  Then you need to download this as a pdf file and print it out to keep in your glove box.  If you'd like, you can also order stickers to put in your windshield (above or next to the car's registration sticker) so you don't have to fumble around for the paper by filling out this on-line form (imię = first name, nazwisko = last name, e-mail address, numer telefonu = your mPay telephone number, and adres do wysyłki = the address you want it sent to.)  The sickers will generally arrive in a couple of days.

Now that you've got the set-up done, you're ready to go.  Once you've found a parking space, put your printed .pdf file on your dashboard, dial in the number *145*221# to start the meter running (in Warsaw), enter your PIN, and you're done.  (If you want to, you can also set a maximum parking time by adding the maximum PLN amount at the end - for example *145*221*7# = 7 złoty maximum.  I'm not really sure what the benefit of this would be.)

When you return to your car, just dial the same number again - *145*221#.  You'll receive a message telling you how much parking has cost you.  Relpy with "1", and your parking meter stops, deducting the exact amount of your parking time from your mPay account, and not a grosz more.

If you did for whatever reason set a limit to your parking and you find yourself coming close the the end of your time before you can get back to the car, you can just pay again right from your phone right where you are without returning to your car.

You can pay for parking in Łódź, Bydgoszcz, Kielce, Kraków, Świnoujście, and a number of other cities and towns around Poland as well.  Each city has its own codes, so outside of Warsaw start with *145*1#, then work your way through the menu.