Can you pay with JA at your local eatery?
Can you pay with JA at your local eatery?
"Sure, they are "allowed" to, but does that make it right? Does it make it fair?"
Well, any business person with good sense would keep their exchange rate pretty close to the going rate. But visitors should know that businesses have that ability.
As far as sunshine and Irie - my rose colored glasses were abandoned sometime around 1984, but I love Jamaica, laugh with Jamaica, cry with Jamaica and pray for Jamaica still!
Another Negril apologist?Originally Posted by Flipadelphia26
That's not the point, and you know it. The USD is widely accepted in many places all over the world because there are lots of American tourists carrying them. If there was a need for business owners to accept $J where I live, they would. But since there is absolutely zero demand, it doesn't happen.
I have travelled to Mexico many times, used USD, and most businesses don't play these games with the exchange rates. They also give change in USD when asked. I have spent time all over the Caribbean and not come across this.
Then a lot of business people in Negril don't have good business sense, or assume that since the tourists keep coming they can keep on doing what they do... I know I go back again and again, and remember the places that treat me well and those that don't.
I'm not a "Negril Apologist". It just seems to me like you are making mountain out of a mole hill. Perhaps you should pick another vacation desitnation? I personally learned the first time I stepped foot on the Island, that it was easier and more cost effective to exchange money at the Cambio and use the local currency. Your ability to use USD in Mexico or elsewhere more easily, is completely irrelevant.
Last edited by Flipadelphia26; 05-08-2013 at 11:38 AM.
What people SHOULD do, is use the official currency of the country they are visiting.Just because people CAN do something doesn't mean they SHOULD.
Absolutely ~~~
"Yeah, I'm cocky and I am arrogant. But that doesn't mean I'm not a nice person."
—Jeremy Roenick
Ditto
it amuses me to play the fool when going to a new establishment. i know the current exchange rate and so do they. if they choose to rip me off over a dollar or two then i just consider it a cheap way of finding out the character of who im dealing with.
Jamaicans use Jamaican currency when they purchase things, and outside of the tourist areas USD is often not used at all. Although it is a convenience for a tourist to be able to use US currency, it is a hassle for Jamaicans to receive it. They have to convert it to JA dollars before they can spent it at home. Therefore, most businesses will charge you for that hassle. You would never get anywhere close to the actual exchange rate at a money exchange place in the US or Canada, so I wouldn't expect to get a good rate at a business in Jamaica. It is well known that cambios and ATM machines provide the best exchange rate, and by using them you will get more for your money.
This reminds of the time I saw a tourist stop at the cambio at Sangster Airport with a puzzled look on his face. There was a brisk business at the counter this day, as even I stopped to exchange a few bucks to get me through a stop at the jerk chicken stand. Wondering what everyone was doing, this guy asked the lady at the counter what the cambio was for. The lady responded, "for exchanging money". The guy then asked, "For exchanging what? Euros to US dollars?" The lady behind the counter said, "No, for exchanging whatever you have into Jamaican dollars". It appeared that this guy had no idea that Jamaica even had its own currency. It looked like he was staying at an AI, so he probably didn't have to spend any cash on this trip anyway.
Last edited by Mike_D; 05-08-2013 at 03:34 PM.
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