In Reply to: WARNING: Money Changers are Thieves posted by smurchin on Friday, 5. May 2006 at 12:34 Bali Time:
Was at a money changer in a small lane, off lane 2, near Kori restaurent. They offer the best rate among all the shops there. sholdnt have ventured in but was confident, having been to Bali many times and also understand the language.
I was wrong.....
Had some US$ & wanted to change to RP. (not fr US, but have found paying by US$ in cash is cheaper then charging to credit card, for hotel bill. The exchange rate for the billing was not as good.)
1 guy was sitting behind a higher than normal counter. the other one tried to talk to me, to distract. After counting my US notes (various), the first guy returned the money with the excuse that some notes were of certain years and were not legal in Indonesia. I noticed that a particular big note was missing, and demanded for its return. He pulled out from the drawer which was out of my signt and return the big note. Their trick was to drop a note or 2 while counting the notes, into a drawer which we cant see from a lower level. The second guy would distract for a second and a note is gone.
My lesson- avoid small lane. avoid high counter. count the money twice before handing over. The rates within a locality are generally similar, no need to venture into a small lane for small gain.
Next time will stick to the bigger shop along the main street which I didnt have problem before.