Going to Holland this year?

[MikeP]

Be aware that UK credit cards are still not generally accepted in Holland. Most larger stores - OK. Smaller stores in towns - some do, some don't. Supermarkets - cash only from the Brits. Don't get caught out.

And although they have a form of Chip & PIN, it is not compatible with the UK system, so it's back to signing the slip.

 

[cris_408518]

I have to say these posts are a mystery to me, I've been travelling to and working in Holland on and off for ten years or so. I always pay hotel, Restaurant and fuel Bills by credit card and have used ATM's many times with no problems, and in shops and garden centres where I've been when accompanied by wife we have never had problems paying with cards. My clients in Holland are English and live here and they never have problems that they can remember.

 

[smiley]

We went to holland a few weeks ago. Petrol using ban/credit visa ok. larger places ok. But we got caught out in supermarket, a restuarant, and a few other places.

They don't like english visa whether credit or debit.

 

[MikeP]

Whoops, forgot to say that restaurants and fuel are both OK on UK credit or debit cards.

I note what you say Cris, but you have not said that you have successfully used as UK card in a supermarket.

To be more specific:

No problem in IKEA, restaurants, Halfords, a cycle shop, a cheese farm, fuel stations, large "touristy" shops.

Refused in a number of smaller shops.

Definitely "no" in supermarkets. No to Visa, Mastercard and Delta debit card. We experienced the same in October 2002.

I don't want to get into an argument about this. I am only trying to help people who might be going to Holland this year. We were caught in 2002 at the head of a queue with _80 of shopping on the belt, and I had to leg it to a cashpoint.

Assuming that everyone going to Holland is likely to buy food in a supermarket, then it is important that people with experience of credit card success in France or Belgium are forewarned.

 

[rob_jax]

Guys,

I've worked in Rotterdam for the past 10 years, commuting from the UK most weekends, and there's a bit of truth in what all of you say.

In the UK (and everywhere else) we have two basic types of card - either a debit card or a credit card. With this type of card, money is held in a bank account and balanced against expenditure.

The problem that Mike experienced is caused by the Dutch having a third type of card - a pre-payment card - which is a "Chip & Pin" type but which is not directly linked to a bank account.

You download money from your bank account onto the card - say Euro 200 - and you can then spend money off the card - until you need to recharge it with more money.

The Dutch like these cards because if you loose the card, the most you can possibly loose is the money you downloaded onto to it - there is no way that a thief can access your bank account from these cards.

Nearly everywhere - fuel stations, toll tunnels, hotels, camping shops, camp grounds, tourist shops, etc. take the standard European wide debit or credit card (and always take the pre-payment card) and you chip and pin like in the UK.

A few places ONLY take cash or the "pre-payment" card - most notably railway station ticket offices, parking meters in Rotterdam and Delft, and some supermarket chains like Albert Heijn. In this case you will need to take cash.

There may be a blue sign by the Entrance that says "cHIPPEN" - and for people without a Dutch bank account that means cash.

Robert