www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I went there to get some loot like I always do. I tried to get 200,000 colonies and I got an error. Then I tried again and got the money. Problem they charged me twice

I am disputing with my bank stay tuned


NYG

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Damm that water is cold!!!
And deep too!!!

Did you use the machine next to the cashier or the one by the bathrooms? For some reason the one by the cashier never worked for me but the other one worked fine. Strange.

Just about any time I hear someone talk about the Colonial, it is a story about how they got ripped off or screwed in one way or another.

The one by the bathrooms


NYG

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Damm that water is cold!!!
And deep too!!!

This sort of thing has happened to me and many other people. It is not the colonials fault it is simply an ATM error.

An ATM has several layers of verification built into the system. So your bank will credit you the money shortly. They can look at the transaction and see the error code.

They give you a provisional credit as a courtesy while they resolve the issue with the bank which owns the ATM.

I am a full time CR resident and a business owner as well. The problem is the credit and debit card system that is run in most cases by Credomatic. You were charged twice because the charge was accepted by your bank but the system timed out while it waited for an answer.

It will take a few days but you WILL get a refund.

On a side note, NEVER use a debit card to rent a car in Costa Rica. My SUV broke down on a quick business trip to San Jose a few months ago. I only had my debit card on me and rented a car. They took a $1,000 deposit for the car (even though Costa Rican law says the maximum deposit for a rental car is $500, go figure!). It took 30 days for the deposit to be refunded to my account.

Brother CRGolfer may have given us the best piece of advice we hear all week. Never us a debit card in CR. It comes out of your bank account immediately and you don't have the same protective level as credit cards (which are bad enough).

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

You can use your US debit card, just save your receipts! Almost 99.9% of the time a transaction comes back as "declined" it was actually deducted from your account, the only problem is with the system inside of CR. Save your receipts and don't sweat it if you have a problem at an ATM. Your US bank WILL help you, yelling at someone in a CR bank will ONLY get you problems (I found out after yelling fu*k at a branch manager and the security guard loaded his shotgun and then escorted me out).

I generally find BAC San Jose to be reliable for personal banking. Banco Impresses (spelling?) has been fantastic for business banking. At either of these banks I have had zero problems with either US or CR debit or ATM cards. Banco Nacional is a great bank but you must be able to speak spanish and if you need to do anything it could take all day. Citi Bank (fomerly Banco Cuscatlan) is wothless, STAY AWAY!!!!!

Only Banco Nacional and BCR are insured as they are government banks. Other banks have the option of including insurance depending on corporate policies, and private banks have gone belly up in Costa Rica!

as have a public bank.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine