Hello everyone, I am curious if anyone else has had terrible experiences with Banks here in Lebanon & if anyone could offer me any advice on how to proceed.
Basically, i have an internet card that I use to buy stuff online and i always make sure to do my transactions in LBP so that i wont end up paying the difference between us dollars and LBP, recently i purchased some clothing from hollister.com using the LBP currency on the website and received an email from them with an LBP receipt, i did ask them about an official invoice and insisted to them 3 times and they assured me that the price in the email can be considered as the invoice.The amount on the invoice was 344,637.44LBP whereas what BLOM bank changed me was 358,179.28LBP, i did speak to the customer support and at first they told me that Hollister had charged me in US dollars (even though statement online says LBP, see photo), and they told me to go to my branch and ask them about more information, which i did. At first the female had no idea of the problem and called and asked someone on the phone, which they said the same thing (that the transaction is in dollars), i explained to her that the invoice is in LBP, whats going on ? she said to contact Hollister again if there is any errors on their side they would refund me the amount charged, after a few days i received my shipment with an official signed invoice inside the box, again in LBP, so i take the invoice to the bank and approched the same female in a positive manner with a smile and ended up having her tallk to me in a rude way, one of the rude answers i got was "mish mishkletna", she kept denying that they have charged me extra and kept pointing her finger on Hollister and that they have made commission off of me...which I did not buy at all.
My opinions are these for not believing them:
1- I don't think a reputable company like Hollister would do such a thing, let alone a store in the US make "commissions off of me" a country where there are laws and are respected unlike Lebanon (i would trust the word of a US company than a Lebanese bank)
2-The invoice is in LBP, how did it end up in dollars and why is it not showing that in my statement? the statement itself states in LBP
3-This is not the only website i purchased in LBP, i have a monthly subscription from google drive, also invoiced in LBP and i get charged extra on that as well (i did mention this to her to no avail)
4-she did not provide any proof to back up her facts?
5-Two friends told that banks tend to change the currency from LBP to USD, and then from USD to LBP again. I also heard this from someone who has a branch manager over 15 years in another bank 2 years ago.
6-I've been lied by them several times before about other services
7- It just does not make any sense whatsoever!
I understand that the value of money is not something worth arguing about, but I am a person who despises having my rights taken away, the whole subject is about the idea, not the value, i hope you understand.
If anyone can shed some light on me i would be very grateful!