This happened to a friend of mine last Saturday in Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station.
In a rush to catch a train and low on Euros she approached the foreign exchange counter in the train station and asked for €150. The clerk processed the request and asked for her to put her UK bank card in the chip and pin reader. Instead of the reader saying €150 it said €180.xx. My friend questioned this as she thought she misheard or misunderstood the request. The clerk responded by saying this is the tax added on. She then thought she would receive €180 plus change but no, she only received €150.
In a rush to catch a train my friend just accepted the hit and got the €150 for €180 something. Can someone explain what this 'tax' is. I thought it might have been commission, but the clerk clearly said tax apparently.
I would have assumed any 'fee' was attached to the currency conversion rate, not an additional 'tax' or 'currency exchange fee' on top of the transaction