Yup, this is what I was guessing. Name and shame please if you don't mind so we can avoid them.
This has been my experience si o si, and you can denounce them to AFIP for this as they are 100% claiming to be charging the BCRA rate and pocketing the difference. You can also report them to booking via the reservations dashboard.
The only instance in which the MEP rate comes in to relevancy is when a tourist pays with a foreign issued card, like any other transaction following the BCRA modifications.
I just traveled with friends to 2 different hotels, both booked via Booking.com and the experience was the same:
Let's say reservation total was $284.36 for your stay when reserving:
- If you pay in pesos cash as a foreigner or cash/debit/credit as a resident, you will pay $284.36 + 21% in VAT = $344.07 which will then be taken at the BCRA dollar rate of the Tipo de Cambio Minorista, which on the BCRA website right now is $258.52 ARS, so you would pay $88,949 ARS
- If you are a tourist who pays with a foreign issued card your card will be charged close to the MEP rate, which visa shows as $445.57 and VAT will be excluded, meaning you will likely be charged $284.36 x 258.52 = $73,512 ARS, which is then divided by the Visa MEP of 445.57, so you will be charged about $164.98 to your credit/debit card assuming you have a 0% forex markup
Even if we divide the $88,949 by the CCL dollar of ~$500 ($177.90 USD), it's still a better deal to checkin with your passport and pay with your foreign issued card, which is why I let my friends pay and I paid them back.
If a hotel is charging you the MEP dollar they either are scamming you (99.9% chance) thinking they can pull the wool on tourists who don't know the law, or they are confused (0.01% chance), and don't understand the law, in which case they should ask someone more knowledgeable.
