Northcenter Currency Exchange

Where to start? If I could give this place zero stars, I would. Being new to Chicago, I needed a city sticker. I thought it was a pretty easy undertaking and went to this exchange, the closest one to my home. The clerk at this unorganized mess of a place was ignorant, and the owner was gruff, rude, and plain unhelpful. They wanted to charge me a full-year’s price for the sticker in addition to an enormous late fee even though I wasn’t late in getting my sticker, and they refused to accept a government document that IL Dept. of Revenue had processed as proof of when my car entered IL (saying I should «plead my case to the Dept. of Revenue» — funny enough, the Dept. of Revenue then told me to go to a different currency exchange!). To top if off, they only wanted to be paid with a check. It’s 2016. Thankfully, I didn’t fork over money to these folks. I found great reviews for Montrose-​Ravenswood Currency Exchange on Unilocal and went there this morning. What a joyous day! They were friendly, pro-​rated the sticker, showed me how and where to apply it to my windshield, didn’t charge the bogus late fee, and accepted my debit card… and they’re my new go-​to moving forward.

I rarely if ever write reviews, especially negative ones. However, this is a very special case. After trying to have a couple of pages of signatures notarized at the UPS store across the street, I was directed here since they didn’t have a notary available. The man behind the counter couldn’t have been bothered. After reviewing my document, he barked at me to «Pay attention.» He proceeded to instruct me how to complete the document and finished by telling me to cross out any sections that were not filled in. I did as he instructed. After, he proceeded to tell me, «You blew it. There is nothing that I can do with this.» Is it really too much to ask for someone to be friendly and know what they’re doing, especially considering it was such a basic task? The situation was handled so poorly that I am still dismayed about it, an hour later. Enter at your own risk.

Terrible service go elsewhere !!! The owner is very rude and the place is dirty and not organized!!!

I tried despite another reviewer giving solid reason not to. I’ve been collecting signatures and needed my petitions notarized. I had over seventy pages which UPS had no problem notarizing, but when I had first tried here, the guy’s response was «I can only do two, I’m running a business here, I’m not a machine.»
I’m sorry, I need a signature and a stamp on each page. I’ve done hard work, this is not hard work. I refuse to have a campaign get put on the line because someone is incapable of notarizing. I refuse to come here and don’t recommend anyone else to. He missed out on a lot of money for a short amount of time.

I’ve done business with Northcenter Currency Exchange since 1985. Everyone is professional & courteous. Larry, the owner, knows his stuff. He will bend over backwards to make every transaction smooth & effortless. The place has been around for a long time because they try to make money matters as convenient as possible. Their fees are lower then anywhere else I know. I have cashed checks, paid automobile bills & even birth certificate stuff. It saved me from going downtown & dealing with that rigmarole.

I have never been so insulted in my life. I went here to get the paperwork for my grand prize dream vacation to New Orleans notarized. I had already given it to several lawyers to look over. Remember the part about the dream vacation? I was in a pret-​ty good mood going in there.
The «gentleman» behind the counter refused to notarize it because he didn’t understand the word «passed.» (This document passed and signed on _​_​day of _​_​_​month, et al.)
That is not my complaint, however. I could have forgiven this man’s insolence about signing the document and gone somewhere else with no hard feelings, had I been treated politely. I wasn’t.
I was condescended to with an abrupt, gruff, remorseless snarl, the likes of which I didn’t even think they ALLOWED in Chicago: the city that’s «Glad You’re Here!»
I was aghast at being spoken to so rudely, and expressed as much. I told him I intended to Unilocal about the experience. He handed me my paperwork and told me to «go Unilocal somewhere else.»
I will, and I beg you to do the same.