AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[Keith009]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

It even took me a while to get used to shopping at the local Safeway after moving to this bit of town. Not that there's much product difference with my previous local Safeway/Coles, just the rather, umm, 'different' crowd... I miss the foodstore I used to go to in Burwood but can't be stuffed traveling an hour on the tram each way across the river just to get food, but at least they do deliver wines for free and take AX. (actually, it's the kind of place where I'd be happy to use cash if I had to)

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Speaking of which, I'm quite surprised that ALDI doesn't accept AX.

Not that I normally shop at ALDI you hear! :shock: Now there's just one more reason not to...

Well if you think of the "typical Amex customer" and low cost discount shopping (Aldi) it doesn't surprise me that they don't take Amex.

That was one of the merchants I reported to Amex and they still don't take Amex.

They surcharge VI/MC at 1% like others have said, so they should take Amex and surcharge 2%. Would still work out alot cheaper than Woolies/Coles for my weekly shop!

 

[notzac]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Ended up purchasing my metcard at the 7/11 across the road so all good.

Ahh the same trick I use - which is a bonus for me, seeing as the tram stop is a short saunter across that weird roundabout thing in St Kilda

 

[docjames]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Ikea is another - I mean almost every Aussie has shopped at Ikea at some stage in their life (there used to be some quote along the lines of some incredibly high percentage of households had at least one piece of ikea furniture).

I've "reported" them repeatedly. No use. Not even with surcharge (and there is no surcharge on Visa/MC)

 

[straitman]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Other than them not taking Amex, I can't think of any reason not to shop there. (except I normally don't, only because there isn't one near me.) Oh yes, Woolies has the best bread.

I gave up on the local Aldi when the checkout line ran to 7 full shopping trollies and 8 other people with assorted loads.

At least I put my 2 items back where they belonged and told the duty manager I was not coming back until they sorted out the checkouts. I saw 5 others walk out at the same time.

I know they are run like a LCC airline and you get what you pay for BUT I have no tolerence for a total lack of service :!:

...... and they don't take AMEX.

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Ikea is another - I mean almost every Aussie has shopped at Ikea at some stage in their life (there used to be some quote along the lines of some incredibly high percentage of households had at least one piece of ikea furniture).

I've "reported" them repeatedly. No use. Not even with surcharge (and there is no surcharge on Visa/MC)

Yep same here, I have reported them a few times but just get the standard responses.

Even at their home country they have stopped taking amex so I don't think we will ever see them accept it here too IKEA dumps American Express in Sweden - FlyerTalk Forums

I don't mind paying 2% surcharge for Amex if that's what I need to do, just accept it!!!

Years ago Ikea had cheap furniture, but over the past few years the quality has increased and I have furnished two of my spare/hardly used bedrooms with Ikea furniture and it looks great!

Just never try to get near Ikea on a weekend! :shock:

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

I gave up on the local Aldi when the checkout line ran to 7 full shopping trollies and 8 other people with assorted loads.

At least I put my 2 items back where they belonged and told the duty manager I was not coming back until they sorted out the checkouts. I saw 5 others walk out at the same time.

I know they are run like a LCC airline and you get what you pay for BUT I have no tolerence for a total lack of service :!:

...... and they don't take AMEX.

My local Aldi usually has two staff only running the checkouts and lines are usually 5-6 FULL trolleys deep. What makes the lines worse is that the belt that you put your groceries on is VERY long so that is another trolley there as well.

 

[oz_mark]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

I gave up on the local Aldi when the checkout line ran to 7 full shopping trollies and 8 other people with assorted loads.

At least I put my 2 items back where they belonged and told the duty manager I was not coming back until they sorted out the checkouts. I saw 5 others walk out at the same time.

I know they are run like a LCC airline and you get what you pay for BUT I have no tolerence for a total lack of service :!:

...... and they don't take AMEX.

The lack of an express lane at the Aldi's I have been to is annoying.

 

[rhjames]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

The lack of an express lane at the Aldi's I have been to is annoying.

Interesting - long queues would put me off. The couple of time I've been there, I've been impressed. Small queue and I get to load my own shopping bags during checkout, so I can fill them up, and it's faster. I don't want them to take Amex and put their prices up. I'm happy with cash or visa, and low prices.

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

I don't want them to take Amex and put their prices up. I'm happy with cash or visa, and low prices.

Umm they already charge a surcharge for VI/MC of 1% , if they took Amex it would be around 2%.

 

[rhjames]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Umm they already charge a surcharge for VI/MC of 1% , if they took Amex it would be around 2%.

Then I'll pay cash.

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Then I'll pay cash.

So your comment of not wanting them to take Amex is irrelevant as they already surcharge for VI/MC

 

[rhjames]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

So your comment of not wanting them to take Amex is irrelevant as they already surcharge for VI/MC

Yes - if they are adding a surcharge, then the customers using those cards pay the added cost. Normally, for 1%, I probably wouldn't object to paying it for the convenience of using plastic. It's probably good for individual customers to have the choice.

 

[anat0l]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

The lack of an express lane at the Aldi's I have been to is annoying.

<off topic>

Express lanes don't work. I've seen people waltz up to express lanes laden with baskets full of at least 20 items. You can't refuse them lest they get livid.

The difference between an express lane and a standard lane is 200 items in a basket vs. a shopping cart.

 

[Dave Noble]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Express lanes don't work. I've seen people waltz up to express lanes laden with baskets full of at least 20 items. You can't refuse them lest they get livid.

Given that some stores in Australia state restrictions such as "12 items or less" , there is no grounds to refuse to serve them since the maximum number of items has failed to be specified.

Dave

 

[anat0l]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Given that some stores in Australia state restrictions such as "12 items or less" , there is no grounds to refuse to serve them since the maximum number of items has failed to be specified.

Dave

More to the point - it doesn't really matter. You'll still see people with over 12 items line up at aisles marked "8 items or less". One contingent doesn't care - "you'll serve me no matter what" - the other has to do with the interpretation. For example, if you turn up with 16 small cans of the exact same line of tuna, is that 1 item with quantity 16 or 16 items? Extrapolate this a tiny bit - now with 8 lines of items with various quantities....


Back on topic, however, I found that complaining to Amex doesn't really do much either. Unless it is a case of Amex taking the cases, going to said store with an offer, store still refuses, case closed. The issue then is Amex not saying that it is "case closed - sorry, we tried and we're giving up; go to another store that accepts Amex."

Luckily, there are not too many places that do not accept Amex, or at least a competitive alternative that does accept it can be located. Most fast food doesn't accept Amex (and those that do only sporadically from branch to branch), but for most this is probably not a huge issue. Small shops rarely take Amex let alone credit cards; Chinese operations (e.g. take away shops, small-ish restaurants, grocery/sundry stores, etc.) pretty much only take cold hard cash!

And of course taking a taxi flicks on 11% no matter what card you use.

 

[Dave Noble]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

More to the point - it doesn't really matter. You'll still see people with over 12 items line up at aisles marked "8 items or less". One contingent doesn't care - "you'll serve me no matter what" - the other has to do with the interpretation. For example, if you turn up with 16 small cans of the exact same line of tuna, is that 1 item with quantity 16 or 16 items? Extrapolate this a tiny bit - now with 8 lines of items with various quantities....

My point was that "12 items or less" has no meaning in itself since it does not say what it has to be less than

Back on topic, however, I found that complaining to Amex doesn't really do much either. Unless it is a case of Amex taking the cases, going to said store with an offer, store still refuses, case closed. The issue then is Amex not saying that it is "case closed - sorry, we tried and we're giving up; go to another store that accepts Amex."

I don't see that AMEX has any grounds to do anything in regards to a store that decides to surcharge since it is their right to do so and AMEX cannot put an impediment to that

It is pretty easy to avoid the surcharges by avoiding using credit where credit is surcharged

Dave

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Went into Retravision last week, found about $2000 worth of items I wanted, I noticed the AMEX sticker on the front door as I walked in so I was happy.

The printed sign near the register said they take Amex
The sticker near the register said they take Amex

Came to the end of the sale, they asked for payment and rudely refused Amex. They noticed I had a Visa and lots of cash in my wallet and insisted I pay for the goods, I declined.

They insisted I had to pay for the good as they had already rang them through as a sale.

I laughed and walked out

Went to another Retravision, and they happily take Amex.

I really fail to see why shops stop taking Amex

Simply apply a 2% surcharge and I will happily pay it. More sales and at no cost to the business.

 

[anat0l]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Went into Retravision last week, found about $2000 worth of items I wanted, I noticed the AMEX sticker on the front door as I walked in so I was happy.

The printed sign near the register said they take Amex
The sticker near the register said they take Amex

Came to the end of the sale, they asked for payment and rudely refused Amex. They noticed I had a Visa and lots of cash in my wallet and insisted I pay for the goods, I declined.

They insisted I had to pay for the good as they had already rang them through as a sale.

I laughed and walked out

Good show - that is exactly what you should have done.

Having used to work at Harvey Norman, if no money was exchanged, no sale was recorded (i.e. invoice was not finalised). We didn't have too many invoices go unfinalised, but if it does happen naturally we were annoyed but what can you do - you cannot coerce the customer otherwise.

It did get a little sticky when considering things like paying via finance companies or renting, but usually they would handle the situation on their ends.

Went to another Retravision, and they happily take Amex.

I really fail to see why shops stop taking Amex

Simply apply a 2% surcharge and I will happily pay it. More sales and at no cost to the business.

I think in circumspect many retailers would prefer to charge anywhere between 3 and 6% for Amex as a direct recovery for their costs. From my experience, most that accept Amex do not charge a surcharge and those that charge universally for credit cards do not ordinarily have a dedicated Amex surcharge (and this charge can range from 1 to 5%). However, for others which have a dedicated Amex surcharge, I've seen this between 3 and 6%; in the case of other credit cards accepted at the same retailer (except for Diners), the surcharge ranges between 0 and 3%.

The other technique - especially for electrical/computer retailers - is that a discount is offered for cold hard cash, only a little bit for credit cards (Visa and MC), and nothing for finance or Amex.

 

[ozstamps]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

What kind of transaction fee must AX be charging to make them such an unattractive proposition for merchants? And if the fee is deemed too high, why would AX not want to expand its network by charging a more reasonable fee?

3% max or 30c.

They'd be making TWICE that on the Metcard fee or they simply would not bother selling them.

An idiot merchant.