AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[Mal]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Nah nothing, which is why I'm sure the practice is designed to get as much cash as possible so they can declare what income they wish

Sounds about right, and in line with the reputation of a lot of Gold Coast based businesses/schemes!

 

[zzyss]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Thought this would be germane to the discussion. It's small white sign at the top. Had to take it furtively to avoid being spotted (out of embarrassment more than anything!)



Ah, in case you can't be bothered, the important bit says:

"American Express now available (no surcharge applies)"

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Well, for the first time in a long time today, I actually received replies from Amex regarding some of the submissions I sent.

And not plain text messages, but proper HTML-format ones with plenty of detail (Much better than their old basic template ones sent after you submit a form)

It seems that they are now sending the messages back with details relevant to the merchant in question - ie. that they refused to sign up, that they just won't accept any cards, or that they are already an existing merchant (and just aren't in the directory or merchant map)

Lets hope this continues... and eventually one is received with something like "we are pleased to inform you that this merchant now welcomes the card"

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Well, for the first time in a long time today, I actually received replies from Amex regarding some of the submissions I sent.

Lets hope this continues... and eventually one is received with something like "we are pleased to inform you that this merchant now welcomes the card"

Indeed - The last reply I have received was in the first week of January 2009, I have submitted around 50 leads since but no reply!

Now what is interesting and should help in more merchants accepting AMEX is the big banks pushing AMEX cards out to cardholders in conjunction with their VI/MC offerings.

This is from memory but goes along with what I am saying about the bigger push for Amex acceptance :mrgreen:

Westpac (I believe) started this a few years ago, but it never really took off. Now they have pushed the Westpac SQ card and that has gone very well for them!

NAB have the dual cards

ANZ recently launched the dual cards

CBA is about to launch the dual cards

This is very good, as it will also cause the banks to further get their merchants to accept Amex at the same time

A win/win!

My local Ferguson Plarre now accepts AMEX with no min spend, great for that sugary treat every few weeks!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

This is very good, as it will also cause the banks to further get their merchants to accept Amex at the same time!

Never thought of it like that! I thought it may actually increase the chance of surcharging (as the % of credit transactions which are Amex will increase for business), but increased acceptance would be great. But come to think of it, I've only had my Amex declined by two ANZ merchants... And one of those two now accept it (no surcharge)

On the other hand, I seem to have a hard time getting it accepted by many St George merchants... This could be purely coincidental, but still

Also on the topic of acceptance, I've still been unable to use Amex successfully at any McDonald's... Why then were the stores added to the public version of the merchant directory if they don't plan on getting it set up for a while? Grr... lol

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Also on the topic of acceptance, I've still been unable to use Amex successfully at any McDonald's... Why then were the stores added to the public version of the merchant directory if they don't plan on getting it set up for a while? Grr... lol

Take the hint - Don't eat at Mc Donalds

I have a Nando's which is listed on the directory as accepting Amex but has never accepted it and has no plans to (according to the owner).

 

[NM]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

This is very good, as it will also cause the banks to further get their merchants to accept Amex at the same time

it could have quite the opposite affect merchants will know that anyone with a CBA Amex will also have a CBA Visa or MC.

I think CBA is going down the Amex path due to people like me. I have an Amex Rewards Maximiser and a CBA Gold Visa. My CBA Gold Visa only gets used when the Amex is not accepted. So CBA want me to drop my Amex Rewards Maximiser card and use a CBA Amex card instead. So instead of my CBA card being a backup or second choice card, they will have my primary and secondary cards in my wallet.

But until CBA provide a path for points laundering into AAdvantage, I will not be exchanging my Rewards Maximiser with a CBA Amex.

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

NM: True Perhaps :evil: (about merchants knowing people will have both another card besides Amex) We can hope/assume that this will make a few more consumers want to use Amex for the better point earning ability. Then again I see so many people paying cash in the supermarkets but frantically looking for their Fly Buys cards

Like you I use my Amex card for everything possible, and only use the Visa for places that don't accept Amex. I currently have a CBA Plat Visa card direct earn to QF at 1:1, but when that changes to 0.5 for $1 it will make using the Visa even less appealing.

I would average around $500 per month on the Visa, but that is now down to around $50 per month now that I have changed my Electricity and Gas across to http://www.energy.com.au (Energy Australia) for those in VIC/NSW/QLD/SA have a look at them as they were about 12% cheaper than what I was paying with Tru Energy. Energy Australia happily accept Amex via Direct Debit and Bpay :mrgreen:

Looking at my CBA statement the only places that I use my Visa now are:

Wishbone Chicken Shops - Not one of these accept Amex!
Yarra Valley Water
One of my local fruit shops
Local takeaway outlets

 

[Keith009]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

One of the 7/11s outside uni has stopped accepting credit cards payment entirely for the purchase of Metcards. So since the other tram line a block away also works for me, like every good points tart, I simply walked to the other end of campus where the other 7/11 still accepts AMEX.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

One of the 7/11s outside uni has stopped accepting credit cards payment entirely for the purchase of Metcards. So since the other tram line a block away also works for me, like every good points tart, I simply walked to the other end of campus where the other 7/11 still accepts AMEX.

Lol I'm guessing it'd a fraud thing - unless the Metcards are ridiculously low margin

When I bought a couple of TravelPass cards in Sydney (was ~$92) from 7/11, they wanted photo ID - and studied it and the card for about 20 seconds (because Amex PINs don't seem to work there without the machine asking for a sig, even though it lets you type a PIN in). Whereas in Qld, a $150 topup to a go card (which can be unregistered and not linked to anyone by name) requires no ID... so it must be a store-by-store decision

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

like every good points tart

I LOVE that terminology! :mrgreen:

 

[Walter Plinge]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Things might change re Amex acceptability. I got a notice with my CBA Visa statement about a new Commonwealth Amex card, starting 23rd October 2009. The points are pretty good - 3 points per dollar spent for the Platinum card. This is tempting and a heck of lot better than my Amex Platinum affinity card (1.25 points per $).

I reckon the CBA will push its vendor clients to accept Amex, which will flow on to all Amex cards.

Some details here --

http://www.commbank.com.au/personal/credit-cards/expect-more.aspx

What they seem to say is this card would be an additional card to your current Visa or Mastercard.

 

[Archphoto]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

All too often I have this experience, and yes, that's why I carry both Visa and AMEX cards. It hasn't happened so often that I'm thinking of cancelling, but it certainly is a real pain when I know my VISA is reaching it's limit on my long business travels.

- Nanette
nanette reid - architectural photographer : Thailand : Singapore : SE Asia :

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Was out for dinner the other night!

Saw that a few tables around me had the little "Reserved" signs on them!

One of them had the Blue American Express logo on the side but the other ones when I went to walk around to the toilet had the Blue Amex logo covered up (I knew this wasn't a good sign)

Anyways they didn't accept Amex :evil: and they then covered up the reserved sign on the table by sticking another bit of paper over the Amex logo

:shock:

 

[SnowYeti]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Was out for dinner the other night!

Saw that a few tables around me had the little "Reserved" signs on them!

One of them had the Blue American Express logo on the side but the other ones when I went to walk around to the toilet had the Blue Amex logo covered up (I knew this wasn't a good sign)

Anyways they didn't accept Amex :evil: and they then covered up the reserved sign on the table by sticking another bit of paper over the Amex logo

:shock:

Cheap skates have seen the same thing with "OPEN/CLOSE" AMEX signs, where they don't accept AMEX

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

Cheap skates have seen the same thing with "OPEN/CLOSE" AMEX signs, where they don't accept AMEX

It's even shoddier when a place uses one of Amex's black cheque presenter folders, and sticky tapes their own restaurant logo over it instead of just ordering a custom one when they had the chance (ie when they still accepted it).

I saw this once when considering dining in a particular restaurant. Safe to say, we chose to go elsewhere!

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage



With the upcoming downgrades in the CBA's Visa/Mastercard earn/redemption rate with the launch of their Amex card I am going to boycott the "Sorry we don't accept American Express" establishments 100% now.

I only had three transactions on my Visa last month:
HBA Heath Insurance
Wishbone Chicken
Origin Energy - Now moved to Energy Australia (Who happily accept Amex)

Yarra Valley Water is annoying as they used to accept Amex and then stopped!

 

[one9]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

With the upcoming downgrades in the CBA's Visa/Mastercard earn/redemption rate with the launch of their Amex card I am going to boycott the "Sorry we don't accept American Express" establishments 100% now.

At the end of the day, it will be you who will be paying higher pricing on your purchases.

Visa/MC costs the business around 0.8%.
Amex costs the business around 2.5%.

This business has to get this 1.7% from somewhere. More expensive businesses charge high enough margins to not worry about it. But more competitive businesses need to factor this into their pricing. As such you could save money by buying from the more discounted businesses that don't accept Amex as they can provide pricing 1.7% cheaper.

 

[zzyss]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

This business has to get this 1.7% from somewhere. More expensive businesses charge high enough margins to not worry about it. But more competitive businesses need to factor this into their pricing. As such you could save money by buying from the more discounted businesses that don't accept Amex as they can provide pricing 1.7% cheaper.

Your logic is sound, but when have you actually seen a 1.7% difference in pricing in practice?

More likely, the business will just absorb the cost and make less money, which will have other negative effects (poorer service maybe), but increased pricing will not be one of them.

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: AMEX not accepted or surchage

No I will not be paying higher prices on my purchases.

The large majority of places to NOT surcharge, in fact so far this year only about 10 places out of the thousands of transactions I have made surcharge for Amex.

Amex merchant fees go as low as 1.1% now, some places are still paying 2% for VI/MC.

No I won't save money by avoiding a 1.7% surcharge as around 10-25% is what I get back with Amex rewards.

So by your calculation I save 1.7% if I pay via VI/MC, yet I miss out on 8.3 to 24.3% return on my spend.