AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[ellein]

Yeah sounds like the new one...no sig for V or MC....Amex still requires sig

I used AMEX at a McDon store in CBD. Pin accepted for my WP Krisflyer card.....

 

[yohy?!]

I used AMEX at a McDon store in CBD. Pin accepted for my WP Krisflyer card.....

Cool, I was referring to Amex-issued cards...bank issued ones would be different as you say

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Just curious, but has anyone with an Amex-issued card that has the ExpressCash feature enabled; tried to use that PIN to authorise a purchase (on a terminal that supports PIN use for Amex)? If so, what happened?

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Bought something in Cotton On Body today - and no 3% surcharge! Cotton On has always charged 3% for Amex & Diners, so perhaps they finally got rid of that rubbish!

However, on the receipt in the returns/exchanges section it said that Cotton On, Cotton On Body & Cotton On Kids were all separate brands and that items could only be returned to brand that it was purchased from... They are all owned by the same company however, so lets hope it has been removed in the straight Cotton On stores too? Has anyone been in one recently?

 

[WA flyer]

so lets hope it has been removed in the straight Cotton On stores too? Has anyone been in one recently?

What, a straight Cotton on store? :shock:

 

[ChrisFlyer]

What, a straight Cotton on store? :shock:

Haha as in a store with the trading name "Cotton On", as opposed to variants such as "Cotton On Body" or "Cotton On Kids".

 

[cove]

One of the more acceptable surcharges is on any payments to the Australian Taxation Office.
Currently it is 1.25% so if you use Amex Ultimate so the real cost of a frequent flyer point is 0.8 cents.
Don't be fooled by ATO stationery that says you cannot pay by credit card.Old stationery is the probable explanation......

 

[Sprucegoose]

I tried to use my AMEX at Melbourne Duty Free to buy some wine for a friend in California (I was heading out on United).

They wanted to charge a $5 flat fee for using my AMEX over a Visa Card.

I politely declined adn used my ANZ FF Card.

they were lucky you were polite about it. How on earth do you justify a flat fee in a % based business.

 

[one9]

they were lucky you were polite about it. How on earth do you justify a flat fee in a % based business.

Qantas charge a flat credit card fee. So does Internode for Amex.

Flat credit card charges benefit high spenders and don't benefit low spenders.

 

[acrylic]

several restaurants in Sydny now don't take amex this yr, getting a bit sad...

 

[yohy?!]

several restaurants in Sydny now don't take amex this yr, getting a bit sad...

plenty of others that do, tell the manager youre going elsewhere...theyve no excuse really not to take amex if all they have to do is call to renegotiate their rates

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Biggest problem is by the time you come to pay for the product/service it's too late to know if they have amex and/or surcharges and you're pretty much morally obligated to pay for what you ordered.

Good example tonight, was in baskin & robins, two ice creams (~$15) and gave the amex only to be told they don't accept it. "Oh okay, try this one" and gave over the Visa.

What incentive do businesses like this really have to take amex when customers almost always have a 'backup' visa/mc ?

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I normally check before ordering, and just go somewhere else if they don't take it!

Their incentive is that the customer using their card of choice is a happier customer because they're getting their frequent flyer points/purchase security insurance/free extended warranty etc etc, and that they're more likely to return knowing that they can use their card. Or because they're using a corporate card to get work to pay for it. Or because their card may have "no preset spending limit" so they don't think as much about it before charging a purchase... I can keep going haha!

Which is why you'll find almost all major chain stores take Amex & Diners, no minimum purchase and no surcharge, because a customer that might just come in to buy something small, will see something else they like while they're there, and knowing they take charge cards, may return later with the intention of buying it... Also for large merchant clients, Amex usually come down on the merchant rate if they'll accept it with no minimum/no surcharge (ie they offer two rates - one their standard offer, and a reduced rate conditioned on no surcharging etc), or in the case of industries that surcharge by default (telcos, airlines), they give merchant discounts if the card is treated the same as Visa/MasterCard.

And not everyone does what you do and happily hands over a different card. I've walked out of stores before simply because they don't take Amex - and found one of their competitors that did... In terms of ice cream however, I always use my Amex at Baskin & Robbins - no surcharge and the place has no fewer than eight Amex logos in the space of about two metres... But I guess it depends on who the franchise owner is really!

 

[SOPOOR]

I personally would never walk out of a place if they didn't accept amex,

for me it would come down to price, I would rather pay $80 with the visa rather then $81 at another shop with the amex.

as I understand that the shops pay a higher rate, and personally even though I have one, I hate amex, I hate the stereotypes of being a Amex card holder that comes with an amex card that many people have the complex, although I do not,

I also don't agree with their business model of charging anywhere between 2 times to 5 times the Visa/MC.

Unless there are other benefits that I don';t know about or don't value, I fail to see to this day, why Amex even still exists, does Diner's still exist, I know they do, but I don't think ive seen a Diners card for years, I assume that must have been uncompetitive, hence I expect/hope that Amex will follow

That being said,

I never use a credit card for under $10 (unless its online), as I feel embarassed.

if i present my amex and they say "sorry we don't accept it" I also feel slightly embarassed as I always have my visa/mc ready and I feel like I am seen as stingy for using the higher rewards card.

and if using a credit card is going to hold up the queue, ill just use cash unless its a hug purchase....

just how I work!

 

[wxxnxs]

I normally check before ordering, and just go somewhere else if they don't take it!

Their incentive is that the customer using their card of choice is a happier customer because they're getting their frequent flyer points/purchase security insurance/free extended warranty etc etc, and that they're more likely to return knowing that they can use their card. Or because they're using a corporate card to get work to pay for it. Or because their card may have "no preset spending limit" so they don't think as much about it before charging a purchase... I can keep going haha!

Which is why you'll find almost all major chain stores take Amex & Diners, no minimum purchase and no surcharge, because a customer that might just come in to buy something small, will see something else they like while they're there, and knowing they take charge cards, may return later with the intention of buying it... Also for large merchant clients, Amex usually come down on the merchant rate if they'll accept it with no minimum/no surcharge (ie they offer two rates - one their standard offer, and a reduced rate conditioned on no surcharging etc), or in the case of industries that surcharge by default (telcos, airlines), they give merchant discounts if the card is treated the same as Visa/MasterCard.

And not everyone does what you do and happily hands over a different card. I've walked out of stores before simply because they don't take Amex - and found one of their competitors that did... In terms of ice cream however, I always use my Amex at Baskin & Robbins - no surcharge and the place has no fewer than eight Amex logos in the space of about two metres... But I guess it depends on who the franchise owner is really!

For me, I won't do the same thing as you, even I do have AMEX as well, maybe I'm not a big purchaser. If I wanner buy something which I really want, I wouldn't care if they take AMEX or not, that's why the bank issue another visa/master for your back up. Like the above example, if my favorite icecream store doesn't take AMEX, that won't be a reason for me to go to another store which I don't like but takes AMEX. It just doesn't make any sense.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I suppose I'm lucky in that almost everywhere I want to spend money, Amex is accepted So I don't have to avoid anywhere in particular to buy what I want, and can usually pay with Amex... and only have to use MasterCard about once a month for a small purchase.

My walkouts were mostly bigger purchases >$500 where it was worth walking to a diff shop (that takes Amex) and getting them to price match (and in the process inadvertently shopped at a bonus partner and received even MORE points).

Have you tried dobbing that particular Baskin & Robins in on the Amex website? Amex offer B&R franchise stores quite a reduced rate - considering the low risk of fraud due to their business type, all card-present transactions etc etc (the topic came up with one of their managers once when I noticed that Amex signs had appeared lol).

 

[SOPOOR]

I suppose I'm lucky in that almost everywhere I want to spend money, Amex is accepted So I don't have to avoid anywhere in particular to buy what I want, and can usually pay with Amex... and only have to use MasterCard about once a month for a small purchase.

My walkouts were mostly bigger purchases >$500 where it was worth walking to a diff shop (that takes Amex) and getting them to price match (and in the process inadvertently shopped at a bonus partner and received even MORE points).

wow you must shop wiser

admittedly, I wanted bonus points so ive gone on the biggest shopping spree in my life pretty much

I went out and paid for glass $5000
Fireplace $5000
Sofas and chairs $7700
Outdoor set $4000
Signs $5000
Deposit for finance for a business $7000 (with 1.5% surcharge, ouchy but It was urgent)

none accepted amex so I used the visa, excet one place which they had amex but charged 1.7%!

i find that for everyday use, supermarkets, liquor shops all accept amex, but many other places don't or they have a high surcharge!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

i find that for everyday use, supermarkets, liquor shops all accept amex, but many other places don't or they have a high surcharge!

True - I suppose it just depends on where you live and what the shops in your city are like! I'm lucky in that all of the small businesses I frequent accept Amex with no surcharge (and these are outside of major shopping centres etc).

Except for the basics where you'd expect the card to be accepted (supermarkets and liquor as you mentioned, and also petrol, telcos, etc), I find that with small businesses, acceptance of Amex is best in Westfield shopping centres (ignoring for a moment the other small businesses I visit) - as Amex always advertise in the Westfield tenant newsletter, and for every Amex transaction that a store in a Westfield processes, they get one entry into a monthly draw to win $10k cash... or at least that's how it used to be!

 

[wxxnxs]

I personally would never walk out of a place if they didn't accept amex,

for me it would come down to price, I would rather pay $80 with the visa rather then $81 at another shop with the amex.

as I understand that the shops pay a higher rate, and personally even though I have one, I hate amex, I hate the stereotypes of being a Amex card holder that comes with an amex card that many people have the complex, although I do not,

I also don't agree with their business model of charging anywhere between 2 times to 5 times the Visa/MC.

Unless there are other benefits that I don';t know about or don't value, I fail to see to this day, why Amex even still exists, does Diner's still exist, I know they do, but I don't think ive seen a Diners card for years, I assume that must have been uncompetitive, hence I expect/hope that Amex will follow

That being said,

I never use a credit card for under $10 (unless its online), as I feel embarassed.

if i present my amex and they say "sorry we don't accept it" I also feel slightly embarassed as I always have my visa/mc ready and I feel like I am seen as stingy for using the higher rewards card.

and if using a credit card is going to hold up the queue, ill just use cash unless its a hug purchase....

just how I work!

Agree, I do the same work as you. However, I prefer visa/master as they have no hassle when I wanner use them, almost everywhere accept, no like AMEX. Australia has a long way to go to increase the credit card competitive market, we can try to imagine one day it will be like US.

 

[pointsjunkie]

I suppose I'm lucky in that almost everywhere I want to spend money, Amex is accepted So I don't have to avoid anywhere in particular to buy what I want, and can usually pay with Amex... and only have to use MasterCard about once a month for a small purchase.

My walkouts were mostly bigger purchases >$500 where it was worth walking to a diff shop (that takes Amex) and getting them to price match (and in the process inadvertently shopped at a bonus partner and received even MORE points).

Have you tried dobbing that particular Baskin & Robins in on the Amex website? Amex offer B&R franchise stores quite a reduced rate - considering the low risk of fraud due to their business type, all card-present transactions etc etc (the topic came up with one of their managers once when I noticed that Amex signs had appeared lol).

I'm with you, I avoid places, and have done a number of walk-outs, where AMEX isn't accepted. There's enough choice out there in this competitive environment to be able to purchase a good/service that you want and use your AMEX at the same time! If I really do need to buy something that I can't buy anywhere else, then I'll use another card, but there's no way I'd buy anything more than exactly what I needed and I would never go back - so they miss out on revenue from me buying more and also repeat business!

I don't really mind with restaurants cause it ends up saving me money! If I really want to eat somewhere and they don't take AMEX, then I'll still pay with my AMEX and cop the 3% surcharge, however I don't tip anything - silly restaurants, I would have tipped at least 10% if they accepted AMEX, but cause they choose to penalise me for wanting to pay with a globally accepted card, they miss out on 7%!

But yeh everyone's different, I guess I just get fed up with businesses not accepting it or surcharging me, businesses need to move with the times. Yes, AMEX used to charge a lot more than Visa / Mastercard but they have dropped their rate so much. I own a business and so do many friends, so I have first hand experience with this. I wouldn't dream of not accepting AMEX, they are my best customers!