No more AMEX surcharge at JB Hi Fi

[albyd]

Not sure if this warrants its own thread - mods feel free to move it. I just got an email from AMEX:

I've always wondered why they had that silly 2.65% AMEX surcharge. Looks like dispute resolved now. This has been a bugbear of shopping at JB for a long time - not an issue anymore

Hope we won't pay for these sort of deals with lower earn in good time. Might as well enjoy it in the meantime!

 

[Coops1]

Good to know, but never an issue, always used JB gift cards bought elsewhere with Amex.

 

[albyd]

Don't have to do that workaround anymore - though buying GCs from supermarket worked out better with Edge card back in the day but for getting JB cards back if you ended up returning the item you'd bought. Each to their own I guess.

Bought a new phone recently and paid with Amex to trigger the screen protection insurance. Wouldn't have paid with Amex if my Visa had that feature.

 

[AIRwin]

Good to know, but never an issue, always used JB gift cards bought elsewhere with Amex.

GIft cards bought at a discount?

 

[Coops1]

GIft cards bought at a discount?

Of course, 3 -15% discounts. Eg the Nov/Dec TCN deals, or union/suncorp/entbook with visa card. Will always go discounts over using an amex for points etc.

 

[ric_melb]

I see I am not the first to comment. Obviously gift cards were a good alternative, but I like the immediacy of being able to use my Amex in the store. It was always ridiculous that JB wanted to have a surcharge as high as 2.65%.

 

[Daver6]

About time! They certainly lost business from me because of the surcharge in the past.

 

[Fifa]

I cannot believe that it has taken them this long to abolish that ridiculous Amex fee!

 

[foggy]

Finally!
Now I am just waiting for Costco to accept AmEx again..

 

[flyingfan]

Great news. I liked all the gadgets at JB Hifi but the surcharge level was silly.

 

[kpc]

Too late for me...recently bought an 85 inch TV from JB and had to use a Visa because of Amex surcharge.

 

[andye]

Tilts the balance of: Amex (with surcharge) with extended Charge warranty + ease vs discounted giftcards + hassle.

 

[WeeWillyWonka]

I went to school with JB Hifi's CEO. He was a flog then, and is a flog today. That's how I sum up the company.


That is all.

 

[blackcat20]

About time! They certainly lost business from me because of the surcharge in the past.

I walked out on a laptop purchase because they refused to waive the charge. Got DJs to price match.

 

[samh004]

Finally!
Now I am just waiting for Costco to accept AmEx again..

I would settle for Aldi first, after all, you already pay to use Visa/MC there anyway, so there'd be nothing wrong with them passing on the AMEX fee to us.

That said, any store removing a fee from AMEX or adding AMEX is good news, but it didn't bother me too much. My gripe was that I couldn't paywave/Apple Pay when using that card... I had to insert. If that's still the case then this isn't a win, but if they've fixed that then I'm happy

 

[albyd]

Yeah the lack of tap was another bugbear was almost like they went out of their way to discourage Amex use.

 

[jb747]

Walk to Coles. Buy gift cards and get a 3 for $1 points deal. Then go to JB. It still works out better, though the points are somewhat less useful these days.

 

[Spongbob]

I walked out on a laptop purchase because they refused to waive the charge. Got DJs to price match.

I tried to buy a new iMac in December 2020 from JB Hi Fi online, but there was no Amex payment option. So I got it from The Good Guys at the same price.

 

[Ken1]

I’ve been ordering online with JB and using Paypal linked with my Amex card and then collecting in store. I’ve even been in store and found something I wanted and ordered it for click and collect and picked it up while still there. At least I won’t have to do it that way any more.

 

[cmon0005]

About time they removed the surcharge! I highly doubt a business of JB's size would have had a merchant rate of above 2.5% anyway so I've always thought it was a rip.