Same old story with American Express cards 😭

[Walter White]

Why do offline stores hate Amex so much?

Went to Dell store to buy a laptop some time back hoping to pay using Amex, only for the plans to be hampered as the merchant wanted a 3.5% charge over the bill amount. At this point of time, from my past experiences, I feel these merchants quote any arbitrary rate to prevent people from using credit cards.

I even contacted Amex regarding the same and they told that it is against their merchant agreement to pass on these charges to customers. But, this campaign by merchants against Amex cards seem to have no end. Is there a way an action be taken against such merchants?

 

[Tosh]

Did you know that you can file a complaint with the RBI if a merchant charges you MDR fees for using a credit card?

Did you know that if a merchant charges you MDR fees for using a credit card, which is supposed to be paid by the merchant, you can file a complaint with the RBI banking ombudsman? This is in line with the RBI and bank policy that requires merchants to pay MDR fees for accepting credit card...

www.technofino.in

 

[Walter White]

Did you know that you can file a complaint with the RBI if a merchant charges you MDR fees for using a credit card?

Did you know that if a merchant charges you MDR fees for using a credit card, which is supposed to be paid by the merchant, you can file a complaint with the RBI banking ombudsman? This is in line with the RBI and bank policy that requires merchants to pay MDR fees for accepting credit card...

www.technofino.in

I went through this but how many merchants will I file complaint against on a daily basis? If it's one merchant today, then some other merchant the other day. And it's not always possible to check the banking partner for the POS machines.

 

[Tosh]

Cite RBI guidelines don't purchase the product and let them know it might lead to complaints from someone in the future if not you right now. You cannot go and file one as it's time consuming but if it works it works.

Just like how RTO threat works with Auto/Taxi.

 

[saucy]

Why do offline stores hate Amex so much?

Went to Dell store to buy a laptop some time back hoping to pay using Amex, only the plans to be hampered as the merchant wanted a 3.5% charge over the bill amount. At this point of time, from my past experiences, I feel these merchants quote any arbitrary rate to prevent people from using credit cards.

I even contacted Amex regarding the same and they told that it is against their merchant agreement to pass on these charges to customers. But, this campaign by merchants against Amex cards seem to have no end. Is there a way an action be taken against such merchants?

Buy online?

 

[Walter White]

Buy online?

Online is the way out, worked out well in this case atleast. Amazon and Flipkart have been kind in this regard. But a 100% transition to online spends is something not achievable atleast in the medium term.

Amex's struggles with acceptability will continue till the time merchants don't start following the rules. At the end it's the customer who is at a loss. Either, Amex should start being strict over merchant agreements or RBI needs to come up with policies that work in the favour of customers.

 

[saucy]

Wait, didn't the Dell store have good offers?
I've had pretty sweet deals from their online store. There's also some 2k-5k off coupons

 

[Walter White]

Wait, didn't the Dell store have good offers?
I've had pretty sweet deals from their online store. There's also some 2k-5k off coupons

They were offering some discounts if I opted for add-ons which anyway I wasn't interested in taking.

 

[saucy]

I got HD-350 headphone for 500 rupees. Best 500 rupees spent ever

 

[NeerajNegi]

Why do offline stores hate Amex so much?

Went to Dell store to buy a laptop some time back hoping to pay using Amex, only the plans to be hampered as the merchant wanted a 3.5% charge over the bill amount. At this point of time, from my past experiences, I feel these merchants quote any arbitrary rate to prevent people from using credit cards.

I even contacted Amex regarding the same and they told that it is against their merchant agreement to pass on these charges to customers. But, this campaign by merchants against Amex cards seem to have no end. Is there a way an action be taken against such merchants?

Try to get into US amex card system. Filing a charge back simple and easy

 

[saucy]

Do you have more.info about amex us card system and how chargebacks work that you can share?

Try to get into US amex card system. Filing a charge back simple and easy

Filing chargebacks here in India can be risky - an acquaintance did a chargeback on google, for no fault of their own - permenant ban from Google.

 

[thanix]

Why do offline stores hate Amex so much?

Went to Dell store to buy a laptop some time back hoping to pay using Amex, only for the plans to be hampered as the merchant wanted a 3.5% charge over the bill amount. At this point of time, from my past experiences, I feel these merchants quote any arbitrary rate to prevent people from using credit cards.

I even contacted Amex regarding the same and they told that it is against their merchant agreement to pass on these charges to customers. But, this campaign by merchants against Amex cards seem to have no end. Is there a way an action be taken against such merchants?

Easiest way is not to give your business to these self styled smart alecs. After purchase of the same laptop elsewhere, inform them how they lost the sale or just show where else you are getting a better deal with credit card. Please write a stinker to Dell about this poor purchase experience.

And post it in public online forums and Twitter disclosing the store name and location so that others are beware of this store tactics.

 

[ARV]

Forget charges in India, last week i visited UAE 90% stores did not even accept AMEX.Only large hotels and duty free accepted AMEX. Many shops in Dubai mall also did not accept. Planning to close AMEX not worth when you can't use it

 

[Walter White]

Forget charges in India, last week i visited UAE 90% stores did not even accept AMEX.Only large hotels and duty free accepted AMEX. Many shops in Dubai mall also did not accept. Planning to close AMEX not worth when you can't use it

Good service
Good product
Good Acceptability

In India, there will hardly be credit cards which satisfy all the three. So, we need to do a trade-off and choose the best 2 that will satisfy our needs.

 

[drakesri]

I think its the same story in most countries outside USA, Amex is not as widely accepted as Visa and MC.

I feel Diners network is little better than Amex in terms of acceptability in India at least where there are HDFC POS machines.

 

[Walter White]

I think its the same story in most countries outside USA, Amex is not as widely accepted as Visa and MC.

I feel Diners network is little better than Amex in terms of acceptability in India at least where there are HDFC POS machines.

Most Diners/Discover cards get accepted as Rupay thanks to their collaboration.

 

[NeerajNegi]

Do you have more.info about amex us card system and how chargebacks work that you can share?


Filing chargebacks here in India can be risky - an acquaintance did a chargeback on google, for no fault of their own - permenant ban from Google.

Soory what do you mean by a permanent ban from google ?
I had good experience with Citi bank also and amex us


Filing chargeback is not a risk but yeah getting approval in India super hard

 

[gurbina]

This isn't related to AMEX in specific, it is the same for any credit card network. Actually for any payment method even if paying by a payment gateway like PayPal with your bank account and filing a dispute will have the same outcome and no card networks were involved at all.

When you file a chargeback they'll investigate and take a decision whether to refund you or not based on their chargeback guidelines. You can find them online directly from the card networks. If you win it they'll pull the funds from the merchant account and usually also they'll incur in chargeback fees that can be quite costly for the merchant. A large number of chargebacks can lead to higher processing fees, termination of their payment services or even increased security scrutiny which can be quite frustrating for customers trying to pay as their transactions can be blocked by security rules as they could be tagged as high risk merchant.

Google is well known for doing this but this can be quite painful as its your personal email that you could have used for decades or that has important information. But any merchant can take similar measures.
From airlines closing your accounts or cancelling your tickets, to online game companies like as Steam, email providers, phone companies and even payment provider like PayPal will do the same. They can and often do ban or close accounts if you file a chargeback, even if it's fair and square

Winning a chargeback is tantamount that they have done something wrong but they'll sometimes get back at you or there will be repercussions.

 

[BlueFlash]

@Walter White In case you haven't yet bought the laptop, do mention the product link here (Dell official link). Generally there's always a 10% cashback offer running on Dell website with a cap of 5K from various banks credit cards (ICICI, Citi, etc. keeps rotating every month or so). The add-on offers like headset and all is not worth it in my opinion, the direct cashback/discount more economical. Also, using Employee/Corporate programs you can easily get another 5/7/12% instant discount based on the product (5 for budget, 7 for mid, and 12 for premium/ultra). Just a FYI to save you a couple of bucks easily.

 

[Walter White]

@Walter White In case you haven't yet bought the laptop, do mention the product link here (Dell official link). Generally there's always a 10% cashback offer running on Dell website with a cap of 5K from various banks credit cards (ICICI, Citi, etc. keeps rotating every month or so). The add-on offers like headset and all is not worth it in my opinion, the direct cashback/discount more economical. Also, using Employee/Corporate programs you can easily get another 5/7/12% instant discount based on the product (5 for budget, 7 for mid, and 12 for premium/ultra). Just a FYI to save you a couple of bucks easily.

I haven't bought it yet.

Product Link