Why don't some places accept AMEX?

[tinuviel]

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@Platinum wrote:

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@tinuviel wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Plenty of people only carry one credit card.  Since VISA/MC are pretty much universally accepted anywhere that accepts cards, this type of person won't carry an AMEX, because it'd be stupid to have your one card be a card that isn't accepted everywhere.  Most everyone that has an AMEX has a backup, and they will just use the backup instead of not buying an item they want in order to make god-knows-what point about how they know better than the business owner about how to manage their finances.

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+10000 - a very reasonable perspective, IMO.

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It's not about not having back up card like Visa/ MasterCard. It about the principle. You don't accept my preferred card, you don't get my business, and I am not talking about those not taking any card at all. I am just talking about those accepting Visa/MasterCard/Discover but not American Express.

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Then we simply have a very different perspective. I care about the quality of the product or service offered, not whether or not they accept my preferred card.

[Platinum]

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@mxp114 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Plenty of people only carry one credit card.  Since VISA/MC are pretty much universally accepted anywhere that accepts cards, this type of person won't carry an AMEX, because it'd be stupid to have your one card be a card that isn't accepted everywhere.  Most everyone that has an AMEX has a backup, and they will just use the backup instead of not buying an item they want in order to make god-knows-what point about how they know better than the business owner about how to manage their finances.

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Some people are just petty and trivial. The only time I ever get annoyed is when they are cash only but I usually politely encourage card acceptance.

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That's right and we are talking about petty and trivial merchants here who do not take AmEx but do take others like Discover. Those taking Discover over AmEx must be really bad in math.

[mxp114]

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@Platinum wrote:

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@tinuviel wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Plenty of people only carry one credit card.  Since VISA/MC are pretty much universally accepted anywhere that accepts cards, this type of person won't carry an AMEX, because it'd be stupid to have your one card be a card that isn't accepted everywhere.  Most everyone that has an AMEX has a backup, and they will just use the backup instead of not buying an item they want in order to make god-knows-what point about how they know better than the business owner about how to manage their finances.

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+10000 - a very reasonable perspective, IMO.

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It's not about not having back up card like Visa/ MasterCard. It about the principle. You don't accept my preferred card, you don't get my business, and I am not talking about those not taking any card at all. I am just talking about those accepting Visa/MasterCard/Discover but not American Express.

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Do you have any other cards? If so, why? You're preferred card is American Express and clearly you are firm about not using another card.

[mxp114]

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@Platinum wrote:

That's right and we are talking about petty and trivial merchants here who do not take AmEx but do take others like Discover. Those taking Discover over AmEx must be really bad in math.

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Not necessarily. There are myriad reasons why a merchant may not be able to accept AmEx but wishes to do so. Other factors could involve a previous negative experience, or a dislike of AmEx, etc.

[Platinum]

Yes I do have other cards and I use other cards too. It all depends on the situation. Many time merchants have no idea why they do not take AmEx and I like to teach them lesson occasionally.

[GregB]

There are many, many different services available to process CC payments to a business. There really aren't any rules for how these different companies charge.

I think you will find that most tiny businesses were naive enough to deal with some processor that walked in or called soliciting business. Many of these do still charge more to process Amex.

I find that the main processors, more likely to be used in a bit larger business, charge exactly the same rate for all CCs.

When my business started taking CCs, Amex paid once a month for the previous months charges. They also charged a higher discount rate than Visa & MC. Waiting an extra 3-4 weeks and paying a higher fee meant it was hard to take Amex.

20 years later things changed to where Amex took a week to put your money into your bank account, charged a higher discount rate, and a monthly fee. 10 years after that, there is almost no difference: They charge the same discount fee but do take an extra 2-3 days to deposit the money. Even the $5 monthly charge is gone.

Most tiny businesses are way too busy trying to stay alive to spend the time to properly optimize all business processes.

[timmis1127]

My family owns two small businesses which are liquor stores and we accept Amex but there fees are outragous and in defense to small business owners like my family, when someone comes up with a bottle of water which cost $.99 cents and amex wants $.35 to swipe the card then 1.5% of of the total transaction cost we take a loss on that. When I was younger I use to work there and people use to bring up a hostess cakes and bring out there amex and that would be a total loss for us. Our current fees with Visa and Mastercard are $.35 a swipe and 1.25% of the transaciton. There fees are ridiculous! My father pays about $1,500 to $2,000 a month just in credit card fees, for a small business like ours which our profit markup is about 15%- 20% it takes alot off your take home profit sharing.

[AllPro]

I'm almost sure if the shoe was on the other foot, And Amex card holders where charged for every transaction on top of what you pay now AFs etc .  You would not use your Amex.

[Open123]

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@timmis1127 wrote:

My family owns two small businesses which are liquor stores and we accept Amex but there fees are outragous and in defense to small business owners like my family, when someone comes up with a bottle of water which cost $.99 cents and amex wants $.35 to swipe the card then 1.5% of of the total transaction cost we take a loss on that. 

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This is just wrong.  I think if I were a small retail merchant, I'd definitely have the "min $10 credit card purchase rule."

For personal expenses, it doesn't really matter which card I use--or even cash for that matter.  However, for business expenditures, I prefer Amex.  If a vendor, restaurant, or hotel doesn' t take AmEx, then we won't use them.  AmEx has far better end of year tax accounting statements than anyone else.  Our CPAs are used to AmEx statements--less time means less billable hours to us when preparing our taxes.  During audits, the IRS are used to AmEx statements, more so than...say....a generic credit union or small bank.  Finally, hitting spend thresholds with AmEx doubles the amount of rebate we can receive, not to mention all the reward/perks that go with it.  

I think small "mom and pop" merchants have much less of an issue not taking AmEx.  But, if you're in the hospitality industry and want to compete for big corporate/business purchases, not taking AmEx isn't an option.

[Anonymous]

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@Platinum wrote:

Yes I do have other cards and I use other cards too. It all depends on the situation. Many time merchants have no idea why they do not take AmEx and I like to teach them lesson occasionally.

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Can you please videotape yourself doing this?  Walking into a store that obviously doesn't accept AMEX, trying to offer an AMEX, and then lecturing the cashier and storming out would surely get more than a few hits on Youtube.