£5 back shopping at local shops with AMEX

sfax

So you're saying you don't like the Amex charges but you still accept Amex as a payment method? If you don't like the charges then don't accept Amex. Many retailers don't. It's your decision. You're hardly likely to win over many customers by saying you accept Amex and then refusing it when they try to pay.

nctmum

I paid by Amex in my local Chinese restaurant last night (which I add I normally do anyway to get the cashback), and I got an email about 10 minutes later saying thanks for taking part and the £5 will be credited in 3-5 days. Will update when its in.

artisan_at_play

sfax wrote: »

So you're saying you don't like the Amex charges but you still accept Amex as a payment method? If you don't like the charges then don't accept Amex. Many retailers don't. It's your decision. You're hardly likely to win over many customers by saying you accept Amex and then refusing it when they try to pay.

Thanks for response ( I think lol )
I didn't say I don't like Amex, My beef is with their '£5 minimum spend' promotion. It is my bank as with many others, that will charge me an extra processing sum for accepting a below £10 payment. My customer was attempting to minimum spend yesterday, with two items of £5 each, but demanded I make TWO transactions of £5. He wasn't really interested in what he was buying, he merely wanted Amex to fund free goods.H mentioned that I was the third small business in a row that had refused to sell him goods of below £10 & they all cited the same reason as me. I understand the temptation of getting something for nothing, but small retailers want REAL customers. I will accept ALL forms of payment & hopefully I give a cracking service by default.

nctmum

The customer obviously hadnt read the small print that they will only give £5 per retailer!!

sfax

artisan_at_play wrote: »

Thanks for response ( I think lol )
I didn't say I don't like Amex, My beef is with their '£5 minimum spend' promotion. It is my bank as with many others, that will charge me an extra processing sum for accepting a below £10 payment. My customer was attempting to minimum spend yesterday, with two items of £5 each, but demanded I make TWO transactions of £5. He wasn't really interested in what he was buying, he merely wanted Amex to fund free goods.H mentioned that I was the third small business in a row that had refused to sell him goods of below £10 & they all cited the same reason as me. I understand the temptation of getting something for nothing, but small retailers want REAL customers. I will accept ALL forms of payment & hopefully I give a cracking service by default.

Sounds like this guy was an idiot but you're overlooking the fact that each customer can only use the offer once and someone that would never have otherwise stepped foot in your shop, has come to take advantage of the offer, but may actually like the shop, your goods and your prices. Refusing them service to save yourself the Amex charge could turn out to be very shortsighted

sfax

nctmum wrote: »

The customer obviously hadnt read the small print that they will only give £5 per retailer!!

On the subject of small print

Limit one statement credit per Card at each "Shop Small" participating merchant location

This suggests that if you have multiple card holders on the same account you can benefit at each participating merchant multiple times - I have registered the wife's card too so another cheap curry next Sat night if this is the case :beer:

artisan_at_play

sfax wrote: »

Sounds like this guy was an idiot but you're overlooking the fact that each customer can only use the offer once and someone that would never have otherwise stepped foot in your shop, has come to take advantage of the offer, but may actually like the shop, your goods and your prices. Refusing them service to save yourself the Amex charge could turn out to be very shortsighted

Thanks for another robust response ( I think)
I should point out from the counter side of things, that in October I received a call from Amex, regarding the campaign, asked me if I would like to join & made NO mention of the £5 minimum spend bit of the offer.I suspect they would have met resistance at that point from lots of people ! They promised window stickers (which have still not arrived.) This afternoon, I went to two local businesses that had also joined upon a similar 'phone call, who were in the dark about the £5 minimum,also failing to receive the £5 minimum spend stickers. Funny, that...:)
I have had only TWO Amex transactions in a whole year since accepting the card..the majority of customers favouring other c/cards & debits. I sell & make items to an average of £60 per sale & prob not major enough for extensive Amex activity, despite plenty of point of sale adverts.
You can call it short-sighted if you like, but sympathetically & explanatory,I offered to take payment for the two items (2x £5), thereby giving the chap a 50% return...enough for most folks, you'd think, but no, it wasn't enough. This was a I suspect, a one-off visit that was always going to be so. Thanks for the advice, but I do odds based upon personal instinct. It is an instinct that makes sure I charge 50% up front on bespoke ordering for items I hand produce....they always come back to collect. Very rarely am I surprised by the shopping habits of the human bean !

miketaff1408

Hmmm. Mixed results so far.

Bought some xmas cards at a card shop, and some plants at a florists no problem, and email to confirm cashback.

Tried two other merchants listed on the map, a convenience store and a pharmacy, and both stated they do not take AMEX.

sfax

The two transactions I made on Saturday 3 Nov (both instantly confirmed by email) have now both been credited and appear on my statement with transaction date Monday 5 Nov. £10 in the bag already

Chomeur

Which credit cards are people who get email confirmations using? I'm using Lloyds TSB avios and don't get any confirmations. Wondering if it might be it's just people using cards issued directly by Amex who get these confirmations. I've had a £10 credit on my account now, so seems to be working alright anyway.