Post Office CC expensive in US

alburys

I planned to use a Post Office credit card in the USA because it charges no commission. Before departure I informed Post Office credit cards about my trip. On my first day in the US my card was blocked and it took a £15 phone call to get it unblocked. Less than day later the same transactions were queried again and it cost another £12 to deal with this. It seems the system can't deal with someone who arrives in Atlanta, pays for a hotel room and then travels and spends in New Orleans. With the phone costs I have incurred it would have been cheaper to use no hassle American Express for this trip.

noh

Why so much on phone calls?
Shouldn't cost more than 1 or 2 cents a minute.

reclusive46

noh wrote: »

Why so much on phone calls?
Shouldn't cost more than 1 or 2 cents a minute.

Would be roaming fees back to the UK. The Post Office is obviously a bit trigger happy. I've had no problem with the new Lloyds Amex abroad (One thats fee free) or my Amex cards either.

Buzby

I arrived in Florida ready to use my new Amex card - and of my first 5 payment opportunities, 4 refused to take Amex (and Discover). I wouldn't bother. On return I cancelled mine.

reclusive46

Buzby wrote: »

I arrived in Florida ready to use my new Amex card - and of my first 5 payment opportunities, 4 refused to take Amex (and Discover). I wouldn't bother. On return I cancelled mine.

When and where was this in the US?I'm in the US for several months of the year in the US and I've literally only every encountered once place that doesn't take Amex, which was a parking meter in Washington DC. I also had a merchant moan at me paying with one in a restaurant once as well (Although this was over 5 years ago) I've also encountered restaurants in Boston that only take it.

Florida also surprises me as from personal experience everywhere in Florida seems to take practically everything (Being a tourist area). I've even seen merchants take Interac Debit (The national Canadian debit card) and signature Maestro. If your experiences were more recent, I'd be interested to know where these places are.

Amex acceptance in the US a decade ago was a very different story, although this was mainly because of banks being anti-competitive and not even letting merchants accept the card. American Express and Discover sued them though and that changed.

I'm assuming this was at least a few years ago since Discover (And Diners Club) is pretty much always accepted these days (In the US) due to them partnering with acquirers, basically making acceptance the same or better than Visa and MasterCard (There are some warehouse retailers that only take Discover or US PIN debit cards). American Express has also done this with a few acquiring banks as well, making Amex acceptance mandatory for them.

Also the Lloyds duo does come with a MasterCard which is also free to use abroad.