Originally Posted by ILUVCITIBANK

A side comment to this, as a merchant who takes all major credit cards, I am not sure if I am legally or contractually required to only credit back to the form of card originally used, but as a practical matter we only credit back the exact same card. But can you guys believe as many as 2, or even 3 years ago, AMEX issued a T&C change that informed us that they would not longer refund discount fees w/ a refund or reversed charge ?

So, if I run an AMEX credit card for $1000 lets say...and I as the accepting merchant absorb the typical 3.00% discount, which I do ($30)....if the customer than changes their mind and returns product, and I refund the $1000 back to the creddit card...AMEX keeps the $30. How about this reprehensible practice ?

Anyone wonder why merchants don't like to accept AMEX products ?

Besides the extraordinarily-high discount fees compared to V and MC, AMEX's T&Cs are always onerous and one-sided.

Logically, this is why, from a reverse perspective, AMEX's affinity products *seem* to have much greater value than a given V and MC affinity product. If anyone ever studies the value of an AMEX-derived starpoint or an AMEX-derived HH point (earned at this ratio of 3:1 BTW), versus a visa or mc-derived affinity point or mile...no wonder AMEX inherently has the upper hand these days in terms of "VALUE", earned from such schemes as this one where they will not refund discount fees once they collect them, even if the charge is refunded.

Fraud by AMEX ? You be the judge.