Lux

You've not tried shopping on Tottenham Court Road, then?

KVU

I think I have only ever tried to make one or two purchases in my life time from that area, most times I look elsewhere as it is hard to tell whether their products are grey imports and anyhow the internet generally offers a much better price, but when I did you are correct the establishment concerned did say they had a problem of some sort accepting the card. I think the excuse they gave me was that the card authorisation terminal was broken. I informed them that he could call the helpline number they were given when they were assigned their mechant id for manual authorisation. I think this costs them more in commision, but the point is the store knew I knew what I was talking about and they somehow said they would try and swipe my card and what do you know..........the machine was no longer broken. A friend of mine wanted double membership reward points during an offer month and tried using his card for a large purchase a few years back. He was given some poor excuse as to why they couldn't take his AmEx card and that he would have to pay using another. He made up some story stating that they were in violation of a consumer act and that he would look to take the matter further with both AmEx and his firm of solicitors. I think they didn't want to take the risk and they somehow managed to swipe the card and the purchase went through. The long and short of it, if they display the card logo on the store front, then they must accept the card, if they dont then there are thing that can be done and AmEx can assist. I recently tried to book a hotel that is in AmEx's hotel guide in Venice. They sent me an email saying they longer took the card and when I said I would get AmEx to look into it and if that was the case then I would book another hotel. They sent me another email stating they had made a mistake and that they took the card. I later found out that the hotel only had two people incharge and they were both brothers so an error in communication was not the case here.

Ex Amex Card

I've shopped there a few times and they normally accept Amex but will add a surcharge to the price. I don't blame them, they are getting charged over the odds by Amex so they pass it on to the customer.

I was out to dinner the other day and they accepted and swiped my Amex, then refunded the charge when they realised what they had done. I then had to pay using Visa.

I do get a lot of hassle with Amex, charges seem to be referred for authorisation far more often than they are with my other credit cards.

The only reason persevere with the card is because of the 2% cashback.

ozzie

Plasma screen here I come ... this was one of my biggest dilemmas - how could I spend so much on a TV and not earn miles ? Of course, JL is the only place to buy a Plasma as they give a free five year warranty on all Tvs (!!) and will price match anyone with a store front ...

Raffles

Ozzie, buy it from qed-uk.com or empiredirect.co.uk or richersounds.com and you'll save so much money that you'll be able take the whole family off for a holiday! QED sold me my TV for £1,200 last year when JL and the rest of High Street wanted £1,600.

NFH

And you went along with this? If a merchant swipes your card and it is accepted, then the bill is settled. The merchant may not refuse to accept Amex when they have the facility to accept it, particularly when the transaction has already gone through. You should report this to Amex customer services.

If it had happened to me, then I would have told the restaurant that the bill is settled, end of story.

ozzie

Yes - but John Lewis will price match, and a five year warranty on a Plasma screen is invaluable.

Swanhunter

Semantic difference, but Ocado is actually a seperate company who have a complex agreement with Waitrose to sell their products on.

I have to say that Amex acceptance in the Uk has improved greatly over the last few years - certainly in the field on day to day purchases.

NFH

I finally got a reply from Sainsbury's on this matter:

"I am sorry for any inconvenience you have been caused by the Calais store not accepting American express. The reason being is because the Amex's charges are higher in France.

However you can pay with UK Sterling, Euros, Mastercard, Visa, Switch/Maestro, Euro credit cards and cheques in Euros. A Barclays cashpoint is close by.

In our other stores we accept payment by Mastercard, VISA, Delta, Dial, Electron, Switch, Solo, Amex & Style."

Tron5000

I recently bought a TV on line and I found it difficult to a company that would accept American Express eventually I bought it from http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk. It is about time more places accepted American Express and said those magic world 'That will do nicely' as in their old adverts. Unfortunately you normally get a reply of we dont take American Express do you have another card.