BOGO

In February 2007, I was not allowed to use my AMEX to buy a gift certificate for Lavendou in Dallas ("We do not accept AMEX for gift cert. purchases."). AMEX is accepted by the restaurant and AMEX is an acceptable card in the IDINE listing for that restaurant. I did not make a fuss since I had another card registered for the program. Lavendou is listed on the current Dallas AA IDINE promotion. They are also in the Dallas edition of the Entertainment book.

tmft

Not sure if this should go here or in the "fiascos" thread, but on Friday I went to a club, and ordered drinks as I knew the club was iDine.

After I ordered and tried to pay, the bartender told me they had a $30! minimum for credit card payment. I wasn't up to drinking that much, so I paid in cash ($12 for a drink and a bottle of water).

Has anyone reported a merchant to MasterCard for requiring a minimum? Is it worth the hassle?

I saw in another thread the advice of "ask to see a manager", but that's a bit of fuss if you're out on a Friday night.

Points Scrounger

I would definitely report it to MasterCard, as well as to Rewards Network. I wouldn't expect the latter to give me courtesy points, but it's something they ought to be aware of as it affects their own bottom line.

I thought a $20 minimum I saw once was steep, but that's outrageous!

Cornroaster

Paseo Palms in Palm Desert CA gives IDine miles but not on AMEX. Mrs Cornroaster and I both lost the 5000 mile Delta bonus because of this. We were only in Southern California for the last week of the recent promotion. That hurts, as we had 4 other Delta IDines apiece that did post.

georgepds

Had a similar experience up here in the northeast... live and learn.

G

margarita girl

Hmmm. Isn't the whole point of this thread to name those restaurants?

Barton Cove

I thought so - but I'm still waiting for the OP to come back and let us know where the original restaurant is.

One addition to the list that I've had negative experience with is Victoria's Diner in Boston - takes Amex but doesn't give miles for it.

Not a bad diner if you find yourself needing a bite after shopping at the South Bay Center, but make sure you use Visa/Mastercard.

rhwbullhead

The merchant agreement with Visa and Mastercard prohibit places from requiring a minimum. Below is a link to a form on the mastercard site where you can report violations. I doubt they really do anything unless a ton of people report a place, but I like reporting places because at least I feel like I'm doing something about it.

http://www.mastercard.com/us/persona...iolations.html

Otherwise, you can talk to the manager, call you credit card etc and argue with them.

I think the bar is a good place to force them to take your card. At a store, they can just refuse to sell you stuff, but at the bar, they already prepared the drinks. They can either take you card (you can even claim you have no cash) and follow the merchant agreement, or they can violate the agreement and waste the made drink.