Thread: Bagel boys doesn't

I wouldn't skimp on customer service. I would still take American Express if I had the choice. Currently for my own business, I DO take American Express through various online payment processing services and the fees I get charged reflect it.

Relating to having AMEX being not accepted...

Seeing as how AMEX has been the best for me in terms of customer service (general, fraud and lost-and-found-related, credit counseling, benefits/features-related) and has been the best for me in terms of warranty issues (all electronics get purchased on my AMEX now; no ifs, ands or buts about it anymore)...

I feel disappointed when AMEX isn't accepted at a store because AMEX to me = security and quality. Especially because of the buyer protection feature, I feel - to a degree, though yes, it can depend on the store - that a store that refuses to accept AMEX may not be as accountable as a store that does.

Restaurants I'm kind of ehhh about and won't/don't care too much about unless the quality of the food and service is subpar. If the quality of the food and service is subpar, then I start equating their lack of AMEX acceptance as relating to their quality.

Truth where I live:

All the places that I have been to that haven't accepted AMEX are places that I have experienced issues with.

Unnamed Electronics Store - before they accepted AMEX - had horrible quality control issues. Things were cheaper there, but things were often DoA there as well. Oftentimes, they were bad about returns even though the item was proven to be a DoA and not a damaged item after it was bought and I had to fight with them to even just exchange something. When AMEX was accepted, I suddenly stopped experiencing quality issues to the amount that I had experienced before and other shoppers reported similar. In this particular case, personally, I think that accepting American Express = more accountability because the store knows that unhappy shoppers who get craptastic items that are dead on arrival will more than happily turn towards American Express to take care of the problem if the store refuses to take care of a legitimate problem.

Unnamed Restaurant - To this date, I can never predict what some of their dishes (which they have served for years and years now) will taste like and I can't promise that their greens won't come with a tiny frog cooked in with it by accident (I kid you not; this has happened before on more than one occasion and yes, this restaurant still exists and no, I don't eat there anymore). To this date, they also don't accept AMEX. Hmmmmm.

Unnamed Restaurant - This place has always had good food and without the problems described in the first restaurant situation. When they were smaller/younger, they didn't accept AMEX but then they got bigger/older, they did and have been accepting AMEX for years now and their food is just as delicious as it was before and the service is still as excellent as it was before.

A lot of small shops and restaurants don't accept AMEX, most citing the higher fees, but a small shopkeeper once told me he gets more charge-backs from AMEX as well, meaning that AMEX customers are more likely to dispute a charge, and the disputed charge result in a loss for the merchant.

I once went to a Chinese restaurant near my home, and was presented the bill in an American Express restaurant check wallet, you know, the vinyl one with a pocket for the bill and another for a charge card. When I presented my AMEX for payment, they told me they don't accept AMEX! I showed him the AMEX logo on the outside of the wallet, and at that point his English went from broken to non-existent.