AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[Mal]

Amex really need to deal with the increasing number of hotels charging for Amex usage.

It is almost universal in Australia now. Very, very frustrating, and I can tell from my interactions with counter staff that they hate enforcing the surcharge.

It particularly annoys me when you get charged the surcharge on prepaid rates when there is no other way to prepay the booking (Holiday Inn and their partners are one of the worst candidates here)

 

[oz_mark]

Amex really need to deal with the increasing number of hotels charging for Amex usage.

It's not just Amex they surcharge on.

It is almost universal in Australia now. Very, very frustrating, and I can tell from my interactions with counter staff that they hate enforcing the surcharge.

It particularly annoys me when you get charged the surcharge on prepaid rates when there is no other way to prepay the booking (Holiday Inn and their partners are one of the worst candidates here)

I'm not actually convinced they are complying with the component pricing legislation. If it is unavoidable, the total, including the surcharge, should be just as prominent as the pre-surcharge amount. Maybe something that the ACCC should look at, and make a ruling.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

If it is unavoidable, the total, including the surcharge, should be just as prominent as the pre-surcharge amount. Maybe something that the ACCC should look at, and make a ruling.

There is actually a website that I've used before called Always on Sale, and the *only* way to pay is via CC (VI/MC/AMEX), and they have a 1.5% CC surcharge (and even from reading their FAQ, they don't accept bank transfers, cheques, etc etc)... I really don't get why they don't just increase the price for everything on the site by 1.5% and be done with it... just stupid really!

Also, in terms of other surcharging, Strike bowling at Wintergarden in Brisbane has re-introduced their AMEX/DC surcharge, but it's now 3.5%, rather than the 3% that it was before... Weird thing is that it only applies on the front counter (where you actually pay for bowling games), and doesn't apply at the bar when ordering food and drinks (where we spent most of our money that night)...

I've also recently ordered invitations online, and the website stated that AMEX would have a 3.5% surcharge (it was the only one I found through Google that even accepted AMEX - later, the Yellow Pages suggested others, but I'd already chosen my design)... yet I was pleasantly surprised that when paying, the website did not apply any surcharge when entering my AMEX number (my guess is that they just mentioned a surcharge in a few places in the hope that it would reduce the number of people using it, while still offering it for those using corporate cards, or who particularly want the extra points while not wanting to lose a sale)... not going to mention the business name here - just in case they Google themselves and find this (and fix the 'problem')... but anyone interested is more than welcome to PM me (... still waiting for them to arrive, so I can't comment on quality yet lol)

Was also pleasantly surprised that Stamford reduced the 1.5% CC surcharge to ~0.66% on checkout (didn't ask - even said that the fee was fine when handing over the card)... they must have seen the number of food and beverage charges on the account, or somehow managed to type 0.0066 instead of 0.015 when determining the fee... haha!

 

[drron]

I am also getting heartily sick of hotels surcharging.happened at Rydges Hobart at 3% for Amex.Told the woman at checkout that even I when in business could get a fee of 1.5% if Amex was used,ATO charges 1.27% saying that is their cost so Rydges is making a profit on the 3% charge.Then added -that is why i will never be back.
Surely the Government could tweak the legislation so that a business could surcharge no more than their cost.

 

[wxxnxs]

Was also pleasantly surprised that Stamford reduced the 1.5% CC surcharge to ~0.66% on checkout (didn't ask - even said that the fee was fine when handing over the card)... they must have seen the number of food and beverage charges on the account, or somehow managed to type 0.0066 instead of 0.015 when determining the fee... haha!

Which Stamford are you talking about, stamford hotels for which property? I work for that group and haven't heard any information about the surchage has been reduced, the staff must be new and doesn't know exactly how much should charge. This kinda of surchage has became a very important part in our Year end auditing report. I think the head office people must care about this very much.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Yes, I was talking about Stamford Hotels & Resorts Since you work for the group, I won't mention the particular property name, as I don't want the staff member to get in trouble - they were quite chatty, courteous, and friendly, and I have no reason to see them get a strike against their name

Having said that, the surcharge imposed at Stamford has influenced my decision to stay elsewhere on more than one occasion, despite being a Senators Club member... Their hotels scream class and elegance, yet the reception desk and online booking portal screams 'stingy' and 'gouging' due to the surcharge (I mean, charging $4-5 for a small Coke from the mini bar, and then saying that they need an extra 1.5% just to cover payment costs is utterly ridiculous - surely there is enough margin in a $5 Coke... (as an example, of course))

I've had 3 stays in Stamford properties in the last month alone, however that number would be much higher if there was no surcharge - as most other 4.5/5 star hotels are happy to remove their surcharge when booking by phone, on mention that I'm a Senators Club member and am looking for a hotel that doesn't charge a fee just to pay...

Not sure how senior you are in the company, but perhaps consider making a reduced (or no) surcharge a published benefit for Senators Club members? You don't get too much extra value out of the membership otherwise - particularly as I've never been able to use my 50% off vouchers...

 

[wxxnxs]

Yes, I was talking about Stamford Hotels & Resorts Since you work for the group, I won't mention the particular property name, as I don't want the staff member to get in trouble - they were quite chatty, courteous, and friendly, and I have no reason to see them get a strike against their name

Having said that, the surcharge imposed at Stamford has influenced my decision to stay elsewhere on more than one occasion, despite being a Senators Club member... Their hotels scream class and elegance, yet the reception desk and online booking portal screams 'stingy' and 'gouging' due to the surcharge (I mean, charging $4-5 for a small Coke from the mini bar, and then saying that they need an extra 1.5% just to cover payment costs is utterly ridiculous - surely there is enough margin in a $5 Coke... (as an example, of course))

I've had 3 stays in Stamford properties in the last month alone, however that number would be much higher if there was no surcharge - as most other 4.5/5 star hotels are happy to remove their surcharge when booking by phone, on mention that I'm a Senators Club member and am looking for a hotel that doesn't charge a fee just to pay...

Not sure how senior you are in the company, but perhaps consider making a reduced (or no) surcharge a published benefit for Senators Club members? You don't get too much extra value out of the membership otherwise - particularly as I've never been able to use my 50% off vouchers...

I'm glad that you mentiond you are a Senators club member, we do offer CC surcharge free at the moment, unfortunately it only applys to top 10 corporate accounts (each property could be different), if you are one of the employee of them, then you won't get ripped off when pay by CC. We are still trying to negotiate with head office to see if cc surcharge for Senators club member can be waived, but so far nothing will be changed. I definitely will bring your concern to the management level and hope some extra benefits will be brought to SCM.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I'm glad that you mentiond you are a Senators club member, we do offer CC surcharge free at the moment, unfortunately it only applys to top 10 corporate accounts (each property could be different), if you are one of the employee of them, then you won't get ripped off when pay by CC. We are still trying to negotiate with head office to see if cc surcharge for Senators club member can be waived, but so far nothing will be changed. I definitely will bring your concern to the management level and hope some extra benefits will be brought to SCM.

Thanks for that! Unfortunately, that top 10 exemption doesn't apply to me, but hopefully something will change in the future (don't have any stays in Stamford planned now for at least 3-4 months)

 

[RB]

Their hotels scream class and elegance, yet the reception desk and online booking portal screams 'stingy' and 'gouging' due to the surcharge (I mean, charging $4-5 for a small Coke from the mini bar, and then saying that they need an extra 1.5% just to cover payment costs is utterly ridiculous - surely there is enough margin in a $5 Coke... (as an example, of course))

I am certainly not a fan of surcharges. It would seem that other people that also opt for "class & elegance" are less bothered by the surcharge on the room (or 7c or so on the coke) than you. I enjoy collecting points but I don't let it dictate my day to day decisions.

 

[KLN]

i just wish the SDRO office took AMEX, as they only take VISA/MC. My +1 has had a fortune in parking fines in the last 12 months.

 

[dontwanttoregister]

if you are one of the employee of them, then you won't get ripped off when pay by CC.

I beg your pardon? So you are quite happy to blatantly 'rip off' your other customers?

What a statement, but I'm glad that at least one organisation is proud to admit that they are simply ripping off customers, not hiding behind the facade of cost recovery. Or aren't you an authorised spokesperson for the company?

 

[Moopere]

I am certainly not a fan of surcharges. It would seem that other people that also opt for "class & elegance" are less bothered by the surcharge on the room (or 7c or so on the coke) than you. I enjoy collecting points but I don't let it dictate my day to day decisions.

Yes, I hear what you're saying in this comment. Nevertheless, unless you are able to find an absolute ton of points in other ways (big spender, tax, COGS for your business) then to play this points game you need to at least pay a little attention to maximising the points you gain ... else you end up with not enough to do anything much fun.

Also, lets not forget that in many many cases, the adding of surcharges and other costs which are not right up front in the room/hire/flight cost are simply sneaky ways to gain extra cashflow. After all, you could surcharge cash, cheque, account, travel agents, reward points, advertising recovery, employee wages recovery, tax recovery (big smile!), etc, etc.

There are always excuses and reasons that can be made up ad-hoc to increase a customers bill a little bit..

 

[wxxnxs]

I beg your pardon? So you are quite happy to blatantly 'rip off' your other customers?

What a statement, but I'm glad that at least one organisation is proud to admit that they are simply ripping off customers, not hiding behind the facade of cost recovery. Or aren't you an authorised spokesperson for the company?

Don't get me wrong. I am not the authorized spokesperson for my company, I just simply tell the truth from my opinion. The most shock thing for me is this CC surchage also applys to internal staff such as me which is clearly on the T&C not avoidable, so I do believe they are ripping off customers, hope this explaination will make you feel better.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I am certainly not a fan of surcharges. It would seem that other people that also opt for "class & elegance" are less bothered by the surcharge on the room (or 7c or so on the coke) than you. I enjoy collecting points but I don't let it dictate my day to day decisions.

It's not so much the 7c that I'm opposed to per se, but that in a hotel where you're paying top dollar (and quite deservedly so - their properties are lovely), I'd expect the price to include all the basics - and not having them tag on an extra fee just to pay, which just seems tacky... I suppose after being overseas for a few weeks, I'd just gotten used to businesses either accepting Amex surcharge-free or not at all - none of this surcharging rubbish that is so popular in Australia compared to the rest of the world... (even though the surcharge at Stamford is the same for all card types)

 

[oz_mark]

It's not so much the 7c that I'm opposed to per se, but that in a hotel where you're paying top dollar (and quite deservedly so - their properties are lovely), I'd expect the price to include all the basics - and not having them tag on an extra fee just to pay, which just seems tacky... I suppose after being overseas for a few weeks, I'd just gotten used to businesses either accepting Amex surcharge-free or not at all - none of this surcharging rubbish that is so popular in Australia compared to the rest of the world... (even though the surcharge at Stamford is the same for all card types)

Actually, I've never understood why hotels treat their customers the way they do, with all the nickel and diming, $1 local phone calls, $6 bottles of water and so on. And it seems the more expensive the hotel, the worse they get with it. But they seem to get away with it.

 

[Dr Bob]

I've used Sofitel about a dozen times in the last 12 months, both Sydney & Melbourne, & although there is a small sign on the reception desk about surcharges I've never been charged for Amex at checkout or prepaid internet bookings except the one occasion I used the express checkout ( left my details for them to process later ). So it's always stand in line for me now.

 

[docjames]

I've used Sofitel about a dozen times in the last 12 months, both Sydney & Melbourne, & although there is a small sign on the reception desk about surcharges I've never been charged for Amex at checkout or prepaid internet bookings except the one occasion I used the express checkout ( left my details for them to process later ). So it's always stand in line for me now.

You're lucky - surcharge for me at Syd Sofitel last August.

 

[Mal]

Ordered some pizza from Pizza Hut tonight. No Amex accepted (Remember using it around 18 months ago at a different Pizza Hut store ... shows just how frequently I buy pizza from there).

BTW, the pizza wasn't anything special.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Next time (whenever that may be), order it through their website if you're having it delivered, and you can use AMEX online... otherwise, on the Dominos site you can pay online with AMEX regardless of Pickup or Delivery, and also regardless of whether or not the particular store has AMEX enabled on their EFTPOS terminal(s).

 

[lovestotravel]

Dominos = :shock: - But yes online they accept Amex even if the store doesn't.
Pizza Hut = :shock: - Last time I tried (about 12 months ago) it wouldn't let me use Amex.

Found a local pizza shop that does woodfired pizza AND accept Amex

Problem solved