Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site alice.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!alice!ark From: ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) Newsgroups: net.consumers Subject: Re: Amex card fees Message-ID: <3967@alice.UUCP> Date: Wed, 10-Jul-85 11:12:30 EDT Article-I.D.: alice.3967 Posted: Wed Jul 10 11:12:30 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 12-Jul-85 00:23:48 EDT References: <1605@orca.UUCP> Organization: Bell Labs, Murray Hill Lines: 21 > American Express charges 4%. The difference between 3% and 4% isn't > enough for a merchant to get bothered about, especially since you're > less likely to have an AmEx charge go bad than a Visa/Mastercard > charge. AmEx REQUIRES that you get the customer's signature, hence no > AmEx telephone orders. Visa/Mastercard don't require this, but, if you > don't have the signature, they can refuse to pay the charge (by > debiting your bank account) without justification, and the merchant has > no recourse. Also, if the charge is more than $50, the consumer can > challenge the charge even if the merchant got a signature. I know of several merchants that will take American Express phone orders. A number of years ago, when I still had an American Express card, I rented a car for a long trip. By way of a deposit, the rental company ran my AmEx card through their imprinter. I told them I wasn't going to sign a blank charge ticket. They said that was OK; I didn't have to sign it to be obligated to pay it. They were right. After the trip was over, and I had paid for everything, that blank, unsigned charge ticket turned into an extra charge of $99.10 out of the blue. It took me months to get it straightened out.