so i just got totally chewed out because i dont take amex. she really took it personally!!! hey lady, they charge an obscene amout per transaction!! when i explain that to people they just dont get it. ive only had one customer not have another card. im just trying to keep my costs low here. this lady said i now have “one strike” against me!! i wanted to tell her to go outside and play hide and go F yourself :evil:
anybody experience this?
I have always accepted it even though the fees are higher. I have gotten tons of pretty large orders on Amex and I think thats because lots of business owners use them. Heck my Costco card is even an Amex, and I would never want to not accept such a huge customer base as that. I think if you accepted them you would be pleasantly surprised. Good luck!
Certainly not a scientific opinion but on orders for promotional products I do, AMEX has a larger average order than VISA which is higher than MasterCard…I just average all the costs of cc processing and make sure I have enough in my margin to cover it…
I accept Amex but do not advertise that fact. If the customers ask I readily take it but I do advertise VISA and MC as well as Interac. Just this week alone I have taken 4 Amex orders that were each over $150.
Was she hot? Not hiding might have gotten you more business 
You should bite the bullet and sign up for American Express acceptance. If nobody uses it, it doesn’t cost you a penny. Then, if a customer only has that card, you can readily accept it and have another happy customer.
I take V/MC, AmEx & Discover at my store. I also accepted Diners Club when it was a stand-alone card. Several years ago, IBM changed from AmEx to Diners for their corporate card. Having a large IBM facility as a rather large customer was always a plus for me and the idea of not being able to accept their cards was never an option. I called my processor and had Diners Club acceptance within a couple of days. Didn’t cost me anything if they didn’t use it, but it was a plus if they did.
We are in a location with a large office/manufacturing/warehouse district within 2 miles of my store. I do a lot of large orders with these businesses and it’s always a plus when I tell them I accept AmEx. In January & February of 2008, I have done $3500 in AmEx alone. Would they have ordered from me if I didn’t accept AmEx? Possibly not, if that was
the only company card available.
Just another way to be one up on your competition in my opinion.
[quote="snowman
Was she hot? Not hiding might have gotten you more business :)[/quote]
no unfortunatley she wasnt 
, she was old and bitter…
i also want to say that this situation rarely if ever comes up, and i dont know why but it irks me
From my experience the bulk of my large catering orders are charged through AMEX…almost all of our pharma reps we have on file ALL have AMEX…I am not sure how many would have an alternative card that they would be willing to use, but why chance it.
All I do know is that in my previous life as an auditor we all were issued an AMEX corp card and that dictated where we would bring our corporate business.
In my opinion their higher rates should outweigh lost sales but like anything else it all depends on your market
Get Amex. You will gain more business than you will ever give up in costs. You don’t know how many people don’t even “place” orders with you because you don’t take it. The tickets are much higher for Amex as others have said. A lot of companies only use Amex.
The argument is the same as it is for VISA/Mastercard.
Just Get it. Accept it as a cost of doing business.
you are loosing ALOT of business, I didnt know how much until I started taking it. every single corporate office and pham rep uses it