Amex foreign transaction fee charges

ThriceNightly · 3 Feb 2017 at 21:01

Hi
Paid on my credit card for a Pre-orderd £900 item from an Australian retailer and got charged 3% foreign transaction fee on top circa £25

Item had a 5 month delivery lead time before fullfilment. However after getting made redundant 3 weeks after placing the order I decided to cancel the order.

Spoke to Amex about reversing the transaction and they advised me to contact the seller who agreed full refund however with my recent statement I now have another 3% charge on the refund.

Where do I stand with the now circa £50 in fees from the credit card company and is there any scope in me getting these fees refunded?
Thanks

Diddums · 3 Feb 2017 at 22:29

This thread will not end well. Good luck

dowie · 3 Feb 2017 at 23:01

Probably not, why should you get a refund?

Granted 3% is rather steep but you chose to accept that deal.

Soupy · 4 Feb 2017 at 06:54

The banks always win ... even when you think they lose, they win!

lude1962 · 4 Feb 2017 at 07:14

Thats how Amex make their money.

Just for interest what are the customs charges on a £900 item from Australia?

Tefal · 4 Feb 2017 at 07:18

has suspicion of what the op ordered

cainer · 4 Feb 2017 at 07:30

Tefal said:
has suspicion of what the op ordered

yeah i had exactly the same suspicion!
but i dont think RealDolls are made and shipped from Aus?

Tefal · 4 Feb 2017 at 07:34

oh no i was thinking of lighting equipment

Efour · 4 Feb 2017 at 08:07

You're only the second person I know who has an American express, the other being my sister in law. There's absolutely zero reason why you should get the currency or transaction fees back they are pretty standard charges.
I would go directly back on the phone and beg the unemployed sympathy route.
Good luck.

Jono8 · 4 Feb 2017 at 09:08

Efour said:
You're only the second person I know who has an American express, the other being my sister in law.

Thanks for the info. Very enlightening. I have one also so now you know three! Yay!

EGuitarStar · 4 Feb 2017 at 11:27

You appear surprised by the fees, but they do state any/all fees prior to you taking out the card.

Also, I have an Amex card too.

talkshowhost · 4 Feb 2017 at 11:39

I am afraid you are stuck to be honest. However try sending Amex a very nice web note as Their customer service is brilliant I stupidly forgot to pay a bill and they halved the interest amount I was due (about £100) I have been a customer for 10 years though but worth a shot.

Russinating · 4 Feb 2017 at 11:47

Amex have some of the highest fees for foreign transactions, why did you use that card?

Jono8 · 4 Feb 2017 at 11:57

talkshowhost said:
I am afraid you are stuck to be honest. However try sending Amex a very nice web note as Their customer service is brilliant I stupidly forgot to pay a bill and they halved the interest amount I was due (about £100) I have been a customer for 10 years though but worth a shot.

They are brilliant.

I didn't get some points added and queried it and because they took more than a few days to respond (I just politely chased them up as they say they will respond in 48 hours but it had been nearly 5 days) they just credited me with £10 (and resolved the points issue).

I didn't even really complain and got a free tenner!