[topaz]

Was wondering if anyone has used an American Express Blue card and utilized the Best Value Guarantee; which states:


With the Best Value Guarantee, you'll pay the lowest price available on items purchased with the Card. If you see a covered item advertised in print for less than you paid within 60 days of the purchase date, we'll refund the difference to you, up to $250 per item.


I'm looking to buy the Denon 3802 at GoodGuys.com for $999.99 with free shipping and no sales tax. MPSuperstore has the same item for $769.99.
http://www.mpsuperstore.com/Electron...discr16547.htm


Therefore, I would receive the difference if I bought it with my American Express Blue card.


Has anyone tried this with the Denon or any other item. Any gotchas with doing a web ad. I called American Express (1-800-557-8317) and they said I'll have to do is send in my receipt from the GoodGuys and print out the ad from MPSuperstore. This just sounds to good to be true.


Not to mention the Blue card will extend the warranty by one year and allow me to return the item within 90 days.

 

[dblloyd]

A friend of mine has used this feature of the Amex Blue Card several times. It works. You can buy the item from a reputable dealer with good service, and then mail Amex your receipt and a print out of some half-crooked website with bottom basement prices. And they send you the difference.


Personally, I think Amex is nutty for doing this. But the bottom line is that they must be making more money by encouraging impulsive buying with the price protection.

 

[bwooster]

I think the Blue card is free of yearly fees too. I keep meaning to look into getting one but I have been too busy to really research it.

 

[topaz]

Here is a link to the blue card: American Express Blue Card


Click on the "Benefits of Blue" link on the left.


I applied online and was accepted in under a minute. I'm supposed to receive my card in a few weeks.

 

[CodeWzrd]

i read somewhere that Amex Blue is discontinuing the Best Value Guarantee May 1st. But I believe that they are offering it on their Optima credit card.

 

[RicardoD]

I used this feature of my Blue Card last christmas when I bought my digitial camera. It works great and I received my check within a few weeks.


I just emailed AMEX a printout in pdf format of a web page offering my camera for much less and they matched the difference.


All the best,

Ricardo

 

[dblloyd]

I don't work for Amex or anything, but I think I'm going to pick up the Amex Blue myself. Not specifically for this price protection feature. One of the coolest features that Amex provides with this card is that you can, using a PC and an accessory that they provide, specify an amount and have a new unique credit card number generated specifically for that amount. You can then use that credit card number to purchase something from a website (or normal store) and the website can only charge you up to the amount you specified.


Normal credit cards are actually pretty scary in that once you give your number to someone, their is nothing stopping them from charge whatever or whenever they like. I've hit some dishonest web retailers and it's a pain to have to carefully check your statement to make certain that someone hasn't charged you more than you thought you were paying, or sometimes they even slip in an extra charge out of nowhere.


If someone makes an unathorized charge on a normal credit card, you need to first email them. This has actually never help me, though, and they typically ignore the email. Then you need to call your credit card company and tell them that it was an unathorized charge, and they go to bat for you with the company. This normally fixes the problem. But it's a real waste of time, and leaves you feeling out-of-control of your account.


By they way, if you can use your debit card as a credit card, NEVER give out your number. If you do, your money can just disappear out of your account at any time without your authorization. I personlly don't think it's a good idea to have a debit card that can be used as a credit card.

 

[topaz]

CodeWzrd, do you have any idea where you read they're ending this on May 1st? I looked all over their website and couldn't find anything.

 

[goodconsumer]

I used to use the AMEX Price Match all the time. Just recently AMEX spent me some spam... which ended up being a good thing. Here's the most relavent section.


"Regarding Your Blue Benefits


Please be advised that as of May 1st, the Best Value Guarantee benefit will no longer be available on Blue from American ExpressSM. This benefit enabled Blue Cardmembers to shop for the lowest priced items by refunding the difference* between the item purchased and any covered item**. The program will cease for purchases made with Blue after April 30th, 2002.


Now you can comparison shop before making your purchase at ShopAmexSM, the online comparison shopping site from American Express! From books to CDs, toys to electronics, you can shop, compare, and then buy from some of the best merchants on the Web —without ever leaving our site! You can even use Membership Rewards® points to make purchases!


Don't forget—as a Blue from American Express Cardmember, you are eligible for additional premier benefits, such as...


• Online Fraud Protection Guarantee – Use Blue online, and

you will not be responsible for any unauthorized charges. Period. No fine print, no deductible—just pure protection, so you can shop with confidence anywhere on the Internet.


• Return Protection lets you return a covered item purchased with the Card (even if you purchased it online) when the merchant won't take it back. Just contact us within 90 days of the purchase, and you will be reimbursed for the full purchase price, up to $300 per covered item."



Some AMEX cards still have price protection, but they usually carry a significant fee (~$75), but in your case it's still worth it to get a card that carries it and get the Denon and then price match it (if your ethics allows you to do such things, but that's besides the point ). Try calling AMEX Price Matching and ask them which cards still carry the Price Matching. Anyways, hope this helped.


Note. I do not work for AMEX, but I might as well, with the (now defunct) Price matching and "random" credit card number generated (that usually expires on the month you create it), it was a great card... now it's a good card without much benifit unless you take advantage of the "passive" rewards. Which I usually don't.

 

[topaz]

The rumor is indeed true. Amex confirmed what has been discussed above. They do have some other cards with the Best Value Guarantee. The Gold series cards seem to still have these features.

 

[Tweakophyte]

On www.techbargains.com they mention that the gold card will have stricter price matching rules. Specifically, they won't pricematch if you get a rebate in the deal... the combo-pricematching was one of Blue's best features.


I am hoping that spending on Blue drops dramatically so they reinstate pricematching.

 

[theSSthatcould]

Is price matching available on the Am-ex platinum card?

Regards.

 

[goodconsumer]

Quote:

Originally posted by theSSthatcould Is price matching available on the Am-ex platinum card? Regards.

According to my friend, yes. But check the americanexpress.com site for more info/confirmation.

 

[topaz]

Well after a few days, and 11, yes ELEVEN 800 numbers later, I was able to cancel my Blue card and switch it over to the Optimum Platinum account. This account has no annual fee, 0% apr for 1st 6 months and and then prime plus 7.99%, but more importantly the Best Value Guarantee (Geez, I sound like a sales person).


Anyways, I'm supposed to receive the card in a few weeks. I'm going to order the Denon then and try the money back deal.

 

[topaz]

Ok, I ordered my denon from crutchfields for $999.99 + $15.99 (shipping) on my Optimum Platinum. I found the same item at crazyeddie.com for $719.95. Faxed in copies of both prices to AmEx. We'll see how long it will take to get the $250 check. Anyone have a timeframe how long it usually takes?


BTW, the Optimum Platinum will be discontinuing the Best Value Guarantee at the end of May. According to one of the AmEx reps, the only NO FEE card to offer the Best Value Guarantee will be Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. I'm sure it won't be long before this is canceled on this card as well.

 

[Kabillyhop]

There is a world of difference between the price protection that Amex intended to provide its users and a premeditated plan to buy at a known higher price and then stick Amex with the difference. That is called fraud, and if the ethics don't bother you, the legal implications should. Amex can and will take appropriate legal action if they suspect fraud. Guys, its not worth it.

 

[dblloyd]

The ethics question aside, I don't think that there is any way that Amex could prove fraud (unless perhaps you post your plan to a website?).


I believe that the idea behind this benefit is that it should help encourage you to buy with your Amex card. It doesn't matter if you could have found a better price somewhere else at that instant, the bottom line is that you didn't, and that's what this benefit is all about. Amex would have to prove that you premeditated this, which is effectively imposible unless you basically tell them.

 

[Tweakophyte]

I don't think that using Amex to buy at one place and pricematch at another is in any way near fraud. If it were, Amex would limit the places you used for pricematching, like Sears does. Also, each pricematch is audited and reviewed by person. I pricematched a few times and before I did, I asked them the limitations.

- Does the shipping cost matter?

- What if I got a rebate at one place?

- Any website? Really?


The only limits were $250 per item and $1000 per year. I recently pricematched and asked them why they were stopping the service. They claimed it was abuse of the system. The abuse was not based on where you bought versus pricematched. The service person told me they had people using multiple accounts to work around the $1000 per year limit.


I am sure the business model of this service showed that the average person would need to spend $$$$ to receive the max pricematch of $1000, and that on average only a certain percent of people would pricematch. Amex gets a service fee based on 1-4% (I think Amex goes that high) of the dollars you charge. They pay the pricematch company a fee per user, similar to an insurance company. Both companies can benefit.


I hope they reinstate this service. I like to buy computer components. It was nice being able to buy a part when it was new, knowing the price would fall in a month.


PS I pricematched an 80 gig hard drive at BestBuy. The Amex people encouraged me to do so as to avoid the $1000 max limit. The drive was at BB for $200 with a $75 rebate, when Circuit City had it for $150. BestBuy pricematched it, plus 15% of the difference even with the rebate.


PPS Rebates have a similar statistical analysis, and subject to the risk of abuse. I think I read somewhere that less than 30% of people actually redeem a rebate. That number must be drastically lower when there are two rebates to be submitted on one product.

 

[fredl]

 http://www.flyertalk.com/forumcgi/fo...e=5&LastLogin= is a very good place for information about American Express products, there are some very knowledgable people there who knows all the ins and outs of Amex products.

 

[dblloyd]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tweakophyte Amex gets a service fee based on 1-4% (I think Amex goes that high) of the dollars you charge.

I'm not sure exactly what the service fees are, but based on the stores/businesses that I know:


Amex charges 4% in the US, and 7% in Spain.


Visa/Master Card charge 1.5% in the US, and 4% in Spain.



When I recently went to Spain, many more places accepted Visa/Master Card, and it's no surprise as to why (7% !). Not many places were excited about taking my Amex. Even if they had a big Amex symbol in their front window, they often asked me to consider using a different card since the Amex. would cost them more money. So I did. What do I care?



I'm wondering if Amex's marketing strategy is to make their cards more attractive to consumers by including lots of benefits, but at the expense of making them less attractive to sellers since a higher processing fee is required to cover the cost of the benefits. In this way, lots of consumers would get an Amex. because they are attracted to the benefits, and then sellers are pressured into supporting what the consumers want.


But Visa/Master Card's strategy seems to be to make their cards more attractive to sellers by having less member benefits, and thus, allowing them to have a lower processing fee. This encourages sellers to accept the card and put a big Visa/Master Card symbol in the window indicating to consumers that this is what they need to shop there.



Personally, I think I like the Visa/Master Card approach better. Often stores will raise their prices to compensate for the added cost of dealing with credit cards, and then sometimes even offer you a discount for using cash. I'd rather stores only accept Visa/Master Card so that I'm paying as close to cash as possible. Additionally, most of Amex's benefits are difficult to use unless you are a traveling business man.



Just some random thoughts.