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SCMP Reporter

AMERICAN Express cancelled contracts last year with about 100 businesses that failed to meet the obligations imposed under its service agreements.

  Larry Sze, vice-president of business partners for Amex, said: ''We would prefer to lose the service establishment [business] than the card member, reflecting our policy of putting people first.''   In addition, the company issued hundreds of verbal and written warnings to businesses about which there had been complaints, Mr Sze said.

  Businesses that have contracts with American Express are known as service establishments, or SEs.

  Mr Sze said the main reason Amex cancelled the contracts was because extra discriminatory charges were levied on people who chose to pay by card.

   This abused the consumer's right to be protected against such charges, he said.

  However, those cancellations represented only a fraction of the number of Hong Kong businesses that accepted payment by American Express card.

  The card member's consumer rights are quite clear.

  Holders should confidently expect to be able to use the card at any outlet displaying the Amex decal without the imposition of any additional or adverse conditions.,   The only exceptions to these principles are where local law specifically prohibits such international use; for example, an Amex card denominated in Indian rupees cannot be used outside India.

  Card members who feel they have been financially discriminated against should immediately complain to Amex.

  Verbal, telephone or written complaints will all be accepted and dealt with.

  Amex will then investigate the complaint and, if the customer does prove he or she has been overcharged, the difference will be refunded.

  Under normal circumstances, Amex guarantees to resolve the dispute within 21 days.

  The consequences for the offending SE are likely to be significantly more severe.

  An Amex territory manager will visit the SE and, if the complaint is genuine, will issue a verbal warning to the company.

  This will be followed by a written warning. Two, or at the very most three, warnings may be given.

  For serious breaches of the agreement, the SE connection with Amex may be cancelled immediately.

  Overall, the subject of consumer rights regarding the use of either credit or charge cards seldom receives serious attention in Hong Kong for two related reasons.

  First, there is no law that directly addresses the topic, and that, in turn, is because there is perceived to be little in the way of a serious problem.

  However, it has not stopped American Express from establishing what amounts to its own police force to monitor the businesses that accept the famous card.

    A ''mystery shoppers' team'' regularly tours the Amex-linked businesses to ensure they are adhering to their obligations.



Big Amex puts little people first