Dec 07, 2012 11:09 AM
21128 Views
I subscribed to Amex 1 year ago, paying a membership fee primarily so as I prefer quality service and rewards for my usage, than the usually low burn of the joining fee (Rs.5000).
I was a frequent flyer with kingfisher, and I took this kingclub card. Firstly, I was surprised to see that they offered me another frequent flyer number (than using my existing one). When asked why (Whilst I had clearly written my earlier FF number in the app form) they said there were some transaction errors and asked me to transfer miles from my old card to new one. They were helpful, but it took numerous calls and follow ups from my end. Everytime I speak to their customer support, I would receive a polite, re-assurance but found the efficiency of the overall process low.
They offer more reward points / buck spent than other card companies. However, the value of such a reward point is almost 3 times lower than that of a competition. For example, for a 400 Rs. voucher from Dominos, you'll have to trade 1700 points (You'd earn 1700 points if you spend approx Rs.80, 000 on your card. ie, the real value you get in return is approx 0.4 % on spending). Now this is pittance, isnt it, for the tall claims they make ?
I was told by their sales executive who sold this card to me, that there are no 'Transaction Fees' for any transactions that I make abroad, other than the 'conversion charges', and this is accomplished by Amex running their own switching channel, unlike Visa / Master cards issued by other banks. This was a great selling point appealed to me, as I always find the conversion rates on other cards high, and hesitant to carry cash / TC / Pre-Paid cards everytime I travel (which I do frequently). I used my amex card for a few months, never noticed the conversion rate in the statements, as I never found an additional 'Fee' mentioned in the statement. Last week, I did take some time out to reverse calculate the rates applied on USD and found out that its atleast 2 Rs higher than the market rate. I called amex customer care to inquire about it, and they said there is a 3.5 % conversion fee, and 11% service tax levied on every USD.
This was a shock to me, and this is more or less that my other card companies offer too (But they explicitly mention it in their statements, where as Amex was kind of plaiying it low). I raised a concern, and the callcenter manager promised me a call back (which I never got).
Net-Net, Amex is nothing but another credit card company, packaging their offerings to look sexy and attractive with fluent and smart sales and customer care people. If you really look at the value prop, it isnt any different than any other card companies. Efficiency of resolving the disputes are similar, and value offered for the money / loyalty is similar as well. They promise things to you, and they have 'less irritating on phone / friendly looking' customer care, however, the outcome is all the same.
On a foot-note, I use KOTAK credit card as well. What I like about them is that, the reward points unclaimed get translated back in to Rs and gets credited back in to your account. Thats something which I find useful. I'd probably stick back to Kotak. I asked Amex to cancel my card.
