I'm feeling a bit miffed at Amex atm. They sent me an email with the title "Want to shop in the US? Step this way…" It was a promotion where you pay a flat shipping fee of $9.95 on orders over AU$100.
Thought I'd check out some new runners so I went to Shoes.com which was one of the US stores they were promoting and priced some
Asics Women's GEL-Kayano 18
The US price - US$149.95
The Australian price - AUD $195.02
What a rip-off.
Once upon a time, shops in the US wouldn't ship overseas.
When did this change and I miss it? I'm completely sick of even bothering with US shops for this (and the markup) reason.
I sent an email of complaint to Amex and got this response. It's quite well written I think, whether it will actually make any difference is another matter.
…. "I'm a Manager with the Email Servicing Team and apologise as my team member did not address your concern.
I understand that you are disappointed with our recent marketing offer of flat rate shipping for US shopping as the partners are overcharging the Australians.
We take this as a feedback and I have forwarded it immediately to our Marketing Team. Feedback from our Cardmembers represents valuable information and American Express takes it very seriously. No matter how critical, it is an important part of our process in improving all of our services. We will definitely this in mind before designing our next Marketing promotions.
We thank you for brining this to our notice and regret any inconvenience caused to you.
Sincerely, " ….
The practice is becoming more commonplace. Once upon a time, shops in the US wouldn't ship overseas. Now that they do, some online of them charge overseas customers more than they charge customers in the US. I've seen up to 30% extra. Sometimes, they offer free shipping to Australia, but that doesn't come close to covering the price difference.