Did Sonic just stop accepting American Express?

[ggladsto]

I just received a an email from Sonic threatening to charge me late fees "Invoice #xxxxxxxxxx is due today and we haven't received payment. In order to avoid late fees please submit payment as soon as possible.". I have been on auto pay with my American Express card since October 2010. My American Express card that is on file with Sonic does not expire until well into 2020. What gives? To solve this threat I logged in and switched my credit card on file to a Visa card as quickly as I could.

What is going on here?

[cmeisel]

This is a perfect example of a posting that doesn’t belong in the forum. You should call them and find out and then, if it actually turns out they stopped accepting Amex without letting you or anybody else know, you should return and post about that. But nobody except support can help you to find out.

[dane]

Yes, we stopped accepting new Amex cards some time ago. But for members who had cards on file, we have continued to process payments, until that card stops working for any reason. So maybe a transient decline or other issue caused is to be removed from the account. That said, I believe the entire relationship with Amex is winding down soon.

Today we accept Visa/Mastercard or ACH (bank account draft) for payment for Sonic services. You can make adjustments to your payment method at: https://members.sonic.net/account/billing/options/

BTW, the why behind all of this: Amex charges larger fees. Those fees are passed on to all of our members in their subscription costs, so in order to save everyone those costs, we seek the most efficient bank clearing method. ACH is a new option for us, and is actually the lowest cost, so we will continue to encourage our members to use that method whenever it's possible. Debit cards are the next most efficient, but we really can't pick and choose between credit or debit - but we're happy when we see more folks choosing to use debit versus credit.

At the end of the day, Sonic is a simple business: Our goal is to expand our fiber optic network reach, improving the performance and reliability of our services over the broadest possible area, reaching the most homes and businesses. Being as financially efficient as possible is part of the way we further those goals.

[Pepe]

Was any notification sent out to the subscribers in advance? My Amex payment was also declined and I received an email from the billing group regarding this only a few days before my due date (which I should note didn't include any information about the change in accepting Amex for payment). I would prefer a more proactive notification to customers to prevent the unnecessary time spent dealing with this at the last minute only by reading this post.

[dane]

Was any notification sent out to the subscribers in advance? My Amex payment was also declined and I received an email from the billing group regarding this only a few days before my due date (which I should note didn't include any information about the change in accepting Amex for payment). I would prefer a more proactive notification to customers to prevent the unnecessary time spent dealing with this at the last minute only by reading this post.

For now at least, if the Amex continues to process, they have allowed us to continue to take it - but if it declines or expires, a new card is required and it must be Visa/Mastercard credit or debit.

[jenburke]

I am very disappointed that I can no longer use my American Express card for payments. The other payment methods will not work for me.

You said:

Being as financially efficient as possible is part of the way we further those goals.

I would say:

Being as financially accessible as possible is part of the way we further those goals.

I can guarantee you that you will be leaving potential customers on the table if you don't accept it; just ask other businesses that tried this.