Of course, that value is entirely funded out of your own pocket.
Instead of paying with your Amex for overpriced goods, you could put a bit of money to the side for every normal purchase, and use that pot to 'refund' your electric screwdriver yourself.
The Amex makes me confident I have recourse. Is your point that I would spend less if I didn’t have that confidence? I suppose so, but I’d actually rather prefer having that confident experience rather than feeling insecure or like I got ripped off.
That’s real value, and I don’t mind if it means I buy an extra tool here and there. Especially if I can get some extra refunds.
Cheaping out on processing fees or putting friction on the payment part will be a signal that you don't understand your customer and will potentially be nickel and diming the experience all the way down, which is clearly not the image you're trying to convey.
In other countries like Romania the taxi drivers just laugh in your face when you try to pay with an amex. I hate that thing but our stupid HR VP from the US forced it on all of us. Probably gets some nice kickbacks in return.
It’s almost as if a business needs to decide if it’s mass market or high end. I would only buy certain classes of goods with my AmEx due to how confident I am that Amex customer service has my back.
For example, the Amex platinum card will reimburse you for items the merchant won’t accept as a return. I recently bought an electric screwdriver that sucked, but wasn’t able to make a decision until I’d used it for longer than the merchant return window. I paid with amex and just got it refunded.
As a consumer that has real value.