Difficulty using AmEx card in the Villages
 

I'm not yet a resident of the Villages, but my wife and I hope to move here soon. We've spent a couple of weekends, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and we're sure this is where we want to retire. I've only found one thing that irritates me: most of the merchants in The Villages WON'T take American Express. May not seem like a big deal, but my Amex Card is the only one I use for credit purchases. As a consumer, I've found American Express to be extremely accommodating when it comes to questionable charges, and when I need to call them, I always get to talk to a person - not a (*&^^$!! machine.

I understand that Amex charges the merchant a bit more than other cards, but it's not enough to send any of 'em into bankruptcy. It's also not "corporate policy", because the Villages takes American Express when we pay up front for our lodging costs. My wife's American Express gives us a 2% rebate on purchases, and mine is a frequent flyer card, and I've gotten several free flights with it. We'd both hate to give those 'perks' up.

If more people would insist that merchants take American Express, and start buying from someone who does, the merchants would take Amex in one heckuva hurry. Anyone with me on this, or am I a 'majority' of 1? :dontknow:

Let me just say, though, that that's a small thing. We LOVE The Villages, and all the really great people we've met.

re: Difficulty using AmEx card in the Villages
 

They also don't take Discover Card in some Villages establishments. :dontknow:

re: Difficulty using AmEx card in the Villages
 

:agree: I also use Am Ex for frequent flyer miles and have used them for years. It'll be hard to give up those perks but worth it to be a Villager. Someday...soon... But if more people did make an issue of it it might help move things along.

re: Difficulty using AmEx card in the Villages
 

I agree. I prefer my AMEX card over the others. I do carry a Mastercard just in case.

re: Difficulty using AmEx card in the Villages
 

I have to agree. My wife and I were ready to have a solar pool heater installed to the tune of around $4K. At the end of the presentation, and as we were about to close the deal, I asked if they took AMEX. The answer was "No," they lost the sale, and we will go with someone else, if we decide to do it at all, now. We use the Reward Points we earn for flights, golf clubs (my Nike Sumo 2), etc. And now the rest of the story: The salesman called us back three days later and said the owner decided to go ahead and let us use our AMEX. Well, by then, we had already talked ourselves out of the solar heater.

re: Difficulty using AmEx card in the Villages
 

I gave up my discover card and got a visa

re: Difficulty using AmEx card in the Villages
 

I have all three because I never know which one a business will take.

re: Difficulty using AmEx card in the Villages
 

Having been on the business end of taking major credit cards, I hesitated to take American Express because of the higher cost to the business people and the extra accounting. I started taking AE, but never found any increase in business over the next few years. It might be easier as a customer to carry a second card.

re: Difficulty using AmEx card in the Villages
 

i dumped amex several year ago as I was having trouble using it when i traveled, especially in Hawaii. Also dumped my Northwest Visa as they wanted 100.00 a year fee. I now have a MASTER CARD WITH WORD PERK MILES and everyone takes it.........

most merchants DO NOT take AMEX get a Visa, get a SW AIR VISA and get a free plane ticket.............I have been all over the country and abroad....most merchanys simply DO NOT take AMEX and many refuse Amex. Trav. checks as well.

5+ year old thread......

Bill :)

Hey Bill, let's have a belated 5th birthday party! The OP can provide the entertainment, I'll provide the pool and you can provide the birthday cake with popcorn frosting! :jester: :popcorn::1rotfl:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-46ftknkW6w...255B1%255D.JPG

To the OP, don't fret about missing the age of the thread. I've gotten caught missing a thread's age as I'm sure many of us have! :o

What's in your wallet???
 

You've seen the commercials for Capital One cards.....what's in your wallet??? Well they are really good. You get points and the points can go towards anything. They can go towards hotel room, train, purchase of new luggage, food, to pay anything. They are good to work with as well. No machine to talk to...just real people. We really like it.

Really, 5 year old post? Wonder if OP is still using that AMEX???:doh:

Five year old thread. Let's see who revived it............

That original poster and his wife have probably lived here for five years and I will bet you a nickel that he isn't worried about it now.:shrug::confused:

What say you Navy guy?