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Re: Anyone need supplies?
Alan Stewart (alstew@GSVMS2.CC.GASOU.EDU)
Thu, 11 Feb 1999 10:23:52 -0500
Duh? Why not put the catalog on the internet? saves paper, postage and can
be changed daily.
At 05:23 PM 2/10/99 EST, you wrote:
>OK, we all need BSA supplies, and sometimes we complain, and sometimes we try
>writing to Irving, and all sorts of things like that.
>
>Our guest speaker at the Religious Relationships session this week was an
>Assistant Division Director for Sales/Operations, Supply Division. Can't
>remember the town but some of you may know him, he used to run one of the
>direct-sale Scout shops in a major city (and all I recall is it wasn't
>Chicago). So first of all the facts and details he did divulge (and if I had
>known I would've taken every recent complaint we have shared with me to share
>with him - however I think I did better, you'll see):
>
>1. Catalog seem smaller? It is. Know why? The USPS went through the submitted
>catalog with a razor. Can't sell the religious awards stuff and mail it out
>through this catalog, no siree. Unfair competition and selling merchandise
>that is unrelated to Scouting. Pull that section or we'll take away your
>permit for 3rd class non-profit. Lots of other items left out, too, because
>selling them through the catalog mailed at the discounted non-profit 3rd
class
>rate directly competes with all our OTHER sources for scouting supplies like
>sleeping bags, tents, maybe some day cooking gear. Oh, yeah, customized
sewing
>on merchandise? Guess where those pages went.
>
>BSA has appealed the decision but went ahead this year getting the catalog
out
>without many items we still sell that would provide us unfair competition.
>
>And they are considering losing their non-profit mailing status for the
>catalogs in order to include the things we've gotten used to seeing in the
>next one.
>
>In the mean time, order those Philmont Cruiser hats or a lot of other stuff,
>or have shirts made, or whatever. Just call supply and ask for help in
finding
>what you no longer have a catalog number for.
>
>2. You can give me all the numbers you want about stores and such, I'll sleep
>through it, too much like my job. However he caught my ear with a couple of
>tidbits:
>a) all buyers and just about everyone else working supply are now in
>Charlotte. So those complaints to the national office will just be bundled
>together and forwarded. More later.
>b) by having everyone there a buyer can look at a box as its delivered and
>realize we were taken advantage of, or the material isn't right, or the color
>is wrong. (Or, in Mike's favorite case, the knot has the right colors but
>they're stitched in reverse.) Supposedly.
>
>So we probably should have fewer purchasing errors which would keep down
costs
>which makes prices lower - eventually. Perhaps we'll stick to a phrase like:
>well, they won't rise as fast as they might have.
>
>3. They want to hear your problems and complaints. About any gear. So feel
>free to let them know, but tell them in Charlotte. More later.
>
>4. If you're ever in town they do have a tour, and y'all're welcome to stop
>by. They have presses, printers, looms, assembly lines - apparently we don't
>buy vitt'l'kits, we buy the knives, forks, and spoons, assemble them, and
toss
>them in a case we also bought, and that was just one example. (Think they'd
>adjust to just selling spoons for Philmont Trekkers?)
>
>5. So all you have are complaints? About cost, design, or something? Write:
>Steve Ericksen
>Assistant Division Director, Sales/Operations
>Supply Division
>2109 Westinghouse Blvd.
>Box 7143
>Charlotte, NC 28241-7143
>
>or call:
>800-323-0732
>
>Have fun! More as I dig through the 2 or 3 trees they killed just for us.
>(Could someone convince them to put everything on CD for both platforms, or
>would that be expecting too much?)
>
>Tom Petrik
>
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