I would like to personally explain and respond to the comments being made about our Club Membership Program
I'd like to explain to you how the membership program started and what it has evolved too. It was started in 2005 and has always been a voluntary program. You don't need a membership to shop with us. We devised the program as a thank you incentive to our loyal customers. If you are a member you will have read that the program did state that it was subject to change without notice. However, we never made a change to the program within a calender year. We never made adjustments to the program until the enrollment renewal period.
Here is some history FYI:
1. Membership Club created in 2005, enrollment fee $10.00 - Membership fee in 2013, still $10.00
2. Original Cash & Carry Savings was 1/2 GST (7% GST save 3.5%, 6% GST save 3%). When the GST dropped to 5%, our discount still remains at 3%.
3. Originally our discount on the 1 day per month Members Day was 15%, Jan 2013 we changed to 10% off for Members Day.
4. We added high value feature to the program in 2012. We added a 7 Day Saltwater Fish & Coral Warranty for our Members. Remember we also quarantine the fish before we sell them to you (that costs a considerable amount of money for us to operate, but selling the healthiest fish possible is extremely important for us and for you our valued customers)
5. Instant savings of 3% Off on Cash & Carry, is a superior program than a Point System. The savings are instant and you don't have to track your points or carry a card.
6. We have been offering more variety and steeper discounts on the Pre Boxing Day Sale. This special sales day was also not part of the original membership. It was added about 4 years ago.
Our decision to lower the percentage was done because we are changing up our specials to be more varied. IE: 10% off everything (unless it is Ecotech), then we are going to have 'special' higher discounted items and selected livestock that will be discounted further than the old 15%.
This change up is actually allowing us to offer more, not less.
I think we have been very fair with our program and we have added value to it consistently since 2005.
I'd also like to address the comment that we don't price match. We DO PRICE MATCH. Like every retail store (including big chain stores like Best Buy), we do not price match Online Stores ( we have made exceptions if the request was not unreasonable). We do price match local retail stores and have never refused such a request.
I hope this clarifies what is being said. Please keep in mind, things said on Forums isn't always true. If you care enough about this topic to engage conversation about it, please pick up the phone and call & talk to our Management and hear the facts first hand.
We have many customers that see the obvious value in our Club Membership Program. Please consider these points and you will see the logic and fairness in which it was designed.
Sincerely,
Randy & Lori Cameron
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