I see why people complain now

La Gasser wrote:
I too received a $25 Gift Certificate for signing up for 2 years with Good Sam. I went to Camping World to purchase a few items and used the $25 Gift Certificate. Later I noticed on the sales receipt that the "Return/Refund Price" of each item had been reduced by the amount of the Gift Certificate allocated to each item, so that means if I was to return all of the items, I o would not get back the value of the $25 Gift Certificate, only the amount I paid out of pocket. Spend it once and it's theirs to keep - tuff luck customer!! Had I not used the Gift Certificate then the refund price would have been the total amount of the item I had paid. This is the only store I know of that cheats you out of a gift certificate if you were to return an item purchased using it. At this point, I doubt that I will renew my Good Sam membership, and am even considering canceling it at this time. Passport America is a much better deal for us.

JC Penney and Macys do the same with their "rewards" gift certificates. I do not know personally if Sears does but I have been told they do too. Seems these stores think since you did not pay for the "free" gift certificates you are not out of pocket on the rest of the cost of the item.

Silly me, I joined the Good Sam CLUB to attend Samborees, join a local chapter and make RVing friends. I don't give a hang about the discounts, ERS, Camping World, or all the other marketing nonsense.

La Gasser wrote:
I too received a $25 Gift Certificate for signing up for 2 years with Good Sam. I went to Camping World to purchase a few items and used the $25 Gift Certificate. Later I noticed on the sales receipt that the "Return/Refund Price" of each item had been reduced by the amount of the Gift Certificate allocated to each item, so that means if I was to return all of the items, I o would not get back the value of the $25 Gift Certificate, only the amount I paid out of pocket. Spend it once and it's theirs to keep - tuff luck customer!! Had I not used the Gift Certificate then the refund price would have been the total amount of the item I had paid. This is the only store I know of that cheats you out of a gift certificate if you were to return an item purchased using it. At this point, I doubt that I will renew my Good Sam membership, and am even considering canceling it at this time. Passport America is a much better deal for us.

Every coupon I've ever seen says clearly on it somewhere, "No cash value". Wy would you expect to get back money you didn't spend? We frequently shop at Kohls where the value of each item is reduced by the prorated amount ot the coupon. Sorry to disagree with you, but I see not problem with this policy. On the other hand, I think CW would do well to update their on-line coupon redemption.

jim1521 wrote:


I've learned that pretty much any campground that gives you a 10% Good Sam discount already gives a 10% AAA discount. It's a much greater value to me to be a member of AAA than it is were I to join Good Sam.

And one of the other posters hit it right on the head regarding the coupon: it's there to get you into the store. Nothing else.

I have AAA Premier + RV as well as Good Sam and Good Sam ERS. We travel to some pretty remote places and I want to be sure I'm covered by...someone. In the RV world, I've found numerous parks that offer Good Sam discounts but not AAA. I've also found the opposite at several parks (but far less than the other way around).

I appreciate Good Sam member discounts at Camping World stores, and the fact that it's a specialized "one stop shop" place for RV supplies, but am cognizant that I can sometimes get better prices elsewhere and shop carefully.

As far as I'm concerned, among the greatest benefits of my Good Sam membership is the Good Sam/Pilot-Flying J Card. The fuel discount is nice and the ability to charge a trip's fuel and pay later (without interest) is more like a "Cardlock Fuel" plan and I appreciate it that way. Plus, there's a discount on everything within Pilot-Flying J travel centers from food, to snacks to supplies and even coffee.

All of that said, I absolutely despise Good Sam's marketing like the email, in my inbox this morning, telling me that my "membership expires soon" (actually, it expires in FIVE MONTHS) and that I must act now to ensure that I don't lose my "Deluxe membership status" and continue to receive "Deluxe member benefits". Interesting that I've never been told, and never even heard of "deluxe membership status" and have never received "deluxe member benefits" of which I'm aware. Anyone else?

If there's one thing ol' Marcus is....it's a marketer to the point that sometimes I wonder if "Good Spam Club" would be a more appropriate name.

On Edit: I've just found this.

Deluxe members are anyone who has had a Good Sam membership for over 12 contiguous months.

Deluxe members enjoy these special benefits:

When using the Pilot Flying J RV Plus Charge Card, save 5¢ per gallon on gas and 8¢ per gallon on diesel
Free annual Multi-Point RV inspection at a Camping World SuperCenter

ALL Good Sam members receive at least that level of discount at Pilot-Flying J which leaves only the "Multi-Point RV Inspection" as the only "real benefit" That's mighty gracious of them. What are the odds that they aren't going to find something that needs attention, for which you will have to pay, in their "free inspection"? In a "past life" as I say, I used to work in the industry plus I'm a pretty respectable mechanic and RV tech in my own right. In other words, "Deluxe Membership" is pretty meaningless.

Hello,

I am closing this topic due to lack of activity. Thank you for your time and participating. Please feel free to open a new thread on this topic in the future if you wish.

Thank you,
Ella
Good Sam Care Team