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Sticky Cool, I scored us a KMS Tools Group account.

jmottle

Member
I wonder if a KBC discount could be had? Or Thomas skinner? Anybody have any contacts?

I just recently placed a large order at KBC and was going to reach out to the guy I was dealing with unless someone has a larger fish. The guy I'm dealing with is the one who handles all online orders for the company.
 

Jwest7788

Joshua West
Administrator
You're headed down a similar path as @Alexander, @jmottle, and I talked through over our lunch the other day. We have a couple of initiatives in the works, and this idea is one of them.

I'm open if anyone has contact's we can reach out to in the mean time though!


I also reached out to my contact at KMS to get some clarity on some of the issues members have been having benefiting from the discount, and will report back once I get a reply.
 

Toyguru

Member
Yeah, I've been getting feedback about this issue, and will have a new system in place for KMS before long!

JW
FYI, I asked KMS for a bit more info on the club program rewards and discounts and got this very quick response:

"Now that you’re set up, you just have to give your name or number at the checkout, and your Club discount and Rewards earning happen automatically!

You’ll receive whichever price is better between the club price or the sale price. There are a few items that the club discount does not apply to, where pricing is fixed such as Festool, SawStop, and gas.

I hope that’s helpful!

Have a great day,"
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
Does this actually reduce prices? They always ask if you’re a club member and the regular price is essentially the kms club price. Or is there an actual additional discount? I’ve registered for a corporate price using my company and that does help but only during M-F 8:30 -4pm at the industrial sales counter. I’m never there at those times so I typically end up paying retail. So do CHMF members pay less?
 

Toyguru

Member
I've found that regular priced items are a bit less with kms club, but sale priced items are just the sale price. The till receipt doesn't show regular price vs. Club price, only shows one price. I questioned it last visit, but did confirm I got a discount on regular priced items.
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
This group account has been really confusing. I don’t think it’s any different from their usual “member” price. You know where you need a “membership” just to get the usual price on things. Like Safeway. Or other stores.
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
This group account has been really confusing. I don’t think it’s any different from their usual “member” price. You know where you need a “membership” just to get the usual price on things. Like Safeway. Or other stores.


It's not what I wanted to hear, but it's an honest piece of advice. I'd rather honest truth than phoney promises any day of the week.

Thank you for that.

Any idea if we were able to get group discounts elsewhere?
 

Jwest7788

Joshua West
Administrator
It's not what I wanted to hear, but it's an honest piece of advice. I'd rather honest truth than phoney promises any day of the week.

Thank you for that.

Any idea if we were able to get group discounts elsewhere?


I don't disagree, it's been a bit confusing.

Okay, so I dug through the whole email chain (55 emails) with KMS Tools and copied the key parts below. The emphasis in bold is all mine, added just now.

KMS Tools said:
The Canadian Hobby Metal Workers Group Rewards account is ready to collect Rewards for you! I’ve linked your KMS Club account, so any purchases made under your name will now earn you Rewards. The more members you have linked to your Group, the more Rewards you can earn, so be sure to get your friends, family and fellow hobbyists on-board to get you more free stuff! Your members can fill out the simple attached form, or just mention they’d like to earn Rewards for Canadian Hobby Metal Workers next time they’re at the checkout.
(Attached what they sent me)

Jwest7788 said:
My group has been sending in alot of complaints that they are not able to collect on the group discount, as they are told at checkout "we can't find your group"

Alternatively, they are told "this discount is only for Joshua West, can I see your ID?"
(KMS calgary is where these complaints seem to originate most frequently.)

Other users are being asked to fill in forms and send it to head office, I assume to setup their own group discount?

KMS TOOLS said:
Sorry for all the confusion!

Any cashier is able to set a customer up as a KMS Club member for the discounts. This is generally done on an individual basis, rather than under the Group name, so it’s possible that some of them just haven’t joined the club yet.

In order to also earn Rewards for CHMW, their individual club membership needs to be linked to your main Rewards account, (This is like the part lost in translation) which may have newer cashiers confused and directing them to me. Having each member send me their form is good, however I’ll also remind the cashiers how to do it on their end. Or if you prefer and have permission from your members, you could provide us with a list of everyone’s name, address, phone number, email address, and preference of mail or email flyer, we can set them each up in one go.

Jwest7788 said:
I have been working on the "send a list of members" item, which has been a bit tricky, as our members do come and go from time to time.

Should we be "expiring" previous members and letting you know?

As this list keeps coming together, how do we add new members? Just send you the new list?

One idea we had was to setup a form on our website which could automatically send new member information to you. Would this make sense, or is it better to just send an update spreadsheet periodically?

If the above idea is acceptable, I would plan to send over a spreadsheet with the initial list of members, and then future members would simply send a notification to you (or whomever you want me to send it to) to keep up to date in future?

Also, do you have an easy way on your end to do the association? I am expecting a decent sized list initially, so want to do it in whichever manner is easiest for you! let me know!

KMS Tools said:
Unless a previous member requests it, I don’t see a need to remove them from earning Rewards for you.
As more members are added after the initial list, send along their information and we’ll add them. If you have a way to set up a form that sends it to me automatically, that would be great! Better than an updated complete list, as then we’d have to go through each one to see who’s already set up. Between me and our receptionist, we should be able to tackle the list in good time.

Skipping to administrative back and forth, but culminated in:


KMS Tools said:
Perfect! Everything [the form and spreadsheet] looks great.
I look forward to seeing the members roll in.


In re-reading it all, the fact that the group account and our normal club accounts are two seperate entities which need to be linked seems like the key detail causing confusion. It has been 5 years, so this info wasn't something I rememebered, but it does line up with my original post in this thread:

Jwest7788 said:
  • Next time you checkout let the employee at the till know that you want to be part of the Canadian Hobby Metal Workers Group Rewards account
  • Once associated to your normal KMS account, I'm under the impression that it's automatically associated to your account moving forward

From there, the form was created later, but it should be hashed out that form submissions associate normal club accounts to the group, but the fall back is at checkout:

I would like to associate my "KMS Club Account" to the Canadian Hobby Metal Workers "Group Rewards Account"
 

Attachments

  • Group Rewards Info & Form 2015.pdf
    591.1 KB · Views: 11

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
55 emails Josh? OMG. I can't believe you did all that. I think this means:

1) you have to associate your individual "membership" with the Canadian hobby metal workers group.
2) the discount for any member is nothing beyond the usual "membership" price
3) if we do 1 then any purchases accumulate at 2% to the forum which could be used to get forum goods which sounds quite good.

Do I have this right? Maybe ?
 

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Thanks, @Jwest7788. That was a lot of work on your part. I feel a bit badly to have precipitated that.

But it is a great summary.

I already had a personal account. But I completed the form and as far as I know, it was sent. But I have not heard anything from them yet. Feedback is an important element.

Just wondering - did we get anywhere with KBCTools? Also, are there any other major suppliers we should consider? Eg Grainger, Fastenal, metal supermarkets, accusize, etc?

Ps - as a guy who has setup a number of forums and websites over the years, I believe I can, appreciate what you do for us more than most. It's a mostly thankless job. So I wanted to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH! What you all do on our behalf is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!
 

Jwest7788

Joshua West
Administrator
55 emails Josh? OMG. I can't believe you did all that. I think this means:

1) you have to associate your individual "membership" with the Canadian hobby metal workers group.
2) the discount for any member is nothing beyond the usual "membership" price
3) if we do 1 then any purchases accumulate at 2% to the forum which could be used to get forum goods which sounds quite good.

Do I have this right? Maybe ?
Yep, I beleive this is all correct, which is sorta sucky that it's not an additional discount, but fortunately it's zero effort after setup.


Thanks, @Jwest7788. That was a lot of work on your part. I feel a bit badly to have precipitated that.

But it is a great summary.

I already had a personal account. But I completed the form and as far as I know, it was sent. But I have not heard anything from them yet. Feedback is an important element.

Just wondering - did we get anywhere with KBCTools? Also, are there any other major suppliers we should consider? Eg Grainger, Fastenal, metal supermarkets, accusize, etc?

Ps - as a guy who has setup a number of forums and websites over the years, I believe I can, appreciate what you do for us more than most. It's a mostly thankless job. So I wanted to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH! What you all do on our behalf is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!

Don't sweat it, most of the work was in the initial setup years ago, this was just digging through emails to get my bearings, not a big deal.

Yeah, it might be best that we stick to the checkout method in the short term, as I am not confident in KMS holding up their end of the form process, but I can batch accounts to them periodically too (which I'll do now).

And as always, I am happy to help! I really love this community, and while it disheartens me that my own shop isn't getting much use, I am quite pleased to do my part for the community!

JW
 
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