Sorry to hear about all the people who could be losing money! We were going to place a big order with them in the beginning of the month for our teacher gifts but were having such a hard time with customer serice and were treated so bad thank GOD we decided to look else where!
This company just went out of business!! I sent them almost all the money I saved all year for Christmas gift cards and received one card. I found out yesterday they went out of business and they still have $380 of my christmas money. Today is Dec. 24th. I hope they Know they ruined my Christmas!!
Lisa @ PTO Today
Visitor
14 years 4 months ago - 14 years 4 months ago#151811by Lisa @ PTO Today
I just got an e-mail that Simplified Scrip has closed their business as of December 21. They will be refunding any unfilled orders and then paying out any donations earned. They didn't say how long that would take - hopefully it won't become a problem for customers and schools to get paid.
My problem with Simplified Scrip is they eliminated a bunch of vendors from their website but did not change their flyer (the one we print out for our schools to choose from). So you have 30 teachers who choose a $10 gift card because it was on the flyer printed directly from their website and you go to order it and it is not longer there. Along with $5 Starbucks and a bunch of other cards.
My second problem is last year we received even the largest orders in 4 days. If they have had a change, fine, but let people know! Plus when you check you history everything is very general. It will say shipped but shipped when??? And again, customer service is TERRIBLE!!!! No one every answers the phone and when they do call you back they are RUDE!!!
I cannot stress enough, STOP USING THIS COMPANY. We are in the process of trying to find another or getting rid of this idea all together.
I don't know anything about Simplified Scrip's current position or prospects... and I'm also cognizant that message board feedback needs to be taken with a grain of salt sometimes (example: it's not unheard of for competitors to tar their competition on a web site).
But this kind of feedback is especially disconcerting in the scrip space. There is a fairly long history of *some* scrip companies struggling and then going down. The roughest part of that is that typically the last groups to make orders from those firms have suffered a great deal. Many moons ago, I actually worked for a company that operated a scrip piece of our business. So between that experience and my observations from PTO Today -- I feel like I know a bit about scrip.
It's a difficult business to run. Margins are tight. And lean, smart, efficient operations are essential. The typical challenge is cash flow, and that challenge gets bigger the more orders that come in. It takes good management to make it work.
There is good evidence that it can be done. Great Lakes Scrip Center, for example, has been doing it since before I was back in the 1990s, and they're still around. For all of those years they have refrained from go-go growth and really aggressive price discounting and really aggressive/expensive shipping options -- but they've been in business a long time, have helped a lot of schools raise a lot of money, and I've never heard a peep about struggles. Those first two things are connected to the third, in my opinion.
My biggest point here is that significnatly increased back orders, slower deliveries and less responsive customer service are exactly the symptoms that preceded the other flame-outs of years past. They're the common signs of trouble. My advice in response to those signs is to be more careful. Front less money (if any). Don't send dollars for a second order in if you're first order hasn't been processed well. Etc. There's always risk when you have to pay for anything in advance. But you can lessen your risk, if you're careful.
Again, I don't know anything about simplified scrip's current position nor can I confirm that these reports are true. Bu tI can say that these types of reports are the kinds of things that preceded previous problems with other companies. And my advice for all scrip schools is to always stay cognizant of your vendor's health.
