Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Inconvenient Changes to Scholastic Book Club Prices Increases Ordering Time



So I recently put in my scholastic book club order for my class last month and it took me quite a while because of the recent changes to their prices.  Instead of pricing their books to the nearest dollar they have made them .99 cents.  It has added an additional 20 minutes to my ordering time and find this really inconvenient.  The change in prices have made it more difficult to make sure my order amount matches the money I've received from families.  I've also found myself having to give 1or 2 cent change.

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Here is the email I've sent them:


To: BC_RNT7@scholastic.com
Subject: Hello! I am a elementary teacher and support scholastic books. I noticed that th... [Email: 121020-000574]
Hello! I am a elementary teacher and support scholastic books. I noticed that this school year there have been changes in the prices of books. The prices of the books are no longer rounded up to the nearest dollar. Instead they are usually .99 cents. I've talked to many colleagues of mine and found that this change in dollar amount has increased our time to input student orders by at least 15-20 minutes because we also have booktrust to input as well. It makes it more difficult to balance the order with the parent payments and then do it on book trust. We also have to end up giving 2 cents change to parents which again adds more time to this task. It has discouraged some teachers in participating in scholastic book order and some are not willing to take the extra effort of their "own" volunteer time to do book orders anymore. I want to support students in their love for reading, but this change in prices really makes it more frustrating to teachers who have to take more time to do this task. What is the reason for the change in pricing? Would scholastic consider rounding up the book prices to the nearest dollar again?

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Here is their response:

Your recent communication regarding the change in Book Clubs pricing has been brought to my attention.  We’re very sorry you are disappointed the unrounded dollars and want you to know we have heard you! 

The change was made to have greater alignment with general consumer pricing which parents are accustomed to.  We wanted to make our prices as attractive as possible to encourage young people and their parents to get excited about the wonderful books we offer.  We are truly sorry that this has been an inconvenience for you.

I have shared your comments with Book Club management and marketing staffs and we are seriously looking into the matter.  I have also given you 150 bonus points to let you know how much we value your continued support of Scholastic Book Clubs and Book Clubs Ordering Online. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if I can be of further assistance.

With best regards,

Linda Schenker
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Does anyone else have this problem?  If you do, leave me a comment and I will email them to scholastic book clubs or you can email them directly to Linda Schenker:  LSchenker@scholastic.com.  If more teachers speak up, maybe Scholastic will make a change to their prices since teachers are essential to their company's success.

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