Raelynn!!! I can't believe it. She worked at Scrip Advantage. She was hired for new accounts in August and stayed almost to the very end--around April. I am so glad we decided to go with Great Lakes Scrip and not New England Scrip. Thanks for that update.
Warning to all scrip coordinators. I am a scrip coordinator in the Fresno, CA area. We recently received an email from New England scrip a division of Perk works from a Raelynn. Turns out a friend of mine knew this gal, and that she went to high school in Fresno. We figured out they are operating out of Fresno with all of Scrip Advantage's equipment. It is rumored that one of the Coyle brothers is involved in this operation. Everyone watch out for this company.
We looked into Scrips this past spring for our fall fundraiser, but we were too nervous after reading about one of the companies-I forget which one- going bankrupt & leaving a bunch of schools high & dry - no cards & about $13,000 or a relative amount in the hole.
That being said- I'm glad you had good experiences & would be interested to hear what other people have to say about the various companies. Maybe this is an idea worth revisiting!
We were using New EnglandScrip through last June. There were definate problems during the holiday season, but otherwise things were okay. However, our last orders did not come from the usual address, but from an address in California. Turns out the address was for Scrip Advantage. This has made me quite nervous. I am now looking into GLSC. Also, New England Scrip has not updated it's website since last April and I have had no updates from them since last spring, which is unusual.
I agree with Dragon Lady. Great Lakes has a much better selection of vendors which is important to the overall participation in your program.
I have only briefly looked at the New England Scrip Website, but maybe you could check out United Scrip Center too. We recently enrolled with them so we can have a back-up provider and I found their listing similar to GLSC.
If your only concern is back-orders from GLSC- check out their website, call and ask them about their backorder history, or ask for references.
Scrip Advantage and the later practices of the National Scrip Center gave back-orders a "shady" reputation and I don't think it's fair to say that's true of all other scrip brokers.
In my own personal experience over the past 6+ years with Great Lakes we've had all back orders shipped or refunded (yes, they are happy to refund a backorder)within one week.
Additionally I applaud the business practices of GLSC with e-mail notification and/or website postings advising of unavailable certificates to prevent a backlog of back-orders.
I believe in the world of scrip providers, companies that hold themselves to a higher standard to provide the best possible service and keep the lines of communication open to the non-profits they are committed to serve will benefit all scrip programs.
In my 9 years as a scrip coordinator, we've used many brokers but Great Lakes Scrip Center has far exceeded my expectations and in doing so, they have made themselves a valuable asset to our scrip program!
We have used both companies. We left New England Scrip for Great Lakes. NES had many problems with backorders at Christmas. One year we went out and bought some of the cards ourselves. When we used them they had to have money for the entire order before anything was shipped, same as Great Lake. With GLS we have not had any problems with backorders. Great Lakes Scrip has many vendors. Much more to choose from.
