Open Letter to AI/A&S

How my eyes lit up when I saw this thread rearing its ugly head again... :lol:

It seems that A&S Ltd. have a new trick up their sleeve. I thought that the A&S Ltd. "shop-club-magazine" vagueness was bad enough but now we have a new one to add to the mix - charity.

Did anyone else get the begging letter? - Allow me to quote:

Please support Astronomy Ireland

Proceeds from the sales in our Shop help to support and run Astronomy Ireland, your national astronomy club so please DO NOT buy your telescopes or gifts anywhere else this Christmas, or at any other time during the year. Help support astronomy in Ireland and get guaranteed quality.

So there we have it. Don't even THINK about buying your pressies anywhere else! I just hope they have pairs of socks and Cadburys selection boxes in stock. :lol:

Oh, and at the bottom of the letter we have; "PLEASE SUPPORT ASTRONOMY IRELAND" in big letters. I was expecting to see 'A telescope is for life, not just for Christmas', or perhaps a photo of an African village.

If anyone out there does feel like make a charitable donation to A&S Ltd this Christmas, then consider this; buying your telescope or accessories from an alternative dealer (US/UK or the other Irish alternatives), and send the savings to Concern - That'd be enough to buy a whole herd of goats for that African village.

I always said I admired A&S Ltd's marketing prowess. But this is just desperation. :roll:

John.

john,
a very interesting quote. i think i came up with a new marketing campaign for him but it is already taken....

"if carlsberg did astronomy shop/club/magazine etc ... "

stephen.

ps. this is meant to be a bit of humor no offence intended.

Hello Spaceboy,
I think that anyone should be able to say anyhing they want on this thread, as long as it is not libelous or in any way legally dangerous.

Anyone can criticize any club/society here, be it SAC/TAC/GAC ete, funny though how the targer is always the same.

I can unserstand how you want to defend your club, anyone would, but instead of telling us that your sick of all the crap spouted about AI, tell us how the postings are wrong, lets try and be abit constructive on this.

How my eyes lit up when I saw this thread rearing its ugly head again... :lol:

It seems that A&S Ltd. have a new trick up their sleeve. I thought that the A&S Ltd. "shop-club-magazine" vagueness was bad enough but now we have a new one to add to the mix - charity.

Did anyone else get the begging letter? - Allow me to quote:

Please support Astronomy Ireland

Proceeds from the sales in our Shop help to support and run Astronomy Ireland, your national astronomy club so please DO NOT buy your telescopes or gifts anywhere else this Christmas, or at any other time during the year. Help support astronomy in Ireland and get guaranteed quality.

So there we have it. Don't even THINK about buying your pressies anywhere else! I just hope they have pairs of socks and Cadburys selection boxes in stock. :lol:

Oh, and at the bottom of the letter we have; "PLEASE SUPPORT ASTRONOMY IRELAND" in big letters. I was expecting to see 'A telescope is for life, not just for Christmas', or perhaps a photo of an African village.
John.

I dared look at the subscription form online, and apart from the E40 price (excluding magazine subscription, expo entry, evening class attendance, Star-b-q admission, cost of looking through an eyepiece), there is a seperate billing field for your donation to Astronomy Ireland!

I tell you, this debate/debacle can go on for a long time!

Seanie.

I turn my back for 2 minutes and this things rears it's ugly head again!



So far no one has crossed the line in this thread but it has been close. If AI think they are getting an unfair deal they are free to come on here and counter any arguments made here.

Just for the record I have still not heard back from AI's "honourable Chairman" about the questions I have asked him as an AI Member.

Another point I would like to make is that most of the people contributing tothis thread ARE AI members like myself. The more I lok into AI the less likely I am to renew my subscription. Openness seems to be a bad word or some thing and transparencey is utterly unheard of. I have found out more about the club I am a member of on these boards than from the club it self. My letter, like other peoples simply gets ignored. I am pissed off with them for that and IMHO I am quite justified in that. You cannot defend the cloak and dager treatment AI members get FROM THEIR OWN CLUB!

Bart.

I feel I've made a small but significant contribution to this debate in particular A & S's inflationary prices.

If you heard Thursdays 5-7 lives ongoning about Rip Off Ireland I got a mention.

check out www.rte.ie/news/2004/0108/57live.html

Cross-border pricing comparisons reveal discrepancies

Listeners' emails on the pricing issue 28K

At about 5min into the report

I named the shop and gave the the Irishastronomy.com link for more prices but this did not get mentioned...pity.


I hope someone got wise before getting stung. And THIS is why this debate should not be ended as young kids and hard pressed parents are saving their money and are then advised by their club which should be looking after their interests to spend it in an overpriced shop!


MY Blood Boils. :evil:

Conor

ps I know nothing of splits or the like I just see it as it is.