Roy Marcot,
I cannot express my disappointment and frustration during my first year of membership in the RSA. I have received "many" emails and or letters wanting money to buy something or to renew my membership. However, I have not received all of my journals for 2014 and am still waiting to this day. I have submitted "many questions" related to Remington's historical information due to articles and a book that I am writing but have never received a single response.
The last journal I received did not include the " Knives that bite " section and that is the main topic and thrust of my interests.
I had such great excitement in becoming a member of RSA. I have been a longtime Remington collector and have extensive knife collections of antique and vintage Remington knives. That excitement is gone and replaced with disappointment and anger.
At present I would not recommend renewing a membership, mine or others, and would not recommend this site as a resource guide due to my own poor experience and lack of return communication.
I belong to several internet knife forums and several knife clubs and I have never seen the likes of such bad club organization, follow-through and professionalism. This is not the way to "build membership and funding" for the needs of the society, but only leads to a club's demise.
Just for a moment put yourselves in my shoes, my only interaction and communication has been requests and reminders asking me to send money for one reason or another. I have bought items from the store and received those items but when I had questions related to the items I found it difficult to find a way to communicate to the RSA store and when I did I had no answer to phone calls or sent emails. UNBELIEVEABLE!
Will I renew my membership...Not likely as things stand...I really don't expect to get an explanation or return response to this thread post or as to why I didn't receive the 4 Journals...I have gotten 2 journals thus far this year.
PLEASE RESPOND! RSA MAKE THIS RIGHT AND CHANGE THIS MEMBERS MIND!
Member's review and renewal of membership
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AREMINGTONSEDGE
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:01 pm
Re: Member's review and renewal of membership
AREMINGTONSEDGE
Good Morning and Happy New Year
As Membership Director for the Remington Society (RSA) I am sorry to hear of your disappointment. As you requested in your personal email to me, I will try to answer your concerns not only here in the Forum, but in a personal email to you. This is the first I've heard from you, and as such the first I've heard of your dissatisfaction. I believe you may have already heard from the RSA Secretary Treasurer concerning your questions.
To my knowledge the only emails and letters that have been sent to members were two (one email and one letter) to remind members that the deadline for renewing membership was coming soon, one that announced details of the annual RSA seminar and one or two that announced gun shows where the RSA would be present. I know of none that solicited money other that those that related to membership renewal dues.
The directors of the RSA are all volunteers that receive no compensation in any form and none are employees or affiliated with Remington Corp. Their time is given freely in a attempt to help fellow collectors whenever they can. Becoming a member of Board Of Directors of the RSA is open to all members. All one has to do is to contact the Elections Director and he will give full details of what's required. We encourage any one who is interested to please consider becoming a member.
The "RSA Journal" is published quarterly. Depending on the amount of available content, publishing and mailing my vary by a few weeks. Most of the articles in the Journal are written and submitted by fellow RSA members. The editor must review these submissions, put them into a printable form, arrange them and have the Journal printed and mailed. This is a monumental task for a volunteer and one that would normally be a full time job. In the case of the "Knives That Bite" column that normally appears, it is written by a RSA member who is a knife collector who thankfully volunteers to share his knowledge with the rest of us. This is a limited subject so finding interesting and accurate information is challenging. I am sure if you chose to write and submit a article about your collections it would be gladly received.
I am sorry you've been disappointed with your membership. I am not aware of the "many questions" you have asked or who you submitted them to. Please understand that the RSA receives many, many requests for information, both from members and non members. Sometimes we just don't have the answers, or know who to ask. Because the RSA is made up of volunteers,time is limited since everyone has other priorities that must be delt with and sometimes it takes a while to find a answer. We try our best.
On a personal note, and as a RSA endorsement. I am blessed to have a fairly extensive, award winning Remington collection. My collection would not exist if it were not for the huge amount of help and collaboration I've received over the years from the RSA and it's members.
I am pleased to hear that your are writing a book and whenever it's ready the RSA will be happy to review it in the Journal and announce its' publication.
I hope this helps to address your concerns and that you will choose to remain a RSA member.
Be In Touch,
George McAllister
GBA
Good Morning and Happy New Year
As Membership Director for the Remington Society (RSA) I am sorry to hear of your disappointment. As you requested in your personal email to me, I will try to answer your concerns not only here in the Forum, but in a personal email to you. This is the first I've heard from you, and as such the first I've heard of your dissatisfaction. I believe you may have already heard from the RSA Secretary Treasurer concerning your questions.
To my knowledge the only emails and letters that have been sent to members were two (one email and one letter) to remind members that the deadline for renewing membership was coming soon, one that announced details of the annual RSA seminar and one or two that announced gun shows where the RSA would be present. I know of none that solicited money other that those that related to membership renewal dues.
The directors of the RSA are all volunteers that receive no compensation in any form and none are employees or affiliated with Remington Corp. Their time is given freely in a attempt to help fellow collectors whenever they can. Becoming a member of Board Of Directors of the RSA is open to all members. All one has to do is to contact the Elections Director and he will give full details of what's required. We encourage any one who is interested to please consider becoming a member.
The "RSA Journal" is published quarterly. Depending on the amount of available content, publishing and mailing my vary by a few weeks. Most of the articles in the Journal are written and submitted by fellow RSA members. The editor must review these submissions, put them into a printable form, arrange them and have the Journal printed and mailed. This is a monumental task for a volunteer and one that would normally be a full time job. In the case of the "Knives That Bite" column that normally appears, it is written by a RSA member who is a knife collector who thankfully volunteers to share his knowledge with the rest of us. This is a limited subject so finding interesting and accurate information is challenging. I am sure if you chose to write and submit a article about your collections it would be gladly received.
I am sorry you've been disappointed with your membership. I am not aware of the "many questions" you have asked or who you submitted them to. Please understand that the RSA receives many, many requests for information, both from members and non members. Sometimes we just don't have the answers, or know who to ask. Because the RSA is made up of volunteers,time is limited since everyone has other priorities that must be delt with and sometimes it takes a while to find a answer. We try our best.
On a personal note, and as a RSA endorsement. I am blessed to have a fairly extensive, award winning Remington collection. My collection would not exist if it were not for the huge amount of help and collaboration I've received over the years from the RSA and it's members.
I am pleased to hear that your are writing a book and whenever it's ready the RSA will be happy to review it in the Journal and announce its' publication.
I hope this helps to address your concerns and that you will choose to remain a RSA member.
Be In Touch,
George McAllister
GBA
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AREMINGTONSEDGE
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:01 pm
Re: Member's review and renewal of membership
George,
As expected you were very circumscribed in your responses, however you did not provide answers to my concerns.
You've spoken to me and to the others readers as if I were a novice at club membership, my insight, awareness and or knowledge of volunteer supported club activities, responsibilities, board membership and or club roles and job descriptions/responsibilities. I am far from being a novice.
All of the fair and reasonable "excuses" you have stated look good on paper and sounds reasonable to the reader, but... really, have you answered any of my concerns or questions? Or as the director of membership provided sound assurance that you would see to it that I received at the least my outstanding journals? No you have not. I do not wish nor will I entertain an argument on the forum. Most clubs and organizations are supported by volunteer's blood, sweat and tears. George, that does not mean that membership should suffer. Most value membership concerns and use it as a guide post for improvements and growth, not as an opportunity to expounds on how many trials and tribulations are being experienced by club leadership in providing services to it's member.
In politics, letter writing campaigns are essential to officials. To the politician one written letter represents the voice of 100-150 persons who feel the same way but do not take the time to write a letter. So when a public representative receives a letter form his district's constituent it matters and is important to fix the concern.
Have you been effective in changing this members opinion of his experience...so far.. not by a Remington's long shot!
As expected you were very circumscribed in your responses, however you did not provide answers to my concerns.
You've spoken to me and to the others readers as if I were a novice at club membership, my insight, awareness and or knowledge of volunteer supported club activities, responsibilities, board membership and or club roles and job descriptions/responsibilities. I am far from being a novice.
All of the fair and reasonable "excuses" you have stated look good on paper and sounds reasonable to the reader, but... really, have you answered any of my concerns or questions? Or as the director of membership provided sound assurance that you would see to it that I received at the least my outstanding journals? No you have not. I do not wish nor will I entertain an argument on the forum. Most clubs and organizations are supported by volunteer's blood, sweat and tears. George, that does not mean that membership should suffer. Most value membership concerns and use it as a guide post for improvements and growth, not as an opportunity to expounds on how many trials and tribulations are being experienced by club leadership in providing services to it's member.
In politics, letter writing campaigns are essential to officials. To the politician one written letter represents the voice of 100-150 persons who feel the same way but do not take the time to write a letter. So when a public representative receives a letter form his district's constituent it matters and is important to fix the concern.
Have you been effective in changing this members opinion of his experience...so far.. not by a Remington's long shot!
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Roy Marcot
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2002 2:25 pm
- Location: Tucson, Arizona
Re: Member's review and renewal of membership
Dear Mr. Wilson,
Since you chose to address your criticisms in a public way on our RSA Forum I will respond in the same medium for all to see. I would have preferred to respond to your concerns privately by email, but your method of communicating your displeasure with our organization leaves me no other recourse.
Let’s take them one at a time starting with your statement “I have received "many" emails and or letters wanting money to buy something ...” The only solicitations we send out are offers for Remington Society products, such as magazine slip cases, gun show badge holders, etc. These are products requested by our membership and the organization makes very little profit from any of them. In all, I believe that we sent out only two such emails this entire year. No other member has ever voiced any displeasure about these notices, except for you. Next, you lumped in your displeasure in receiving renewal notices. Get real now... renewal notices are a problem for you?
Next, you stated that you have not received all four Remington Collector’s Journals for the year... by my recollection we are still in the fourth quarter. The 4th quarter issue went to the printer in late November and was printed eight days later. Since all magazines are sent out Media Mail, each individual post office across the United States delivers such mail according to their own manpower, which is out of our hands. As Vice President George McAllister told you, the Remington Society is a 100% voluntary organization, and no one receives a salary of any kind. I have been editor of the Journal for the past 24 years, all without a cent of pay. Every issue has been produced and delivered in the quarter it was promised, including this one. If you have not received an issue it would be proper to inform our club secretary of the situation.
A few months back you informed us that you are writing a book on Remington knives and were asking for our assistance... or more correctly, the information from our knife editor, Rich Shepler. This gentleman has spent decades researching Remington cutlery and has spent thousands of dollars in travel and expenses in gathering his information. Richard Shepler has graced the pages of our magazine with dozens of articles on such cutlery, and will publish many more. If he chooses not to give you the fruits of his labor it is a decision I heartily support. After all, what have you done to further our readers’ knowledge about Remington? A search on the internet failed to give any indication that you’ve published anything on the subject.
Your statement: “I would not recommend renewing a membership, mine or others, and would not recommend this site as a resource guide due to my own poor experience and lack of return communication” floors me with your ignorance of our organization, especially your lack of knowledge about our seventy-page magazine. Over the past 24 years we have published 96 issues of “pure Remington” history... something we are very proud of. Our information and the work of the Remington Research Team has produced a dozen or more full books on a variety of Remington topics. The information gathered from the Research Team was gladly shared with fellow researchers who unselfishly shared their own information with our readers.
And lastly, your statement: “I belong to several internet knife forums and several knife clubs and I have never seen the likes of such bad club organization, follow-through and professionalism.” Bad club organization??? How dare you say this about one of the finest gun collector organizations anywhere. Your statement is a slap in the face of the dozens of leaders, authors, researchers and members who have worked so unselfishly over the past thirty-plus years.
A decision to renew your membership is yours alone... The Remington Society is all about “Sharing the History.”
Since you chose to address your criticisms in a public way on our RSA Forum I will respond in the same medium for all to see. I would have preferred to respond to your concerns privately by email, but your method of communicating your displeasure with our organization leaves me no other recourse.
Let’s take them one at a time starting with your statement “I have received "many" emails and or letters wanting money to buy something ...” The only solicitations we send out are offers for Remington Society products, such as magazine slip cases, gun show badge holders, etc. These are products requested by our membership and the organization makes very little profit from any of them. In all, I believe that we sent out only two such emails this entire year. No other member has ever voiced any displeasure about these notices, except for you. Next, you lumped in your displeasure in receiving renewal notices. Get real now... renewal notices are a problem for you?
Next, you stated that you have not received all four Remington Collector’s Journals for the year... by my recollection we are still in the fourth quarter. The 4th quarter issue went to the printer in late November and was printed eight days later. Since all magazines are sent out Media Mail, each individual post office across the United States delivers such mail according to their own manpower, which is out of our hands. As Vice President George McAllister told you, the Remington Society is a 100% voluntary organization, and no one receives a salary of any kind. I have been editor of the Journal for the past 24 years, all without a cent of pay. Every issue has been produced and delivered in the quarter it was promised, including this one. If you have not received an issue it would be proper to inform our club secretary of the situation.
A few months back you informed us that you are writing a book on Remington knives and were asking for our assistance... or more correctly, the information from our knife editor, Rich Shepler. This gentleman has spent decades researching Remington cutlery and has spent thousands of dollars in travel and expenses in gathering his information. Richard Shepler has graced the pages of our magazine with dozens of articles on such cutlery, and will publish many more. If he chooses not to give you the fruits of his labor it is a decision I heartily support. After all, what have you done to further our readers’ knowledge about Remington? A search on the internet failed to give any indication that you’ve published anything on the subject.
Your statement: “I would not recommend renewing a membership, mine or others, and would not recommend this site as a resource guide due to my own poor experience and lack of return communication” floors me with your ignorance of our organization, especially your lack of knowledge about our seventy-page magazine. Over the past 24 years we have published 96 issues of “pure Remington” history... something we are very proud of. Our information and the work of the Remington Research Team has produced a dozen or more full books on a variety of Remington topics. The information gathered from the Research Team was gladly shared with fellow researchers who unselfishly shared their own information with our readers.
And lastly, your statement: “I belong to several internet knife forums and several knife clubs and I have never seen the likes of such bad club organization, follow-through and professionalism.” Bad club organization??? How dare you say this about one of the finest gun collector organizations anywhere. Your statement is a slap in the face of the dozens of leaders, authors, researchers and members who have worked so unselfishly over the past thirty-plus years.
A decision to renew your membership is yours alone... The Remington Society is all about “Sharing the History.”