University Daily Kansan
Thursday, March 30, 1978
9
Students warned about buying services
Bv PHILIP GARCIA
Staff Writer
Students should be aware of high membership costs and poorly advertised details of special membership offers from buying clubs, Judy Kroeger, administrative director for the Lawrence Consumer Affairs Association, said Tuesday.
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Kroeger said she did not recommend a special membership offer being made by the Keyton Corporation to University of Massachusetts students to join a nationwide buying club.
KEYTON IS AN Independence, Mo., marketing firm for the Buying Service Inc., a New Jersey-based company. The firm is currently conducting its annual "College Student Program "Drive" at the University of Kansas and has set up a temporary office for Kathy Gruel, the next three-four weeks, Kathy Gruel, Kyton representative, said Tuesday.
"Usually you can save money," she said, "but you have to buy a a lot of stuff to get your initial investment back. I don't want the offer unless you rich," Kroerzer said.
The operation is not illegal, Kroger said, but the initial membership fee is "fraternity fee."
Since Keyton does not make an open offer, students who want to join the buying club must do so at the presentation. But, Gruel said, there was a three day period after a contract was signed that enabled students to cancel their membership.
If a student decides against a lifetime membership, he or she may pay a yearly enrollment fee of $136 which must be renewed annually. Those who signed a lifetime membership must also pay an annual $28 bookkeeping renewal fee.
Membership to the buying service enables students to buy merchandise ranging from toothpaste to cars at prices guaranteed less than retail prices, Gruel said.
"No legal charges have been filed whatsoever against the company," Shank
Both the renewal fee and the yearly membership prices were subject to price variations.
STUDENTS ARE sent a letter telling them they have a free gift from Keyton which can be claimed at a sales presentation.
The offer was made available only to junior, seniors and graduate students. Grunel said the offer was a "closed offer." The contract must be signed at the time of the offer.
The other two percent of the awarded gifts are men's or women's watches, 10 speed bicycles, Kawasaki 750 motorcycles, CB radios and calculators. A second chance to win an additional prize is offered to students who wish to offer in 72 hours, the letter states.
AT TUESDAY night's presentation, gifts awarded were McDonald Gift Certificates and the "valuable mystery prizes," one of which was a notebook collection which contained copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Gettsyburg address, the Constitution of the United States and other historical documents. A second "valuable prize" awarded was a certificate giving awards rated at motels in several Florida cities.
The corporation in its letter states that 52 percent of the gifts awarded are designated "vulable mystery prizes," and 46 percent are McDONald Certificate gifts.
The buying service then returns the quotation form offering the very same product at guaranteed factory prices. Most company brand-name products can be purchased through the buying club. If not, you can provide a similar product will be made.
NEW YORK (AP)—Our understanding of today's economy is just as flawed as were our economic conceptions during the Great Depression. We still face two professors with international reputations.
A special student "Permanent Renewal Membership (lifetime) enrollment fee of
item he wishes to purchase at a local retail outlet and then sends the brand name, model number and a description of the buying service for price comparison.
The enrollment fee is payable over a 28-month period with down payments and installments determined by the student. A charge of 18 percent annually is also assessed.
THE CORPORATION was investigated a year ago, said Richard Shank, an agent from the Kansas attorney general's office, who said he had been dug out of all out state sales companies.
HUFF SAID saves income to the consumer from buying products without the use of credit cards.
As a result, they say, the United States has entered an economic era of confusion and rapid fluctuations, attended by "opportunistic" leaders who have replaced by pessimism or even dejection,"
$75.75 is then offered after a sales talk by a representative outlining the advantages and details of the buying club and the special offer.
40 to 50 percent, and for an economy car,
$400 to $500.
Once the buyer accepts the reduced offer, he sends in the quotation form and payment. Ninety to 65 percent of the transactions are made by the buyer, according to Kent Huff, Keyton president.
Keyton reports the average savings on a purchase of a TV, radio, or CB range from 30 to 40 percent off the retail price. For clothes the average savings are estimated at
Economic woes explained
Kroger said that the quotation system was cumbersome way to shop. Most people don't want to spend too much money that the offer was for consumers who wanted to make a lot of purchases. Students who did not want to make many purchases had to check out the details before joining, she said.
We don't understand the forces moving Kataota and his backhand Strumpel loops.
Spahe said, "I don't think it's a rip-off or anything."
If a student wanted to do a lot of buying, this offer would be a good deal, she said.
ONE STUDENT who attended a sales presentation said he checked with the Better Business Bureau in Kansas before he travelled to Chicagoland and found the firm to be in good standing.
But, she added, she couldn't pay such a large amount to have to spend time shopping around before sending for the desired product.
SUSAN SPAETHE, Lawrence senior, also said she thought the presentation was a good one, but that it wasn't any different from other sales pitches.
"It (the offer) seemed like a good deal," John Williamson, Pittsburgh junior said. The presentation was a good one he said, but he needed more time to consider the closed offer.
"The fact that he wanted me to sign right away gave me the feeling that it was a high pressure thing," Williamson said. If a lawyer would ask him if he'd deal beware to his advantage, he added.
Members of the buying club are able to purchase merchandise items at factory prices through the buying service using a quotation system.
Huff said people are usually skeptical of a term that claimed to provide them a legal, moral basis.
In a quotation system a buyer finds an
Just as John Maynard Keynes identified failure of demand as a cause of the Great Depression, "we are in urgent need of a post-Keyesian paradigm in order to understand the contemporary economy," they say.
known for their economic analyses at the University of Michigan.
Lacking that—lacking strategies for dealing with specific problems—they say, the certainty of the post-World War II era is still given way in this decade to disorientation.
"If you make a sale to a person and do your job, you'll can't call a rip off."
Pre Med Club Members
Attention:
The meeting scheduled for March 30th featuring Dr. Manino has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date
THE KANSAS UNIVERSITY BALLOONING ASSOCIATION
Come Hanger Fly With Us In The Oread Room In The Union At 8:15 p.m.
THURSDAY MARCH 30
Katona and Strumpel aren't the first to declare a new economic era, but their insight is perhaps unique. Instead of studying numbers and equations, they studied psychological attitudes or consumer behavior.
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