SANParks.org Forums

Non-South african Wildcard owners:
Please send a e-mail to
joan@tipafrica.co.za

So that they can work out a kind of subscription for us to cover the postage cost.

Cover pic looks good, looking forward to my issue.

Shouldn't this be in the recommended reading forum?

Hi all,

To those of you who have already clarified some of the issues raised, thank you, and thank you too to those who made kind comments.

We ARE, as it happens, looking at alternative delivery routes for overseas cardholders (thanks for the surface mail suggestion), and there WILL be a somewhat abbreviated digital copy of the magazine e-mailed out between print issues.

Turning to the negative comments, Mugg & Bean has withdrawn from the Infinity "stable" (entirely coincidentally at the same time as the Fidentia debacle, as it happens, as I have seen the correspondence to prove), and one must appreciate that in any loyalty programme of this kind, participants come and go.

But I can assure everyone that Wild cardholders have so far earned CashBack Rewards worth MILLIONS of Rands, and we can demonstrate this to anyone who is interested in pursuing the matter.

Thanks again, and kind regards,|

Steve

I KNEW I left something out. Our recent research dramatically underlined the fact that many cardholders were not receiving our e-mailed or SMSed communications (including, obviously, renewals notices) so we have outsourced these services to specialists in the two fields - and already the various call centres have had an unprecedented rush of card renewals (April was our best month EVER).

Please let me know if you don't receive anything from us in the near future - perhaps our approach will need still further tightening up.

Regards,

S.

Is there anyway that overseas wildcard holders visiting in the next month or so can pick up a copy in the parks?

Thinking ahead, just presenting your wild card and a passport may prove that you hold a WC and that you are an overseas visitor - but it also means that if you feel so inclined you have the potential to pick up a copy at every camp, so maybe emailing us with a voucher to claim a copy?

Just a thought - and I know it will not solve the problem for the majority.

Long term I for one would be interested in receiving regular copies (for a reasonable rate )

Steve wrote :


Besides the problems last year in renewing my card, this year I have not received any communication. My card is up for renewal next month again. I see the link to renewals is currently not active - when will this be available again?

Hi Wildsteve,
I am happy to hear about your new magazine and I wish you well on every front.

on another more curious issue, I know my Wild Card expired in April.
I have been rather chilled in terms of the DD, as I know I will renew it in a few days time (12 sleeps exactly).
However, how does this affect the flow of member ship generally. (also the flow of money)
If I did this to my medical aid, there would be feathers flying.

You stole my thought!! And beat me to it... I was thinking along the same lines.


Ditto.

Michele hit the nail on the head..apparently you could use your card at various places but since Infinity went legs up Mugg & Bean etc have naturally withdrawn so Wild Card is used for Cons fees only at the moment it seems

I think I just read somewhere here that Jose recently renewed her wildcard with points earned, perhaps that is the way to go

@Bushcall:


Bushcall, please be careful not to make comments without facts to suport them - I draw you attention to a post by Wildsteve just a couple of posts above yours.

The Wild magazine as shown in the "buy a wild card" link, looks fantastic.
However as an International wild card member, i wish to make some comments.
Thank you DuQues for asking as to where members in other parts of the world stand.
The suggestion by Wildsteve for international members to cover the cost of postage, is a bit (pardon the pun) rich.
All International members have to pay just over 350% more to have the wild card. We hear the argument that SA members pay less, owing to the paying of taxes. All SADC countries pay the same as SA members, but they do not pay SA tax.
The cost to post the magazine by air or snail mail, will not use up much of the extra 350% that we pay.
Wildsteve also said that 70,000 were posted out. If you follow the link to buy a wild card, and click on read "all the latest details", then click on the yellow WILD in the red box, it quotes the following. 100,000+ wild card members will receive the magazine "free in the post".
Brummie's suggestion about International members being able to pick up the magazine when they get to Kruger, is a good idea for any members that might be arriving in the next couple of weeks.
BUT how many of the 30,000 (100,000 minus 70,000) International members are about to pay for return airfares, as against a postage label.
When one considers the amount of money put into the country from an International visitor, the cost of postage is a small amount to pay in appreciation.

Whew! I'll TRY not to leave anything out (at the risk of being boring).

Firstly, as to the suggestion that cardholders can pick up their copy of Wild at park gates (and at other sales agencies): This was our thought exactly - we have distributed around 25 000 copies of the magazine to every participating gate and agency in Southern Africa, to cover the three-odd months between this and the next issue. So any Wild Card holder who hasn't received their magazine through the post can indeed pick up their copy at our gates (including the people who are renewing or buying their Wild Card - we sell around 8 000 Wild Cards a month x three months).

Secondly, cardholders who STILL don't receive e-mailed or SMSed communication from us during the next few months will help us a lot by e-mailing their card numbers and current contact details to me at stephenh@sanparks.org.

Thirdly, any delay in renewals doesn't really, significantly, effect our revenue stream (but we'd obviously encourage everyone to renew ASAP, if only as a sort of contribution to conservation).

Fourthly, thanks to DinkyBird for pointing out that I had already explained that Mugg & Bean's withdrawal from the Infinity loyalty scheme had nothing whatsoever to do with Infinity going "legs up" (and here it is worth restating, for the Nth time, that reports of Infinity's demise have been proven premature).

Finally (and thank you to those of you who have gritted your teeth and read this far), to answer Prings: the number of international Wild Card holders is around 8 000, rather than the 30 000 suggested; I can easily understand your feeling that, having paid considerably more for your Wild Card than South Africans have paid for theirs, you should be entitled to rather more leeway when it comes to things like postage costs; but, finally, the publishing and distribution of Wild has been such a monumentally expensive exercise that we have constantly been looking for ways of economising, and we may certainly have erred in deciding that foreign airmail distribution of a hefty magazine four times a year was something we should avoid (we are, as I write, considering all sorts of alternative solutions, so please don't feel that we are ignoring the issue).

Kind regards,

Steve

I just received my "copy" of the magazine, and must say that it looks very good! (It also includes a mugshot of Steve. )
Lots of good information, nice layout, definitely "coffee table"-feel and -look. My copy was pas printed on just plain paper though, I do not have other paper available.

International cardholders, do yourself a favour and mail to Joan. You will want to have this magazine!