Merits Chart?

We have a chart on our wall showing all of the merits for different Ranger Levels.

Only problem is that it is from BEFORE HQ reorganized the Skills Merits Colors, so it confuses the boys when they are looking for the next advancement that they want to achieve.

I have looked on the web site for GPH, and cannot find a new chart anywhere.  When they published a catalog, it was fairly easy to locate an item.  As far as I can tell, GPH has not put out a real "catalog" for Rangers for about 5 years.

I find their current web layout to be very frustrating because, unless you know exactly where to look, it puts you into a "loop" with no clue of what category it would be in (is a Merit Chart in "Merits", "Publications", "Resources", or something else?).

Any ideas?

(By the way, I did a "Subject" search on the GPS Site, and it doesn't come up under "Merit Chart", "Chart", or "Merit".)

One of many frustrations for seasoned commanders, but just think how it negatively impacts new leaders and outposts. Even with 30 years' experience under my belt, I routinely yelled at their website. "Real" catalogs cost GPH a lot of money, and I don't think RR is the cash cow that it used to be for them. So we're stuck with poor customer service.

And the months continue to tick by with no word or improvements from National.

Joe do you all order your merits and stuff through your district office? We do and about 15% goes back into our district and our service is excellent.

mark jones

Mark Jones wrote:Joe do you all order your merits and stuff through your district office?   We do and about 15% goes back into our district and our service is excellent.

mark jones

I never heard of this.

Do we still receive our "15% Discount" for being Chartered?

Does the District Office need to have their own Web Site Store?

Mark Jones wrote:Joe do you all order your merits and stuff through your district office?   We do and about 15% goes back into our district and our service is excellent.

When I was in SoCal, the district had it's own store. It was awesome, the service was fantastic, and we could drop in and buy in person if we liked. Up here in the Rockies, nothing. Not enough of us to make it economically feasible.

joecool wrote:One of many frustrations for seasoned commanders, but just think how it negatively impacts new leaders and outposts. Even with 30 years' experience under my belt, I routinely yelled at their website.  "Real" catalogs cost GPH a lot of money, and I don't think RR is the cash cow that it used to be for them. So we're stuck with poor customer service.

And the months continue to tick by with no word or improvements from National.    

Look at how easy it is to locate items on ebay.  You can get a listing of hundreds of items with one search, or you can tell it what you are NOT looking for.

Now I realize that ebay is worth Billions of Dollars, but the search tools are 20-year-old technology.

C'mon, can't we catch up to technology from 15 or 20 years ago?

(And National wonders why we do not buy from them?   Because, for one thing, they make it difficult to do so. Why should I have to spend 45 minutes searching for an item at GPH, pay $20.00 shipping, and wait two weeks for delivery, when I can find it on ebay in 2 minutes, pay $1.00 shipping, and have it at my door in 3 days!)

PENNY-WISE AND POUND-FOOLISH.

All the 15% discount does for us is off set the exchange rate slightly. I have to be really smart about my ordering as the shipping to Canada, if I need it right away is about $40-90 US. So I have resigned my self to order 4 times a year. If I need something right away then I will order but ask GPH to send it via USPS. They charge me the actual shipping rate. Fedex is faster but it will kill my budget if I do that all the time. Good thing I can order NGM stuff too for my wife.

One of the "benefits" of chartering is the Rangers Now publication for every boy in your outpost. I emailed 3 times asking if this was going to be coming to the outposts and I got no response from them. I discovered that they changed the website when you clicked on RangersNow(still in the list of benefits) and now it simply says "this publication is not currently in print".

As for the charts I have 3 charts up and I find them to be quite easy to read. If you look under Program support material for the age group you need, you'll find it. Also they do not do a print catalogue (Canadian for catalog), not many companies do any more. They have a digital version of the catalogue for download at the top of the ranger online "super"store.

Some very valid points. GPH is across the street from our Ranger building..radiant used to a store you could walk in and buy but they shut it down several years ago.

We just call our District Commander with the orders and he gets them done and does the billing back to us. We don't stock hardly anything because it's all right here in town.

Our COA we give out around 120 patches each quarter.

I used to prefere the class b ribbons with numerals on them. It made this stuff easy and we didn't buy the patches. About once a quarter we changed out the numerals on our colored ribbon bar. It's been a while since I paid much attention to it.
We just hand out patches and certificates and order the national office awards.
Mark Jones

CanadaRangers, Good Job!

I've downloaded and saved the catalog. It would be nice to be able to just click on the item, but at least now I have a catalog number.

I also found the chart that I was looking for (near the end, in resource material).

every order that I have received from GPH has had an order form in it with all the item numbers on it.  even stuff that is not in the catalogue like the Canadian district emblems.

Claymore wrote:CanadaRangers, Good Job!

I've downloaded and saved the catalog.  It would be nice to be able to just click on the item, but at least now I have a catalog number.  

I also found the chart that I was looking for (near the end, in resource material).

I spoke too soon...  The whole "RangerNow" thing.  I guess there is something coming down the pipe in the next few days.  That's the word from LEAD.