matchpenalty

Hope anyone who has deductible reimbursement requests gets them. The GAS program termination was evidently just the beginning:

"Dear Club Member,

We've enjoyed offering you great savings and information for your
automotive needs through the club; however, we deeply regret to inform you
that the club has discontinued its membership programs as of April 30,
2001 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time. We truly have appreciated the opportunity
to serve you.

You may have questions regarding your membership, so here are a few
important things
you should know:

1. If you joined very recently and have not yet received
membership materials, you will not be billed.
2. If you have been billed for your membership for any period
beyond April 19, 2001, you will be receiving a refund.
- If you pay dues monthly, your refund has been pro-rated
based on your billing cycle.
- If you pay annual dues, your refund has been pro-rated based
on your expiration date.
- If we have a credit card on file for you, a refund will be
processed to your credit card account by May 4, 2001. If we do not have
a valid credit card on file for you, you will receive a check at the
address we have on file for you within 4 - 6 weeks.
3. As of April 27, 2001, the Gas MasterCard® Card program has
ended. We will process the refund for the remaining balance on your Gas
Card, less the 10% discount, to the credit card we have on file for you
no later than May 15, 2001. You are no longer able to make purchases
with your gas card. If we don't have a valid credit card on file, a check
will be sent in four - six weeks. To hear your remaining balance, call
the number on the back of your Gas Card 1(877)233-9238.
4. The Deductible Reimbursement and Lemon Protection benefits ended
on April 30, 2001 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time. If you have a claim or
questions concerning these benefits, please refer to your club website
for detailed information or call the Cynosure claims administrator at
1(810)771-3334.
5. If you purchased automotive insurance through the club, your
insurance coverage is unaffected by the discontinuation of the club. If
you have questions regarding your coverage, please contact the
insurance company at the number provided to you with policy materials.
6. If you financed your automobile through a club lending or
leasing partner, your financing is unaffected. If you have questions
regarding your loan, please contact the lending institution.

We have been honored to serve your automotive membership needs. If you
have other questions, please visit your club website or call
1-800-CARCLUB and select one or more of the menu options.

Thank you for being a member.

Sincerely,

The Club Membership Team

*For Motor Trend carclub and Hot Rod carclub members, pro-rated refunds
will be given to those members who joined or renewed their membership
after Sept. 30, 2000. Please go to http://www.motortrendcarclub.com or
http://www.hotrodcarclub.com for more information on this point.

"

kenbuzz

It was a good idea, and I thought the financial model was sound, even though it took me a while to figure out how they made money. Apparently their overhead was greater than the money they made on the float on everybody's debit accounts, and the recent down-ratcheting of the prime rate probably didn't help them any.

Plus, with gas prices escalating, I'm betting that they had many more members running $200 monthly bills than they had anticipated. $5.99 per month plus float can't cover $20 in gas for very long.