dball

@markrbowles I will submit an order to our manufacturer to have a replacement plate made. When you get a moment, can you please send me an email at dball@fmca.com or give me a call at 513-388-5319 so I can verify your membership number and the best address to have your replacement shipped to. We have heard on a few seldom occasions of plates peeling, but as a whole they have held up well. Sadly, through surveys we know that only about 30% of members display their "goose egg". It's why in October of 2017 the Executive Board voted to switch to a new manufacturer that was willing to make them for less. And why they voted again in May of 2019 to provide 1 plate and 1 window cling instead of 2 plates. It just didn't make sense to spend the money we were spending to provide 2 plates when less than 1/3 of members actually displayed them. Nevertheless, thank you for your passion and willingness to show your FMCA pride! Please note, since replacement plates are made to order it will take about 6-8 weeks for the replacement to arrive. Sincerely, Dan Ball, Director of Membership & Marketing

I found the following FAQ page on T-Mobile's site: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/account/t-mobile-sprint-merger-faqs According to this page everything will eventually evolve into the T-Mobile brand. It also states there are no plans to change anyone's current rate plan and we have received no indication from our source that there will be any changes to the Tech Connect plan either. If nothing else, we anticipate that over time things will get better - coverage, offers, etc.

djsamuel, Here is the link to our member recruitment page, in which we've tried to provide resources for those members who want to help FMCA recruit new members: https://www.fmca.com/recruit-new-members-earn-rewards And here are a couple landing pages and promo codes if you (and anyone else) would like to share: -Military Veterans discount (promo code: VETERANS18): join.fmca.com/veterans18 -Another offer for $10 off a new membership (promo code: SAVE10NOW): join.fmca.com/save10now Thanks for your help and let me know if there is anything else you need! Dan

Bill, Below is a list of the high-level initiatives we either have done or are currently doing to help recruit new members. It's important to note, our current budget confines what we can do to some degree (unfortunately we don't have a Good Sam advertising budget). While it still needs to be approved, the Executive Board has graciously granted me a higher advertising budget for fiscal year 2021, which will help tremendously. All the following efforts attempt to illustrate the value of an FMCA membership. FMCAssist is undoubtedly a great benefit, but it does not appeal to everyone equally and we must be careful to ensure our other great benefits do not fall by the wayside. Furthermore, and as you will see below, our message is being delivered in a variety of ways because that is how people consume information this day and age. Speaking to a couple or small group of people at an RV show or seminar is not an accurate representation of all RVers and does not adequately cast a “wide enough net” to speak to the RVing community. • We send a 4-part series to prospective members. Prospective members’ email addresses are gathered by a variety of methods: those who want a tire quote but are not yet members, those who want to download our towing guide, from RV shows – both FMCA events and others, through Facebook ads, through purchased lists, those with a free FMCA Forums account, etc. • Effort 1 promotes the top 5 benefits of FMCA, including FMCAssist as a numerical value and the fact it is INCLUDED with your membership. • Effort 2 promotes the community attributes of FMCA and the countless resources available to FMCA members. • Effort 3 promotes the “2nd tier” benefits of FMCA – i.e. those benefits not considered on the top 5, but still bringing value to the membership. • Effort 4 speaks to our multitude of educational opportunities. • We send an onboarding series to new members and a “reboarding” series to members who have just renewed. The onboarding series is a series of emails sent every other week (total of 10) to help members learn about the benefits of FMCA and attempt to clear up any confusion that may exist. It also includes a survey in which they can ask us questions about anything as well as 2 surveys to provide us feedback on the things we are doing well, can improve upon, their understanding of the benefits, and so on. The emails in the onboarding series are similar in nature to the prospect series but go into greater detail about either a single benefit or a select group of benefits. The reboarding series is the same as the onboarding series minus the initial welcome email in the onboarding series. • Over the years, we have tried [literally] several hundred variations of digital ads on Facebook, Google, Bing, Pinterest, RVillage, and numerous other digital platforms. We have found that ads promoting one specific benefit (FMCAssist, Tires, Roadside, Magazine, etc.) have not performed well. We have seen much better success when we promote FMCA membership as a whole. Digital ads provide the most far-reaching and economical approach given the advertising budget we must work with. We have, and continue to, tinker with ads as well as different age demographics, different regions of the country, different RV types, etc. Digital ads, while they can be effective, also present challenges. Often you have space or character limits, so the message must be short and sweet while also enticing enough for someone to click on the add. Once they click the add they are taken to a landing page where they can learn more. Information comes so fast and abundant these days, and people have such short attention spans, it can be a challenge to adequately explain the true value of a nuanced benefit like FMCAssist or go into great detail about the steps involved to use the tire program, to give you a couple examples. • Over the last year or so, we have moved away from purchasing print ads. We do not see the ROI like we do with digital advertising. We do still however, trade print ads and have found the results to be like those of digital ads – i.e. touting a specific benefit has not performed as well as promoting an FMCA membership in its entirety. • We attend most of the major RV shows. As many of you know, when you have the time and an attentive audience to explain in detail the value of FMCAssist, they see the value. The problem, however, is the limited reach RV shows provide. For a 4-day show, for example, how many visitors do we have at the FMCA booth? 100, maybe a little more on a good day. Compare that to the cost to attend that show. On average, the cost per acquisition for an RV show is well over $60. Compare that to the average cost per acquisition for a digital campaign, which is around $15. That is not to say RV shows do not have value too. They bring a level of exposure that is difficult to quantify. That’s why, even if we are unable to attend an RV show (usually the smaller ones) we have tried to at least have a presence – such as an ad in the program, donating a door prize, or a sponsorship. • We encourage and incentivize members to spread the word and help recruit new members and try to provide the resources available to make it easy – the Member Recruitment page. We have run different promotions to try to entice peer-to-peer recruitment, such as being entered to win a $100 VISA gift card for recruiting a new member(s). Most of those have had mediocre results. Again, peer-to-peer recruitment has value, but like the RV shows it does not reach a large segment of RVers when the majority of FMCA members have no interest in recruiting. • We have arrangements and partnerships with companies like Grand Design, KOA, RV Trader, Passport America, Harvest Hosts and continue to try and add more partnerships. These partnerships generally involve messages being sent on FMCA’s behalf. Messages that again tout specific benefits as well as the entire membership as well as providing blog content and anything we can do to help increase exposure for FMCA on their platforms and to their audiences. • Similarly, we currently work with “social media influencers”. These are people (many of them younger) who have a digital presence in the RV space – be it social media, blogs, podcasts, or all the above. While we have not struck an agreement with all of them, we have had conversations with over 75 “influencers” and are always trying to recruit more. • We are working with Affiliate partners as well (note: there is some overlap between our affiliate partners and social media influencers that we work with). Affiliate partners are, again, folks with a social media presence who tout the benefits of FMCA; the difference being we pay them $10 for any new member who joins FMCA and uses the affiliate’s unique promo code (for tracking). Currently we have 15 active affiliate partners and are always trying to recruit more. • We have, and will continue to, attempt to bring more RV dealers to participate in the complimentary membership program (COMP) in exchange for discounted advertising. The COMP program is a great way to get in front of new RV buyers who may be overwhelmed with all there is to learn. The challenge is, the message is not always being delivered by us, so you could have a sales person who says the wrong thing, doesn’t sell it well, or is simply not interested in promoting the program because he/she is more focused on the sale of the actual RV. Much like our member recruitment initiative we do our best to help shape the message and provided resources where needed. • We created The Mile Marker (monthly e-newsletter) and Tech Talk (quarterly tech-centric newsletter). We have both a member version and a prospect version – the prospect version includes offers to join. The Mile Marker is more lifestyle-oriented while Tech Talk is related to the technical side of RVing. Both provide fun and rich content an provide opportunities to teach both existing and prospective members about the benefits of FMCA. • We recently added the Benefits of Belonging campaign to Family RVing magazine. Each month there is a 2-page, eye-catching spread in the magazine that shows in-depth the value that particular benefit brings to an FMCA membership. •Direct Mail campaign to 20,000+ RV prospects. Includes two postcard efforts and a digital advertising effort running alongside with FMCAssist as a leading benefit. • We have been guests on multiple podcasts to help spread the word. • We have sent press releases touting the benefits of FMCAssist/FMCA and that we now allow all RV types • Will continue our ongoing efforts to survey all members to gain insights into their needs, wants, values, etc. I could go on, but hopefully this answers your question and gives you an idea of the different initiatived we have undertaken. Not bad for a marketing department of 2, but obviously I'm biased 😉 Thanks, Dan

Fantasy RV Tours understands that you are frustrated and disappointed. They are also very disappointed that they have been forced to cancel many of their tours this year. Like all tour companies, Fantasy RV Tours pays vendors a year in advance for services they would have provided for you on your tour. They are now in the situation of having to negotiate with these vendors for refunds and most of them are only offering them credits, as well. This pandemic has turned the travel industry upside down – companies all over the world are dealing with the same issues. Most of our members are choosing to postpone their travel to next year and are thrilled with the travel credits offered. We hate to hear that you chose to cancel your tour all together because Alaska is amazing! We hope that you and your family continue to stay safe during these unprecedented times.

What Brett said 😁

Txtiger, Send me an email at dball@fmca.com with your FMCA membership number and I will send you the information to get started. As long as you have not previously been a Value Kard member, you are eligible (KOA's rule, not FMCA's). Thanks, Dan

Good Morning, Please note, the message above from Margaret Keen is from 2012 and well before my time with FMCA. Therefore, I cannot speak knowledgeably as to what she is referring to. The KOA Value Kard is still offered to new members of FMCA, but you also must be a new Value Kard member with KOA as well. JakeDog1, did you receive the KOA insert that came with your plates? That insert includes the url you will need to visit as well as a unique PIN code to enter on their website. Please let me know if you did not receive it and I can provide another insert and unique PIN. I can be reached at dball@fmca.com. Sincerely, Dan

RVIA has approached FMCA for suggestions on specific places to open BLM land for more recreational use. You can learn more at https://www.blm.gov/press-release/bureau-land-management-seeks-help-increasing-access-public-lands. If you would like to offer suggestions, please submit them to FMCA no later than February 13, 2020. CLICK HERE to submit your suggestions and pass along to your fellow RVers as well. Thank you!

Hi WEVCHOZEN, FMCA's preferred mail forwarding service provider, Your Best Address, is located in Sioux Falls, SD. There are a number of providers throughout the country with South Dakota, Florida, and Texas being the most prevalent. A quick Google search didn't yield any results for Crescent Springs, FL, but I do see that Passport America is located in Crestview, FL. Could that be who the members were referring to? I do know that Passport America does offer mail forward service.

Hi RayIN, I've scanned the irv2 thread and while I see reference to a letter, I can't find the actual letter being discussed. My assumption is the letter being referred to is the email sent in Jon Walker's name shortly after Minot explaining the reason for the dues increase, which, in so many words, is to help fund the highly-valued FMCAssist program. If there's something else you are referring to or that is causing confusion, I'm not seeing it, but am glad to try and help. Thanks, Dan

I have shared this with the owner of Your Best Address. Thanks, Dan

Good Morning RayIN, The Roadside Checklist you are referring to is intended to be generic and not reflective of the Roadside Rescue policy. It's why we added the following line to the opening paragraph: The following is not intended to be a comprehensive list, but rather a good starting point to assist and ease the stress if roadside assistance is needed. I've added additional verbiage to further help clarify and hope to have the updated document up on the website very soon. Thanks, Dan

w5ci3937: To answer your question at the top, as long as the pulling vehicle is not a class 6, 7, or 8 it is also covered. You can view more detail here: www.fmca.com/roadsiderescue jimbobslick: I would be happy to reach out to SafeRide on your behalf to try and come to a resolution. If you'd like to give me a call and explain what happened I can be reach at 800-543-3622. Just ask for Dan Ball and the receptionist will transfer you. Sincerely, Dan

Good Morning! The Roadside Checklist doc is intended as a generic guide and not necessarily meant to be representative of the Roadside Rescue policy. That said, though, I can certainly understand why there might be confusion. I've reached out to my contact at SafeRide and will post here once I have his answer. Sincerely, Dan

Good Afternoon Kking5001, I have forwarded your message to the owner of Your Best Address in the hopes of a response and assured him that this is not the type of "buzz" he wants circulating about his business. Sincerely, Dan Ball, Director of Membership & Marketing

Hi richard5933 and Co., I guess I'll jump in, although I was rather enjoying watching you all talk in circles 😉 I kid, I kid. I kid because I care. Truth be told I wasn't quite sure what clarification you all were seeking and I believed that the FAQs on the page provided by Brett Wolfe earlier in the thread had the answers you needed. Clearly, though, more clarification is desired so I reached out to my contact at TCS and have recently heard back. As best I can gather, here are the lingering concerns that you all would like to have clarified (questions in black, answers in red): - Would like to see the TCS rep address some of the specific questions-- particularly about "pay before or bill after fueling". A) All TCS fuel card accounts are secured with cash prior to card usage. Effectively, each initial cash deposit is used to establish a secured credit line for the account. We are not in the credit underwriting business, and do not extend credit unless it is secured in some form or fashion. - Methods of payment. If debit card used, what is security-- unlike credit cards, most debit cards are not protected from fraud. B) I’m not clear about what is being asked, but security features are built into the card, although it’s up to each account to set them up when they activate their account. Most of our clients utilize a pin# or DL# as security that must be entered for the card to activate the fuel pump. Hopefully this helps answer some of your questions. If there are others please let me know. As far as a timely call back, the response from our email announcement has been overwhelming and the TCS agents are completing call backs as fast and efficiently as they can. Your continued patience is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Dan Ball

WILDEBILL308, You are correct, you are billed by Michelin. FMCA does not handle any money during the transaction we are merely the bridge to get you this great deal. Yes, from time to time, members do find better deals by going direct with the dealer and not through the Advantage program. For example, if they have too much stock and want to move it quickly or some sort of special promotion. The dealer is well within their rights to do so and we always encourage our members to do their homework before making a purchase. Dan

Hi nessa, This is still a work-in-progress, but you can view the results on the following link: http://join.fmca.com/member-engagement/ Additionally, you can access this page from the Member Dashboard once logged in to FMCA.com. There is a tile titled 'FMCA Member Engagement' that will take you to the same page. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with. Sincerely, Dan Ball Director of Membership and Marketing

Fair point, but to keep it in perspective, this has happened to a small number of members. Also to your point, we send a lot of emails already. Thus we made the determination that it was not worth sending yet another email for something that doesn't apply to most folks. For those that do run into the problem, they see a note on the payment screen informing them they are being taken directly to Authorize.net's payment gateway and to call the membership department if they have any questions or concerns. Internet security and privacy is of paramount importance to us.

Good Morning! The bad news: yes, there is a known bug with the relationship between our online payment processor's, Authorize.net, payment gateway and apple devices and, unfortunately, is not limited to just FMCA.com. The good news: we are aware of it and trying to get it fixed, but in the meantime that is why we have implemented the "work-around" you encountered. Rather than using the Authorize.net i-frame within our site we are redirecting you directly to Authorize.net. I assure you this method is secure, but if you have any questions you can always give us a call at 800-543-3622 and we can process your renewal right over the phone. Dan

Good Morning Ray, Sounds like you already renewed online so, first and foremost, thank you for that. I wish you had called us to renew your membership as the coupon instructs as we would have honored it, but it can only be redeemed by calling, mailing, or in-person. If you would like to discuss further please feel free to give me a call at 800-543-3622 and ask for Dan Ball. Sincerely, Dan Ball

My apologies. My response was not intended to be a "brush off", but rather an acknowledgement of your feedback. In my haste to respond I now realize much detail was left out - hindsight is always 20/20. I'm responsible for around 30 or so benefits that may need my attention on any given day, and often times any changes or additions require our third-party partners to provide content and/or approval, which doesn't always come in a timely manner as they too are busy. I am aware and understand your frustrations with our tire program and have been in contact with all 3 partners this morning to discuss ways we can help our members in their search for tires. Your continued patience is greatly appreciated. As several of you have pointed out, any information (or lack thereof) on the website is my responsibility. If ever you feel something is not getting the attention it deserves I urge you to give me a call. I can be reached at 800-543-3622 and just ask for me by name. Dan Ball

Thank you all for your feedback. It is greatly appreciated as we continually look to improve our benefits and the user experience. If you have questions regarding a specific tire or manufacturer, each participant has contact info listed, which can be viewed if logged in at FMCA.com. Sincerely, Dan Ball

Hello Michelle and Mark, Thank you for your inquiry and my apologies for the wait over the holiday break. Since ownership of an RV - regardless if it is a motorhome, travel trailer, 5th-Wheel, etc - is the requirement to be eligible for Roadside Rescue, you will want to put the VIN of your RV (in this case a 5th-wheel). All other passenger vehicles are covered with your Roadside policy automatically so there is no need to also include those VIN numbers. I hope this helps and if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to reach out the FMCA Membership department at 800-543-3622 or Membership@fmca.com. We are available by phone Monday through Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm eastern. And of course, Welcome to the Family! Sincerely, Dan Ball Director of Membership & Marketing