dapaterson said:Is extending easy credit to young military members without financial experience or acumen in the best interests of the individuals or the institution?
PuckChaser said:CANEX is such a terrible idea. That's why the Brits, Dutch, and US all have something similar. In fact, you can buy below market costs at US PX/NX.
https://www.commissaries.com/press_room/press_release/2012/DeCA_13_12.cfmCommissaries still sell products at cost as they have since 1825. Today’s customers also pay a 5-percent surcharge, mandated by Congress. The surcharge pays for new stores, as well as renovations of existing facilities. Patrons thus help pay for their commissaries twice - once as taxpayers and once through the surcharge. Commissary employees’ salaries are tax funded.
Commissary patrons save an average of more than 30 percent on their grocery bills. That level of savings, verified by the agency’s Price Comparison Study, amounts to approximately $4,500 per year for a family of four that regularly shops in a commissary. Customers receive substantial additional savings through special sales and coupons.
Surveys consistently rate the commissaries as one of the military’s top nonpay benefits. Many young service families, particularly those stationed in high cost-of-living urban areas, simply could not make ends meet without the price savings provided by the commissaries. Those savings amount to about double the appropriated cost of running the system. In other words, preserving this level of compensation in direct dollar payments to military personnel would cost the government twice the current fund appropriation.
George Wallace said:(GERMANY STORY) The CANEX in Lahr and Baden were very professionally run, with Buyers travelling around Europe purchasing products for the stores. They held regular promotional displays/events with Reps and merchandise from major manufacturers; Sony, Panasonic, Bose, Siemens, Phillips, etc. The CFE CANEX made profits that kept all the CANEX in Canada in business. The profits CANEX made in CFE were more than all the CANEX outlets in Canada combined. My question is: What happened to all those people who made the CFE CANEX such a success?
Anyone who has shopped at the CANEX in CFE will think that CANEX here is a joke; a shadow of its former self.
I to have spent multiple times on crse (Gagetown and Borden) without a car (we are a one car family) and having a CANEX on base made my life easier.Tcm621 said:The gist of the anti-canex argument seems to be that the money would be better spent on ships or tanks etc. Correct me if I am wrong but Canex is a NPF entity. By virtue of being non-public funds, it wouldn't be funds available to military expenditures.
As for free rent, if there is one thing the CAF has it's a lot of it is space. We could give them Walmart size plots of land on most bases with out actually interfering with much.
As someone who has spent multiple combined years on TD or restricted posting without a car, I can tell you not having a CANEX would have made my life very difficult. An on base store with basic necessitates is a must for those people.
vincent.escanlar said:US Exchanges/Commissaries seem to be a great part of the overall compensation package of being in the military (and all with just your standard-issue military/dependent ID card - no separate "CF1" card required!).
https://www.commissaries.com/press_room/press_release/2012/DeCA_13_12.cfm
jollyjacktar said:I believe the vitriol, is that the card solution seems to be cheesy when set aside the ND 75 for comparison. Perpaps you could add the distain some hold for the CANEX as well into the ire that is displayed.
That is a potential issue and one that may need addressing in the future. Those that have an issue with it would be well advised to bring it up with the relevant parties.jollyjacktar said:Of course the ND 75 wasn't designed to get you discounts. It was designed to identify you as a former member of the CAF. I think one thing that is sticking in the craw of some is that unlike the ND 75, the CF1 doesn't have a photo of the bearer to confirm, "yes, that is you". Anyone could wave a CF1 around and say "yup, that's me".
jollyjacktar said:Of course the ND 75 wasn't designed to get you discounts. It was designed to identify you as a former member of the CAF. I think one thing that is sticking in the craw of some is that unlike the ND 75, the CF1 doesn't have a photo of the bearer to confirm, "yes, that is you". Anyone could wave a CF1 around and say "yup, that's me".
George Wallace said:The lack of a photo is why the CFOne card is not being accepted for many CAF/Veteran discounts.
Pusser said:Is there proof of this or is it just speculation? All of the participants in the CF Appreciation Program (i.e. the ones giving the CAF/Veteran discounts) should be aware of and accepting the CF 1 Card. Keep in mind that most credit cards don't have pictures either, so this shouldn't be a huge issue ("we'll accept this card without your picture for payment of $1000, but we can't offer a discount because this other card - with the same name on it - doesn't have your picture...").
George Wallace said:I have heard from members in PEI and NS who have experienced the CFOne card not being accepted as proof towards a CAF/Veteran discount.
Do not add a "Credit Card" to the argument. It is not, and never has been, a form of identification. They have quite often been the subject to identity theft.
George Wallace said:I have heard from members in PEI and NS who have experienced the CFOne card not being accepted as proof towards a CAF/Veteran discount.
Do not add a "Credit Card" to the argument. It is not, and never has been, a form of identification. They have quite often been the subject to identity theft.
Pusser said:Yes, US Exchanges and especially their commissaries are most definitely part of their pay and compensation packages (which is often why our use of them is restricted). They often sell at wholesale or even below wholesale prices (especially in the commissaries). Ours are not part of our compensation package and Canex is required to mark up goods in order to at least cover their costs and hopefully generate a reasonable profit to pass onto PSP programs. However, because Canex has minimal overhead (e.g. buildings provided at public expense as per the NDA under the guise of "public support to NPF"), it is able to keep prices competitive with local markets.
Pusser said:Ii don't really understand the vitriol lately surrounding the CF1 Card. Do folks not realize that the idea was to make things easier overall? We don't have "dependants cards" (notwithstanding that the MFRC network had some, but not universal success in creating one) and not all veterans were issued with the ND 75. However, all veterans, serving members and eligible dependants can get a CF1 card. There may be some teething pains, but before too long, all services (including business who are participating in the CF Appreciation Program) will accept it as proof of eligibility.
NavyPhoenix said:And during my time in Goose Bay early 90s, the CANEX was pretty much it. I don't know what we would have done without it.