[SirPentor]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14380335/

Quote:

AKRON, Ohio - Maybe the Girl Scouts should adopt a pay-as-you-go policy when selling cookies. The Girls Scouts are pursuing 12 court claims in Akron, Ohio, for uncollected cookie money ranging from $54 to $3,500. The claims total $9,000. The Scouts say the deadbeats, all adults, picked up cookies and signed for them.

Like stealing cookies from a little girl...

 

[JessicaS]

$3,500 in Girl Scout Cookies!?!?!

 

[kate42]

Criminy! That's approximately 2500 boxes of cookies that people horked from the Girl Scouts.

:

Roughly sixty thousand Caramel Delites that people enjoyed criminally.

 

[Marsupialmom]

I would say some of the higher amounts are from troops cookie chair person. She is suppose to also collect the money and turn it in. Unfortantly this happens all the time to many groups and I am glad to see them sueing.

 

[Momtwice]

I guess I'm not the only one who thinks Thin Mints are more addictive than crack!

(Where I live now, and where I sold GS cookies as a girl, you had to pay to get the cookies you ordered.)

 

[Maggi315]

Wow,ripping off the Girl Scouts, that's gotta be a new low. Around here, no money=no cookies. Pay up if you want your thin mints or my favorite Caramel Delites!

 

[Linda on the move]

In order to pick up cookies from a GS council without paying for them, you have to be a GS leader or the person who organizing the cookie sale for the troop (or in some places the parent of a GS, but this isn't true everywhere). The troop doesn't have to pay for all the cookies when they pick them up. They collect the money as they deliver the cookies, and then turn the money in.

If a GS sells 100 boxes of cookies at $4 a box, that's $400. If there are 12 GS in the troop and each sell that many, it's $4800. If they made the troop leader pay for all those cookies up front, no troop could have a sell.

The parent of the GS signs when they pick up the cookies from the leader (or who ever is organizing the sale for the troop) -- but they don't have to pay for the cookies when they pick them up.

It is when the cookies are delivered to whoever is actually going to eat them that you have to pay. Then the parent turns the money back into the troop, and the troop turns the money back into the council.

An amazing number of things go wrong in the process, and it is pain in the butt even when it works right!

 

[JeDeeLenae]

It's a truly a PITA to deal with those cookies. My mom is a membership executive for Girl Scouts Michigan Trails and she deals with that every year. It's her least favorite part of the year. I'm glad they're doing something about it.

 

[journeymom]

"An amazing number of things go wrong in the process, and it is pain in the butt even when it works right!"

Amen to that! -Troop cookie manager.

 

[aniT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Momtwice I guess I'm not the only one who thinks Thin Mints are more addictive than crack! (Where I live now, and where I sold GS cookies as a girl, you had to pay to get the cookies you ordered.)

it is not the customers that is the problem, but parents, troops leaders, and cookie chairs.

For instance, I signed for roughly 150 boxes of cookies PER KID. With two that is around $1,000. They kids deliever the cookies and collect the money. Any money turns up missing I HAVE TO PAY IT. If I don't, then the troop is out the money. (which is probably where the lower ranges of $54 comes in.)

So I turn in the $500 to the troop. Say they get $500 each kid and thereare 10 girls. That is $5,000. If the troop doesn't turn that money in that is $3000 the GS are owed for cookies.

So then the troop turns that money into the cookie chair. Say she is in charge of 10 troops. At $5,000 yea that is $50,000 that she is responsible for. If SHE doesn't turn that in, that is where the higher amounts come from.

Although I can't imagine any toop leaders or cookie chairs being that irresponsible. Unfortunatly, it is obvious some are.

 

[Linda on the move]

I'd love to hear the stories on the big amounts. The most I've heard of was $150 that wasn't turned in when a GS's parents went through an ugly divorce and moved.

 

[memiles]

I'm a troop leader. One parent signed out almost $300 in pre-sale cookies last year.............and we never saw her or her child again. My assumption is that she sold the cookies and kept the money. It's almost a year later, and now our troop is broke to start this year, because we had to pay the council for those cookies out of our profits from other kids sales. We are going through the proceedings to send her to collections now, but I doubt we will ever see the money.

 

[USAmma]

I don't want to sound pessimistic but that's why dd is not in Girl Scouts. Maybe when the kids are both older we'll have more energy to sell those cookies. When I was a girl scout I had a lot of trouble collecting money.

 

[Linda on the move]

Quote:

Originally Posted by USAmma I don't want to sound pessimistic but that's why dd is not in Girl Scouts. Maybe when the kids are both older we'll have more energy to sell those cookies. When I was a girl scout I had a lot of trouble collecting money.

selling cookies is not required to be in GS.

The first year we were in scouts our older DD wanted to sell 150 boxes of cookies and we helped her with it. It was a pain in the butt. The second year we were in scouts both of our kids were old enough to sell and was the troop coordinator for the nut sell (a smaller sell earlier in the year). After that, DH and were really burnt out on sells and we now limit our kids to selling cookies to friends and family only and we don't do the nut sell (and I will not ever be the troop coordinator for a sell again!). They sold about 20 boxes of cookies each last year, which is really nothing in the GS world.

 

[Kristine233]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linda on the move selling cookies is not required to be in GS. The first year we were in scouts our older DD wanted to sell 150 boxes of cookies and we helped her with it. It was a pain in the butt. The second year we were in scouts both of our kids were old enough to sell and was the troop coordinator for the nut sell (a smaller sell earlier in the year). After that, DH and were really burnt out on sells and we now limit our kids to selling cookies to friends and family only and we don't do the nut sell (and I will not ever be the troop coordinator for a sell again!). They sold about 20 boxes of cookies each last year, which is really nothing in the GS world.

Yup, my DD would definately NOT be in girls scouts if it was required. I dont believe in door to door selling or things like that. Our family supports the kids and all buy from her but thats it. I think we sold 30 boxes and that was it. She got a badge for cookie sales for just selling one box so she was happy, lol.