Discount cards cause confusion for students, retailers

Compus and Student Advantage used to be partners; Now they are competing for the Philadelphia market For a number of years, Penn Student Agencies has offered students a discount card for local stores and restaurants -- but each year the card has had a different name. There was the Philly card. And the CDA card. And the Zap card. And the Student Advantage card. This year, it's the Compus card. Advertisements for Compus sent to students over the summer said the new card was "formerly known as Student Advantage" and that "Student Advantage?changed its name." But Student Advantage President Ray Sozzi said these ads were misleading. "A lot of the marketing that has been done has led students to believe that Student Advantage doesn't exist anymore, that it has changed over to Compus," he said. "That could not be further from the truth." The real truth -- that Student Advantage and Compus were once partners and are now competitors -- has left students, parents, University officials and even retailers confused. Many students signed up for the Compus card expecting to receive the same card as last year. Then they returned to campus and saw advertisements for Student Advantage. According to Tom Hauber, associate director of Student Life Activities and Facilities, PSA signed a contract last year with a company called Passport Inc. to provide a discount card for students. Last year, Passport was marketing its card under the name Student Advantage, but this year it is calling its card Compus. Adrian Sedlin, president of Passport Inc., said his company entered into an agreement last year with Student Advantage to sell the Student Advantage card in the Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. markets. But that agreement only lasted about 10 months, he said, and the two companies are now marketing their own separate cards. Hauber said the University ended up caught in the middle of arguments between the two companies. "All we knew was that they were changing their name from Student Advantage to Compus," he said. "We had no idea -- we were not told by anybody -- why they were doing it. "We made our deal based upon the knowledge we had at that time," he added. That knowledge included the fact that last year's discount card was the most successful one ever. "We had more people coming in with that card than I've ever seen with previous cards," Hauber said. "We had already signed a contract with [Passport Inc.] to renew for this year -- we had no reason not to continue with them." Hauber also said that upon Sozzi's suggestion, PSA briefly considered sponsoring two discount cards, but was unable to due to legal issues. With the University exclusively endorsing the Compus card, Student Advantage was "forced" to find another means of advertising its product -- namely, through Campus Text, Sozzi said. "They came to us -- it's been a great partnership," said Campus Text owner and 1995 College and Wharton graduate Doug Levy. "We're working together to show students that by coming to us, both Campus Text and Student Advantage, [they] can save a lot of money." Still, the debate rages on between the two companies over which has the rights to the Philadelphia market. Sedlin said that his company spent most of the time and effort securing the contracts with various retailers. "Student Advantage didn't lend value to our efforts near the University of Pennsylvania or Philadelphia," he said. "Everything was done under the Passport name." But Sozzi argued that Student Advantage did play a role -- in securing national sponsors for the card and in providing resources to Passport to use in promotions to local businesses. "There was nothing done in Philadelphia prior to the two companies working together," Sozzi said. "It was truly a joint effort to open up the city." The result of the dispute has meant confusion for many area retailers. Though both cards carry exclusivity clauses with their contracts, many businesses have signed on to both cards not knowing that they were different. "When Compus came for an agreement to be signed, we signed it," said Connie Carrozza, office manager of Cavanaugh's Restaurant at 39th and Sansom streets. "Somewhere along the line Student Advantage came. We thought it was one and the same company, as probably most establishments did, [so] we signed again, not knowing it was two separate companies." While both cards offer hundreds of discounts to students, and while many businesses offer discounts with both cards, there are still many differences between the cards. A quick glance at each card's guidebook reveals that Student Advantage offers more discounts at national businesses -- like Amtrak, Greyhound and 1-800-FLOWERS -- while Compus offers more discounts locally -- like California Pizza, the Gold Standard Restaurant and Classical Choice music store. At least one local business will not be accepting either card after this year. Carrozza said that the relationship between Cavanaugh's and both companies has been "a disaster". "Both salespeople from both of the companies come in and try to talk bad about the other company," she said. "This isn't our concern?we have more important things to do." Ira Hillman, general manager of PSA and a 1992 College and Wharton graduate said PSA extended its contract with Compus through the 1996-97 school year. He added that PSA is currently offering refunds "if any student in any way feels they were deceived or are not getting what they thought they were getting." Students desiring a refund should bring the entire Compus package -- including the card, the guide book and the pocket guide -- to the PSA office by Friday.

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