For those of you who use Axxess for their restaurant discounts, you should know that the service has been sold and is now known as Twism. Here is an update from the founder:
Dear Friends,
I started Axxess in 1999, fresh out of UCSB, with no clue what I was doing. Twenty years later, Axxess had grown to over 1,500 participating Merchants, 75,000 Members, a company of 26 awesome humans and two offices. Yet I still can’t say I knew what I was doing!
For many years I was focused on growth. I tried (and mostly failed at) franchising. I bought another company and tried to merge it with Axxess. You never heard about that attempt because it too failed.
While doing all of this I started a family and soon realized I was spread thin. I redefined what “success” looked like for me and instead focused on my family and our community. I’m proud to say I wiped plenty of baby butts and was present as a Dad, then and now.
I’m equally proud of what Axxess has accomplished: we raised millions of needed dollars for local schools and nonprofits, while helping the merchants grow and our members save; plus we found more ways to support new businesses and mostly we had fun.
Late in our 20th anniversary year – COVID threw the world a major curveball. Thankfully, because of my amazing Team and all of your support, we persevered. COVID challenged us all, and as we re-emerged, it was clear things had changed. I decided now was the time to take Axxess to a new level.
I’m extremely excited to do just that and introduce you to Twism! That’s right…After 24 amazing years, I’m excited to announce Axxess has been acquired by Twism!
Twism is a Santa Barbara-based technology company dedicated to helping local businesses deliver great customer experiences while people shop the way they prefer to shop.
When you download the Twism mobile app, you’ll find all of your Axxess offers in your account. Please note: you don’t have to input your Axxess membership number — your offers were moved over at no cost to you.
Something new with Twism are loyalty rewards. Once you securely link your credit card in Twism, you’ll automatically be enrolled in your favorite merchants’ loyalty programs. So, in addition to exclusive local offers, you’ll also start earning great rewards!
But wait, there’s more! When your current Membership expires–it automatically renews–for FREE.
We’re working closely with the local merchants to ensure a smooth transition and will keep you updated as we progress. Watch your inbox for more exciting news from Twism.
Thank you for so many years of support. Cheers!
-KarimKarim Kaderali, Founder
The Axxess Card
This new App is not user friendly on Twism. Hoping they will simplify. Now to find 2 for 1 offers near my location you have to click through five different steps.
Hi Dawn, Ben from Twism here! We very much appreciate your feedback and understand that you find our current app to not be as user-friendly. We appreciate your insights as we are striving to improve experiences across the platform. If you have any additional questions or feedback, please feel free to contact us at support@twism.com
I dislike Twism I was unable access my Axxess Card ads usual. Even ther cashier at the restaurant was unable to help me. I knew about Twism and had downloaded the night before.
Hi Kathryn, Ben from Twism here! We’re sorry that your first experiences with Twism were not ideal. We’d love to get more of feedback and details of your experiences to understand where we can improve. Please, if you can message us at support@twism.com with those details, it would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve had trouble trying to switch from my old Axxess app to this stupid Twism one, so I haven’t used any recent offers/discounts. What a suck fest.
Hi AM, Ben from Twism here! We understand that you’re experiencing some trouble with the transition to Twism and redeeming your offers. We’d be more than happy to provide some additional guidance. Please reach out to us at support@twism.com, and we’ll be more than happy to assist.
Good for you Karim!
Thanks for posting this John! This is Ben here from Twism support. We’re a local company here in SB and are thrilled to welcome Axxess members to Twism! We understand our app might navigate differently from Axxess – especially in searching for your Axxess Offers. We are working hard to improve the overall experience and genuinely appreciate everyone’s feedback.
It’s really important to us that you have the best experience possible with Twism so I encourage you to reach out to us with any questions. Please contact us at support@twism.com and we’d be so happy to hear from you! – Ben
Lots of issues with twissisms. What’s going on here? Many don’t like change in SB-we like what we like. Too much complications on that applications thing.
I can’t figure out Twism either. What’s all this stuff about buying coins? I also do not want to register a credit card. Does this mean I won’t be able to use Twism?
I just downloaded the app and looks really good. I didn’t have an axxess account so can’t speak to that. Lots of deals. Looks easy to redeem. I’ll use one today for lunch.