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Jack M

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Hmm generally the community list items here at pretty fair prices, usually much lower than you would expect on fleabay. Without wanting to seem mean spirited, if we make it the "expectation" subscribers to also donate some portion of an already thin sale margin to ASB what is the point of subscribing? 

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I was waiting for someone to make the A.P. reference, haha, thanks @queequeg.

The classifieds donation is totally optional, and the amount is up to you. No pressure. I don’t feel like boards sell for more on eBay. There is a way to have the forum take a cut, but I don’t think we need to go there. 

Keep in mind new stuff is now fair game. 

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The honor system is all that's needed.  Most sellers realize the value of dealing with fellow carving nerds on this site.  Nobody's going to get rich off of any of this but some of the cost and time of running this site should be compensated for.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is not a huge deal, but I just got an invoice for my monthly subscription cost - had to fill out name/address, log into PayPal and select a payment method, etc - is there a way that I can alter my subscription so that I've just got an automatic recurring charge against my PayPal account? (I do this with Patreon, for instance - it it just hits up PayPal behind the scenes each month, and I never have to do anything until/unless I decide I want to stop.)

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36 minutes ago, jim_s said:

This is not a huge deal, but I just got an invoice for my monthly subscription cost - had to fill out name/address, log into PayPal and select a payment method, etc - is there a way that I can alter my subscription so that I've just got an automatic recurring charge against my PayPal account? (I do this with Patreon, for instance - it it just hits up PayPal behind the scenes each month, and I never have to do anything until/unless I decide I want to stop.)

Same with me, this should be fixed.  Also, I made my 1st payment last month on the 27th and got billed on the 17th.  I don't mind but if there is just one anniversary date for everybody some might object to a short first month.

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Yeah, this is not good.  In the configuration settings there is just a yes/no toggle for "Renews?".  I assumed that meant automatic.  I will research this and contact support if necessary.

2 hours ago, jim_s said:

had to fill out name/address,

It really shouldn't require your shipping address, are you sure it did?  I specifically turned off that option.  Or did you mean email address?

1 hour ago, Neil Gendzwill said:

Also, I made my 1st payment last month on the 27th and got billed on the 17th.

Did it say due on the 27th?  There are no options in the admin control panel to set a global renewal date so it should be per subscription.

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1 hour ago, Jack Michaud said:

Yeah, this is not good.  In the configuration settings there is just a yes/no toggle for "Renews?".  I assumed that meant automatic.  I will research this and contact support if necessary.

It really shouldn't require your shipping address, are you sure it did?  I specifically turned off that option.  Or did you mean email address?

Did it say due on the 27th?  There are no options in the admin control panel to set a global renewal date so it should be per subscription.

I'm pretty sure there was a 'required field' asterisk by the 'Billing Address' fields, but I can't say with 100% certainty - maybe someone else who fills in that same form will weigh in, but I'm reasonably sure the billing address was required to complete the form.

The form did say, "Expires: 05/27/18" - given that today is the 17th, it looks like they send out the email 10 days in advance of the due date - seems perfectly reasonable.

Don't let this stress you out - its a minor inconvenience, for sure, but not something that's going to have me holding back on my $3/mo. ?  I'm sure things will smooth out over time - a few hiccups should be expected, and are worth the end result!

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2 minutes ago, jim_s said:

I'm pretty sure there was a 'required field' asterisk by the 'Billing Address' fields

Ah, yes, billing address is required by the system.

I found the setting to make renewals automatic, but of course now an error is being thrown when I try to subscribe with my test account.  I'm off to the help desk!

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UPDATE: This appears to be fixed.  I just subscribed using a test account and it set me up for automatic billing.  HOWEVER - for existing subscribers who want to activate automatic billing, you will need to cancel your subscription and start a new one.  My apologies but this is beyond my control.  Thanks for your patience!

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41 minutes ago, 1xsculler said:

I thought I had already signed up for automatic billing but I received an email today to b pay but it wouldn't allow me to go to the correct page.

So, am I paid up or not?

Unfortunately you're not (well, you are through May 28 - the reminder email comes out 10 days in advance).  I thought automatic billing was set up, but it turns out it wasn't - sorry!  Learning curve, growing pains, etc.  And it appears that it's not going to let you renew because of the configuration change to provide automatic billing going forward.  You'll need to either cancel your current subscription or wait for it to expire on the 28th, and then start a new subscription.  Apologies, but it seems this is the only way.  Click the Subscriptions tab at the top of the forum to do this.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Update: Subscribers who switched from manual renewals to automatic renewals may have been automatically dropped into the regular "Member" group.  I'll be reviewing all subscriptions and fixing any issues starting Friday.  Sorry for any confusion or inconvenience!

Also - THANK YOU for your support.  The forum is now self-sustaining, and we are donating (however modestly) to USASA and USSRT.  Hopefully as we get closer to winter up here in the northern hemisphere subscriptions will ramp up and we will be able to make a significant impact on the health of our sport.

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2 hours ago, Jack Michaud said:

Update: Subscribers who switched from manual renewals to automatic renewals may have been automatically dropped into the regular "Member" group.  I'll be reviewing all subscriptions and fixing any issues starting Friday.  Sorry for any confusion or inconvenience!

Also - THANK YOU for your support.  The forum is now self-sustaining, and we are donating (however modestly) to USASA and USSRT.  Hopefully as we get closer to winter up here in the northern hemisphere subscriptions will ramp up and we will be able to make a significant impact on the health of our sport.

I let my original subscription lapse and then re-upped to the automatic version yesterday.  It appears that it worked OK for me.

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23 hours ago, Jack Michaud said:

Update: Subscribers who switched from manual renewals to automatic renewals may have been automatically dropped into the regular "Member" group.  I'll be reviewing all subscriptions and fixing any issues starting Friday.  Sorry for any confusion or inconvenience!

This is done.  I believed I've fixed everyone who signed up for automatic renewal, but were dropped into the basic Member group.  If you have any questions or see anything strange, let me know.

The long explanation: the system automatically generates an invoice X days before the subscription renewal date.  The default for X is 10 days.  Invoices have a grace period of Y days before expiring.  The default for Y is 3 days.  SO, the invoices would expire and subscribers would get dropped into the Member group even though the subscription was being paid automatically, 10 days later.  I found those settings and set X to 1 day.  (Zero is not an option.)  This should create the invoice the day before it renews, and then the automatic renewal will pay the invoice the next day, and everything should be fine going forward.

Sorry for any confusion!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Jack, on Aug 9 I received an invoice for my gold membership.  It had a button to click for "pay now", which I did.  Now I see that the payment has been made twice, once on Aug 9 when I clicked the button and once on Aug 10.  They are both labelled "preapproved payment".

I'm happy to let the extra $5 stand as a donation, but concerned that this process is broken somehow.

ETA: I noted that by pressing the "pay now" button I set up a second automated payment.  So I cancelled the new one and let the old one stand.  I guess I just ignore emails requesting me to "pay now" in future.  But it is confusing.

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Argh.  Very sorry for the confusion.  I will look into it and request support if I can't fix it in the admin control panel.  I believe the automatic sending of invoices and the wording of them is not configurable, but I will check it out.  Thanks for letting me know.

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@Neil Gendzwill, I've alerted Invision about the confusing "invoice" offering the "Pay Now" button.  Thanks for bringing this to my attention.  I have suggested that auto-renewing members should not receive invoices, but reminders.  Even if they take my advice it would be a programming change, so it wouldn't happen for a while.

For now I would simply advise everyone PLEASE DO NOT MANUALLY PAY AUTO-RENEWAL INVOICES.  Just disregard as a reminder, and let the system pay automatically.

On 8/11/2018 at 7:10 PM, RobertAlexander said:

I will gladly join,  maybe once the process has the bugs worked out.  And perhaps a brief , how to explanation of what buttons to press and when and where. thanks

Hi Robert, I just went through the process again and bought another subscription with a test account.  Simply go to the Subscriptions tab at the top of the desktop version (or go here) and press the button for your desired subscription level.  It will take you to PayPal to complete the process.  I got a spinning "Processing" icon for a few minutes after I had completed everything.  Then I got a confirmation email from the forum.  I figured the PayPal page was hung, so I closed that window.  A minute later I got a confirmation email from PayPal.  Perhaps the "Processing" page would have redirected back to the forum had I waited.  Let me know if you have any further questions or trouble.  Thanks!

Again, now that this site is no longer a marketing tool for a manufacturer, Subscriptions are what allows it to exist and allows us to support this fringe sport.  Thanks all!

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Hi Jack

i am not identified on the site as being a subscriber at the moment but i have a standing payment that goes off on the first of each month and i have just confirmed that my paypal payemnt went through in 8/1/18

$5 is nnot the issue rather the fact that the site is not identifying that i have paid and wondering if this is affecting anyone elase as well?

brian

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34 minutes ago, Eboot said:

Hi Jack

i am not identified on the site as being a subscriber at the moment but i have a standing payment that goes off on the first of each month and i have just confirmed that my paypal payemnt went through in 8/1/18

$5 is nnot the issue rather the fact that the site is not identifying that i have paid and wondering if this is affecting anyone elase as well?

brian

Hi Brian,

I've manually fixed your account.  Keep an eye on it next month as well.  The Invision subscription system is relatively new and buggy and I have an open support ticket about the issue that is currently being worked.  Thanks for your patience, and thanks for being a member!  Anyone else in the same boat, let me know.

Jack

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  • 2 weeks later...

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