THSCC Forums

surely my eyes deceive me and whitney did not just write this

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05 MCS

I'll go on record as saying I would not leave a CC number on file with THSCC. Not that I don't trust folks in the club...I just don't trust anyone! Seriously, I don't think maintaining a list of CC numbers is a liability the club wants to get into. If the person who kept it had it stolen or something, that would be *bad*.

The only problem that going "cash/check" only solves is the refund problem, and that's only because you wouldn't have been there to pay if you were due a refund. I can see where that may be potentially significant work savings, just pointing out what it solves. The additional problem it creates are bad checks, but I can only guess we have far fewer of those to deal with than paypal refunds. Just pointing out there is still a potential problem.

All that said, I'd have no trouble paying an extra buck for paypal registration. I'd also have no problem if the paypal payment were an assumed risk that if I don't show, I lose it. That's assuming we can keep registration costs under $40 or so, which it looks like we can for quite a while.

Also, if the season pass were $100, I'd probably do it even though I know I probably won't even make four regular THSCC events. That's probably too low for the club, though. Maybe we need a full and a half season pass? I know, that adds a lot more complexity to the season pass system. *shrug*


--Donnie

If we do keep PayPal we will most likely go with it in this direction. Pay up front with PayPal, show up, no lines, all is well. Miss the event, tough cookies, no refunds, no forwarding to other people or events.

I *still* think the season pass is the best solution for people than plan on running the entire season. Discounted price, no lines, and you don't even have to register!

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

Personally, I would have no problem with a no refund policy for paypal if the officers choose to keep Paypal with that as a condition of its use. As others have said, think of it as a small donation to our club, not only the money but the simplification of the service/process.

If Paypal is eliminated, then expect a shift to more sales of Season Passes. This should benefit the club as well as the user of the pass, but price is the key! I'd be careful not to under price it, because then everyone would buy it and we could sell out of all the events for the entire season, locking everyone else out before the season even starts. This would obviously lead to other problems. If it's overpriced then no one buys and the benefits are lost. Maybe the price could be based on projected cost of 6 or 7 event entries for '06, but include some added benefit like a a bonus event for season pass holders only

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'91 Miata STS2 project
'96 328i Sport Pkg

I bought a year-long pass for 2005 and it worked great! The registrar pre-registered me for the entire season, and I never had to think about registration again unless I had to cancel out of an event. I thought the cost was reasonable -- face value for 8 events. If the senior officers decide to sell it at a discount for next year, so much the better!

If you plan to autocross all of next year, do yourself and the registrars a favor and buy a season pass at the Christmas party.

Well here's my two cents, I don't like standing in lines when I could be walking the course. If I pay for registration and don't show up its MY problem NOT THE CLUBS. I believe that proof of registration is MY responsibility NOT THE CLUBS. If Pay Pal doesn't indicate to THSCC that I've paid when I have, I'm going to be in the middle of their back. Again its MY responsibility to square that away, NOT THE CLUBS.

If the figure of 25% is valid, and the $500 figure is correct, then the club is paying about two dollars per person for those who register using Pay Pal. If 25% of the autoxers pay in advance then the club will forfiet three dollars per person for year long registration or $700 per year. If money is the issue then Pay Pal looks better to me, from a club stand point.

Gwen and I used Pay Pal for most of the year. NO PROBLEMS MATE!!!
We will however use the year long registration this year and be done with it. If circumstances dictate that we miss an event then its a donation to the club. s--t happens, I dont expect life to always go my way, nobody said it would always be fair, it is what it is. And by the way that seems to be the consensus of opinions on this thread. Pay Pal gets a yea vote from me.
Bernie

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2004 C5(415whp,390ft/lbs),
1997C5,1997Trans Am, 1986 C4,
1990 Miata, 1976 MGB,1997 Protege, 1989 MR2

FWIW, depending on what the plans are for paying with cash/check, you won't be avoiding the "I paid, but I couldn't make it" situation. If all of us who don't buy a season pass have to pay at the event, then *that* won't be a problem. But, if we can also pay in advance (at the meeting or by postal mail), that problem still exists. Sybyl was Registrar in the days before PayPal & she use to keep up with "I paid but couldn't make it" from probably most events.

If we were voting (which we're not), I'd definitely vote for retaining some type of online prepayment (refund or no). And, never say never, but it's highly unlikely I'd buy any type of season pass. I *would*, though, consider something like a "book" of event vouchers that I could carry forward to next year if I didn't use 'em all this year. That way if something happened & I couldn't make but 2 events next year, I wouldn't have lost all my $ as I would if I had bought a season pass.

BTW, PayPal costs:
$30.00 = -$1.17
$25.00 = -$1.03
$20.00 = -$0.88

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The person with too many names...
Mary E./ME/Emmie Fisher/Daniel/Daniel-Fisher
(& some others not suitable for posting!).
Help support our habits; BUY http://virginiabreeze.us !

If Emmies figures are correct( I believe they are) and the $500.00 to Pay Pal is correct then about seventy people per event are registering with Pay Pal. And that sounds like too many. So the real question is How much have we paid out to Pay Pal???

quote="Emmie Fisher"]
BTW, PayPal costs:
$30.00 = -$1.17
$25.00 = -$1.03
$20.00 = -$0.88[/quote]

Again I would gladly pay $.88 additional not to have to stand in line. That way the cost of Pay Pal is removed as an issue.

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2004 C5(415whp,390ft/lbs),
1997C5,1997Trans Am, 1986 C4,
1990 Miata, 1976 MGB,1997 Protege, 1989 MR2

FWIW....

We now have the network module for AX-Ware. This allows us to use up to 5 computers running the AX-Ware s/w. This means we could consider running a minumum of 2 laptops at the event for registration. If we could do this and have the lines at the side of the bus (with the windows open), this would take care of the in/out of the bus bottle neck and make the lines much shorter. Just another option to consider.....

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Rob Harvey
919-697-5485
1997 BMW M3
1992 Acura Integra (Simon)

doesnt paypal only charge if you have a premier account which enables you to receive credit card payments?

what if you jsut get a standard account and only accept checking account payments?

If you have abase acct, you can only get upto $500 per month in payments, before it either refuses payment or forces you to upgrade

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91 Jetta GLI STS/DSP 111
85 Porsche 944 ASP 11
http://www.blackforestindustries.com

Can I add an alternate suggestion here? How about a mini pack of 5 events. That would cover the minimum 5 event you need to trophy at the end of the year and at least eliminate some of the registration hassels. You could declair that you were using one of your autocross entries when you register for the event. If you make more than 5 runs, well, then you just pay at the bus like everyone else.

Just my 2 cents worth

watch think?

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

If paypal is a pain in the arse, a 5 event pass will be just as tough to monitor.

The way I look at it is like this:

- eliminate refunds
- raise the cost in order to cover the fees
- have a season pass for those who want that option

- AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

The thing about Paypal and the season passes is that the registrar already knows you've paid before you even get there. With event vouchers that's not the case- you'd need to hand in the voucher to the registrar so s/he can mark you present and paid, which I'd think would mean standing in line.

OK, though, I guess there could be a box sitting somewhere inside the bus, and the voucher people could write their names on the vouchers and reach in and drop the vouchers into the box. Then the registrar(s) could go quickly go through the contents of the box at the close of reg and mark those people as paid. It would require that anyone using a voucher had preregistered, though, as otherwise the regs wouldn't know what class/number to use.

Just thinking out loud here.

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Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

I was thinking more along the line of attaching a database to the web page and adding a field to the registration page that showed how many events you had in your account. When you prepay, you get 5 "clicks" on the webpage. Should be easy enough to create a small database with just a basic counter for each entry. When you register and choose to use a credit, it decriments the database and also sends your name to a prepay text file that can be printed before the event. I'm not a programmer, but the logic would seem to work.

Like Carl, just thinking out loud...

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....