# How did I get downgraded from Charter Member to Guest? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 28, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-get-downgraded-from-charter-member-to-guest/497936 "2009-05-28T15:57:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 36
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-get-downgraded-from-charter-member-to-guest/497936/36 "2009-05-29T16:44:34Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Let me just say that, if this Board decides to allow people who stomp their feet about a title get to keep that title, **despite having failed to do what is required to earn the title** , I shall never again pay for a membership here, and would have to seriously reconsider posting here. All they failed to do was pay bang on time. This is the type of poster I believe **Dex** is referring back for discussion. I’ve got some sympathy with late payers who lose the charter title. If I don’t pay my electricity bill by the due date I get a reminder giving me seven days to pay. If I still don’t cough up, the company gives seven days notice of disconnection. My service is not removed at the first available opportunity. I get fourteen days grace. Furthermore, I get letters rather than emails that could find their way into my spam folder. I am not, of course, suggesting that the SD sends letters to people who have failed to renew on time but, when pay to post first arrived, it might have been better to offer a period of grace whereby a poster could reinstate himself/herself as a Charter Member by paying within seven or 14 days. > [@](#): > > When Pay-to-Play was instituted, I, who had participated for some years, decided not to Pay. I was of the opinion it was not something that should be done. I understood that, implicit in my decision was the fact that I would never be able to be called a “Charter Member”, even though I certainly would otherwise have qualified. When I finally gave in and paid up, I didn’t stomp my little feetsies and complain that I should be called a “Charter Member” on the basis of my join date, or some other reason. I accepted that I had not done what a “Charter Member” needed to do. It seem like your situation was more of a personal choice than a late payment. No horse in this contest. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-get-downgraded-from-charter-member-to-guest/497936)._