# Lost my "Charter Member" label? Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 3, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330 "2006-09-03T23:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/21 "2006-09-04T20:07:21Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Cheatem Undhow] Fair enough, although I think carrying the SDSAB badge does confer an inference that he speaks with some authority on these matters. It does imply he is part of the apparatus that runs this show. So I amend my sentence to say: “And certainly the nice lady on the phone never did anything so preposterous as to dismissively meet our request with ‘please pay attention.’” [/QUOTE] That is a fair complaint, not one that will get a change in policy, but a fair complaint. The SDSAB, definitely does not imply that he speaks with authority on these matters. He has no mod abilities at all and is not consulted on policy and decisions. It is possible that they may take his suggestions a lot more seriously than yours or mine, but that is not even definitely true. I suspect they will be just as derisively dismissive of his suggestions as ours. 😉 Jim ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/22 "2006-09-04T20:51:05Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Cheatem Undhow] I mean, really, this is just a label in the admin page, right? A five second operation to restore that label? Good Lord, I went through a really busy patch where I wasn’t really banging around on the internet much. One would think such a minimal courtesy could easily be extended. [/QUOTE] If that was the situation, sure, but that’s not the deal. It’s apparently something that takes going between several computer systems (the subscription stuff is not on the same server as the sdmb) and involves some work and some time. More work and time than is warranted for such a change, especially so for a tech department that has a full plate to begin with. To avoid this, pay your subscription on time and maintain your Charter Member status; once you let it lapse, that’s the end of it. Personally I would love to be able to give you what you want, I’d like to help with some better outcomes here. But there is literally nothing I can do to fix this once it happens, nothing. All I can do here is work as hard as I can to get the word out when it’s resubscription time and then tell the unpleasant truth if you let that time get past you. We do all we can to let you know when it’s time to take care of business. The personal responsibility to renew your subscription is up to you. If it makes you feel better to shoot the messenger, then carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/23 "2006-09-04T21:35:22Z")
Well, I guess I have zero incentive to renew in a timely fashion in the future now. That’s not the best way to protect your revenue stream, assuming regular, predictable payments are part of your business model. It would have been nice to have known about this consequence in advance. It is, at the very least, non-obvious from the materials I’ve seen. And no, brief mentions in an ATMB thread is not obvious. Suffice it to say I think this represents extremely poor customer service. [QUOTE=TubaDiva] The personal responsibility to renew your subscription is up to you. If it makes you feel better to shoot the messenger, then carry on. [/QUOTE] And this kind of comment? _Abysmal_ customer relations. [QUOTE=TubaDiva] But there is literally nothing I can do to fix this once it happens, nothing. [/QUOTE] And this? Categorically untrue. There is always something that \*can \*be done, depending on how badly you want to please your customers. What you mean to say is “I don’t _want_ to expend the effort to make this happen.” Which can, in some cases, be a legitimate response; some customers are intractable, and some ask for the sun and moon. But let’s not go confusing the impossible with the merely inconvenient. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/24 "2006-09-04T22:17:24Z")
Dewey, if you have really been around this long surely you have seen others trying to get the charter back and failing. Why are you acting like a 2 year old? ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/25 "2006-09-04T22:23:22Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Cheatem Undhow] Like I said, I went through a stretch where I wasn’t banging around the internet terribly much, and didn’t notice the lapse until later when I tried to post or do a search (I forget which). I paid up immediately. [/QUOTE] Weren’t on the Internet much?? The Charter Member subscriptions expired on April 28. Subscription reminders were up on the board at least from April 5 (when the [Subscription Help 2006](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=366113&highlight=charter) thread went up in ATMB). You have 42 posts from April 5 to April 28; it appears that the time period you weren’t being active was in March (you only have 7 posts for the month of March). There were, by the way, announcements at the top of every forum about re-subscribing for most of April, not only threads in ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/26 "2006-09-04T22:32:05Z")
Why does this mean so much to you? In the grand, greater scheme of things, taking this much enegy for a name on an internet message board speaks to me of someone who needs a little perspective in his life. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/27 "2006-09-04T22:34:45Z")
:smack: Ah, no…I cannot apparently read years. You were inactive from January 30, 2006 until April 22, 2006. You posted 9 times between April 22 and April 25, and then not again until yesterday. Those announcements about renewals were still up, in every forum, when you came back on April 22, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/28 "2006-09-04T22:35:14Z")
[QUOTE=kayT] Dewey, if you have really been around this long surely you have seen others trying to get the charter back and failing. Why are you acting like a 2 year old? [/QUOTE] Actually, no, I was not aware of any other such failures. And really now, a 2 year old? Was I acting like a toddler when I asked for the late fee refund from my credit card? Was my father when he asked for a time extension from his health insurance carrier? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/29 "2006-09-04T22:35:37Z")
_Customer_ service? I ain’t no _customer_. I’m a member of an elite club, and there are dues that I pay to be a member. How those dues are to be paid was spelled out quite well, along with penalties for non-compliance. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/30 "2006-09-04T22:39:30Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Cheatem Undhow] Actually, no, I was not aware of any other such failures. And really now, a 2 year old? Was I acting like a toddler when I asked for the late fee refund from my credit card? Was my father when he asked for a time extension from his health insurance carrier? [/QUOTE] Truthfully, if you requested them more than 4 months after the fact, yes, you would have been. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/31 "2006-09-04T22:39:52Z")
[QUOTE=Kat] :smack: Ah, no…I cannot apparently read years. You were inactive from January 30, 2006 until April 22, 2006. You posted 9 times between April 22 and April 25, and then not again until yesterday. [/quote] And all but one of those posts, you’ll note, related to a very specific computer problem I was having and was trying to fix post-haste. I wasn’t exactly lolling around on the boards, skimming for things to read. I was tightly focused on that particular issue. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/32 "2006-09-04T22:42:25Z")
Not only is the whine absurd, but the desired resolution childish. You snooze, you lose - and by extension: you snozt, you lost. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/33 "2006-09-04T22:42:46Z")
[QUOTE=Eutychus] Why does this mean so much to you? [/QUOTE] Because customer service is important, and a dying art to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/34 "2006-09-04T22:47:21Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Cheatem Undhow] Because customer service is important, and a dying art to boot. [/QUOTE] But customer service doesn’t mean giving you something that you had to right to because you decided to whine about it. Customer service as it applies to everybody on the board means the the rules are applied evenly and fairly to everybody. It does not mean making exceptions for certain people who feel they deserve special consideration. Besides, people can see that your sign up date was April of 2001. If a title means that much to you, perhaps you should go out for a breath of fresh air. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/35 "2006-09-04T22:51:47Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Not only is the whine absurd, but the desired resolution childish. You snooze, you lose - and by extension: you snozt, you lost. [/QUOTE] Again, I have no problem with the fact that the SDMB is perfectly entitled to handle this as it is. I am simply questioning the wisdom being so rigid in that approach with respect to a longstanding customer, as well as the wisdom of essentially telling a valued customer to bugger off. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/36 "2006-09-04T22:53:53Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Cheatem Undhow] Again, I have no problem with the fact that the SDMB is perfectly entitled to handle this as it is. I am simply questioning the wisdom being so rigid in that approach with respect to a longstanding customer, as well as the wisdom of essentially telling a valued customer to bugger off. [/QUOTE] Because then every Charter Member who didn’t sign up in time would whine about it with the same reasoning that you have and expect to be catered to? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/37 "2006-09-04T22:54:08Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] How those dues are to be paid was spelled out quite well, along with penalties for non-compliance. [/QUOTE] I disagree that the “penalties for non-compliance” were in any way spelled out well. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/38 "2006-09-04T22:59:50Z")
[QUOTE=Eutychus] If a title means that much to you, perhaps you should go out for a breath of fresh air. [/QUOTE] It is raining, and I am doing some long-overdue semi-automated tasks that require my periodic attention to boot. Having said that, can we dipense with the “why are you investing so much energy into this,” please? I’m sitting here at my desk, doing various tasks, including occasionally posting in this thread. It really doesn’t take that much energy. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/39 "2006-09-04T23:00:13Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Cheatem Undhow] I am simply questioning the wisdom being so rigid in that approach with respect to a longstanding customer, as well as the wisdom of essentially telling a valued customer to bugger off. [/QUOTE] You’re not being told to bugger off, you’re just being told that you missed the window of opportunity to attain your (IMO pointless) “title”. And the credit company you dealt with must be very rare: the ones that I’ve dealt with recently would not only have downgraded your title, but also banned you, put a bucket on your head and whacked it with a hammer, and kicked your arse off the internet permanently. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330/40 "2006-09-04T23:03:28Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Cheatem Undhow] Having said that, can we dipense with the “why are you investing so much energy into this,” please? I’m sitting here at my desk, doing various tasks, including occasionally posting in this thread. It really doesn’t take that much energy. [/QUOTE] Well, we could, but c’mon … honestly … any more energy than it would take to say “Oh gee, I lost my charter member title because I was too late in re-signing back up” is WAY too much energy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-my-charter-member-label-why/371330.md?page=3)