Well, its getting on time to renew my subscription again. (March, I think).
Last year a very generous person sponsored me and I much appreciated it.
My problem is this: I have the subscripion fee but don’t know how to get it to you.
Have things changed where I can send the SD a check or money order? I have no credit card and am very skecpital about online things like Paypal.
Also, will I lose my “Charter Member” status if I’m late and can’t figure this out?
'99er from NC
Jake, I’d be more than happy to do it for you, as I’ve done a couple before. If you’d like, that is. What’s happened in the past is they’d mail me their payment, I’d get their password and renew, then email them an update so they could try it out and then change the password again. Let me know. My email’s in profile.
You don’t need a password to pay up a subscription fee for another user. All you need is their UserID number, which you can get by clicking on their username and mousing over View Public Profile in the dropdown menu, among other methods. The userid will appear at the end of the URL in the Status Bar. To pay the subscription, click Subscribe, then click the Order button on the next page, then click Pay Using Credit Card on the page after that. In the address bar of the next page, you will see a URL which looks like this:
https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/sdmb/subscribe.bat?subscriptionid= 1&userid=xxxxx&amount=14.95¤cy_code=USD
You will now have to change the xxxxx (which will be YOUR userid) to the userid number of the person you wish to pay for, then hit Enter or click the Go button. The page should now display their username and account information, and you can continue the payment as normal, using your CC data.
April 2006, actually, but who’s counting?
Thanks for the tips, folks.
TubaDiva
This thread title makes a song come to mind…
*That’s me on the Straight Dope
That’s me with my money
I’m renewing my subscription
Trying to keep an eye on all
Of the threads on the message bo-oards
That I’ve probably read too much
But I still haven’t read enough
Every april of every single year
I’m renewing my subscription
Trying to kill my ignorance…*
Yes, along with the special rate. So try to renew early enough so that you have time to work out any problems that might arise.
That is a neat trick. It will come in handy if I decide to do what I have been pondering, which is re-subscribing some of our more vocal “I’m not resubscribing, this place suxx” compatriots. 
Cool. You’re my new hero!
While we appreciate people resubscribing, for those who wish to leave, the kindest thing we could do is let them go and not engage them further.
If someone could use some help in paying their subscription, that’s one thing; Dopers have been very generous to one another and that’s beautiful.
But if someone just wants to slam the door behind them, (not issuing constructive criticism as much as just trashing the community as they go), I don’t see where re-upping their subscription helps anyone. If anything, it probably just engenders more ill will, and don’t we have enough of that already?
We appreciate support – in fact, we’re counting on it, from all of you – but please consider putting your money where it will do the most good. Do someone who wants to stay here and participate a favor and help them out. Do someone who wants to check out a favor and let them go in peace.
TubaDiva
Q.E.D., will this approach for paying someone else’s subscription fee also work if I use PayPal? (I’m not too anxious to go experimenting.) I annually help out a number of Dopers and I’ve always used the “give me your password and I’ll take care of it for you” approach.
Do not forget that there is usually a delay of several days as PayPal processes the payment; the subscription payment is credited eventually but not instantly. The delay could be as much as 5-7 business days. This is on PayPal’s end and we have no control over it (that’s how they make their money, off the float).
If you resubscribe with PayPal and it’s within a few days or a week of subscription expiration, please send me an email when you do so I can be sure your subscription won’t run out from under you. You can copy me on the receipt you get in email; redact your financial information and forward the email to me.
That’s TubaDiva@aol.com.
TubaDiva
TubaDiva
To pay with PayPal, you have to do it a bit differently. When you get to Subscriptions, you’ll see a link to PayPal like this one. You need to copy and paste the URL for this link (right click it and select the appropriate option for your browser) into the address bar. Then you will need to change some information. The rather large URL looks like this:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xclick&business=subscriptions
%40straightdope.com&item_name=Straight+Dope+Board+Membership
+Subscription&item_number=1XXXXX&amount=14.95¤cy_code=USD
&no_shipping=1&shipping=0.00&return=http%3A%2F%2F
boards.straightdope.com%2Fsdmb%2Findex.php&no_note=1¬ify_url=
http%3A%2F%2Fboards.straightdope.com%2Fsdmb%2Fsubscriptions%2F
paypal.php&custom=Username.
You will need to change the information in bold. The XXXXX will be their UserID number, UserName is their SDMB username and the price should be the price of their subscription: $7.48 for Charter Members and $14.95 for everyone else. Once you’ve made the necessary changes, hit <Enter> and you will be taken to a PayPal payment screen. You’ll continue the payment process here as normal.
WARNING: I have not tried this procedure myself, but based on what I know about PayPal, I believe this should work. If it doesn’t–for example, you wind up paying your own subscription instead–you can email Jerry the Tech God, and he can help you fix it.
If you have any problems with the your subscription process, please talk to me before you go to Jerry; sometimes it’s something we can fix here. (Not always, but sometimes.)
It’s preferable that you go through me to get your problem handled; with everything else that Jerry has to take care of, it’s not always so easy to get his attention straight up and he does not have time and etc. to deal with people one on one like that. (Nothing personal, he loves you guys, there’s just too dang much to do here.)
If your problem is something only he can fix, I can route it to the man soonest to get you a resolution as quickly as possible.
TubaDiva
Your registration/subscription helper bee
Damn you to hell Talon Karrde!!! Now I can’t stop singing this.
That’s me on the Straight Dope…
ARRRRGGGggggggg…
While we’re on the topic of unrequested subscriptions, what about new guests? If I see a newbie posting whom I think will make a positive contribution, would it be allowable for me to anonymously subscribe that person?
A random act of subscription? Sure.
TubaDiva
Thanks, I had no idea you could do any subscription fixing. The last time I had an issue–paid my own sub when trying to pay up someone else :rolleyes:–you sent me to Jerry. I assumed that was the thing to do, then. Good to know you’re on the case, too!
Just protocol for getting people’s problems resolved in the most efficient way and in the quickest amount of time. I fix what I can and bug Jerry for the rest; he’d rather be bugged by one person and not a crowd. I assume it’s also easier to pick my emails out of the pile; there may be some sorting priority going on there as well, I dunno for sure.
In any event, if you have a problem, let me try to solve it before we go to the big guys. I’ll do what I can.
TubaDiva
I’d be interested in contributing to the community by helping pay for some people. I’d prefer to give the money to someone else who resubscribes other people so I don’t know who I’m giving it to and they don’t know who they’re getting it from. Is there anyone who does that here?
You should see the one I wrote called “Snoozing on my Alarm Clock”. I wrote lyrics for the whole song. Here’s a little bit to get stuck in your head:
*That’s me in the office
That’s me getting fired
From snoozing on my alarm clock
Trying to keep myself sane
And I don’t know if I can do it
Oh no I slept too much
But I still haven’t slept enough
I thought that I heard the wind chimes
I thought that I heard the bells
I think I thought I heard the fire alarm
But that was just my clock…*
Thanks all, for the help. faithfool, I’ll be in touch when I’m ready to renew. Thanks!