You sure don’t make it easy for one to renew their membership by any other option THAN Pay Pal! And, even once I do place an order by another payment means, you STILL make it not os obvious where to click to continue without Pay Pal. Tell me…what kickbacks are you getting out of this?
This situation is made more confusing by the fact that PayPal is the entity that processes all these transactions for The Straight Dope.
You do not have to have a PayPal account to subscribe to the Straight Dope – you can use most any major credit card. Paypal is the portal through which that transaction is processed.
PayPal also complicates the situation by having big honking boxes that say “use Paypal” and a tiny little line of type with a hyperlink that is the portal to using your credit card.
Please see this thread for a better explanation: Why can't I subscribe using a credit card? YOU CAN! - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board
I am glad you did resubscribe. I’m sorry it was not a pleasant experience for you.