# Why was I charged $7.48?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [March 22, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749 "2004-03-22T19:40:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/1 "2004-03-22T19:40:13Z")
When I subscribed, the confirmation screen said I had just been charged “US $7.48”.
Isn’t 50% a hell of a high sales tax?
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### Author:  [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/2 "2004-03-22T19:43:31Z")
Paypal or Credit card?
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/3 "2004-03-22T19:46:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> 4.99 US Dollar = 6.63 Canadian Dollar
> Exchange rate: 1.32958
…
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/4 "2004-03-22T19:50:32Z")
> [@](#):
>
> 7.48 Canadian Dollar = 5.63 US Dollar
> Exchange rate: 0.75212
So it looks like you were charged an extra 63 cents.
> [@](#):
>
> 2.75 UK Sterling = 5.05 US Dollar
> Exchange rate: 1.83505
I was charged an extra 5 cents.
what gives?
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### Author:  [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/5 "2004-03-22T19:55:57Z")
Don’t tell me we have to pay sales tax on this too !
lousy country …
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### Author:  [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/6 "2004-03-22T19:56:37Z")
> [@](#):
>
> US $7.48
It sounds like he got borked before the exchange rates kicked in. That’s about 10 bucks CDN.
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### Author:  [@jdavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jdavis)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/7 "2004-03-22T19:58:51Z")
$7.48 is 50% of the normal $14.95 yearly price. If you renew your subscription as a Charter Member (add additional years to your subscription) your renewal cost per year will be $7.48. We checked your subscription and it is scheduled to expire on 04/21/2006 which means you’re good for two years.
Did you subscribe for a 2nd year? If so you should have been charged $4.95 for the first year and $7.48 (50% of $14.95) for the second year.
Jerry
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/8 "2004-03-23T03:07:10Z")
> [@jdavis](#):
>
> $7.48 is 50% of the normal $14.95 yearly price. If you renew your subscription as a Charter Member (add additional years to your subscription) your renewal cost per year will be $7.48. We checked your subscription and it is scheduled to expire on 04/21/2006 which means you’re good for two years.
>
> Did you subscribe for a 2nd year? If so you should have been charged $4.95 for the first year and $7.48 (50% of $14.95) for the second year.
>
> Jerry
No. I subscribed once.
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/9 "2004-03-23T03:29:29Z")
Oh! I didn’t see you could buy more than one year.
(gets out credit card)
Time to party like it’s 2099… 😉
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### Author:  [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/10 "2004-03-23T04:13:54Z")
Hey, there’s an idea they didn’t think about:
**LIFE TIME MEMBER** for $49.95. :eek:
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### Author:  [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/11 "2004-03-23T12:51:57Z")
I subscribed yesterday, and I never saw an option for a two year subscription. 😕
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### Author:  [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/12 "2004-03-23T12:59:11Z")
> [@Jeep's Phoenix](#):
>
> I subscribed yesterday, and I never saw an option for a two year subscription. 😕
Me neither! Did I lose out? ☹
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/13 "2004-03-23T13:09:32Z")
My guess: glitch at some point caused the 1st-year subscription to be “read” as a 2nd-year subscription.
That’s why I try to avoid using a system the first days it is implemented.
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### Author:  [@GawnFishin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GawnFishin)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/14 "2004-03-23T13:14:27Z")
If you go to your UserCP you’ll see if you then click on the link paid subscription you can purchase a second year or more if that’s what you wish to do.
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### Author:  [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/15 "2004-03-24T00:56:15Z")
Same thing happened to me - $7.48. I now see from my profile that I have been charged for two years’ subscription, which was not my intention (the subscription screen was rather Europe-unfriendly, it kept complaining about my ZIP code, which we do not have here. I eventually got past it, but it seems I inadvertently subscribed twice. How can I fix that?)
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### Author:  [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/16 "2004-03-24T01:42:30Z")
How do you purchase more than one year? I only saw one option, the single year 4.95 one.
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### Author:  [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2004, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/17 "2004-03-24T02:05:43Z")
Ditto-Didn’t get a multiple year offer. I used PayPal.
Question for those who did get the offer: did you use a credit card instead of paypal?
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### Author:  [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/18 "2004-03-24T02:10:38Z")
> [@Usram](#):
>
> . . . it kept complaining about my ZIP code, which we do not have here.
Terminology issue; it’s your postcode.
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### Author:  [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/19 "2004-03-24T02:14:13Z")
> [@Usram](#):
>
> Same thing happened to me - $7.48. I now see from my profile that I have been charged for two years’ subscription, which was not my intention (the subscription screen was rather Europe-unfriendly, it kept complaining about my ZIP code, which we do not have here. I eventually got past it, but it seems I inadvertently subscribed twice. How can I fix that?)
You mean that somewhere in your profile, it says when your membership expires? Am I missing something?
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### Author:  [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-i-charged-7-48/235749/20 "2004-03-24T02:33:45Z")
> [@caphis](#):
>
> You mean that somewhere in your profile, it says when your membership expires? Am I missing something?
Yes, under ‘Paid Subscriptions’.
**L\_C** , OK, I was being a tad facetious. I know what a ZIP code is - the point is, I skipped all the ZIP code, State etc. fields, as I usually do when confronted with a US-centric registration screen, and just completed the stuff relevant to me, but it complained about me leaving those fields blank. So as usual I experimented with ‘n/a’, dummy entries and so forth, and somehow I ended up with two years’ subscription. I don’t remember ever being asked to confirm my choice. I would not have knowingly confirmed such a choice.
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