New Membership Scheme.....Coming Soon!

[John G]

Nothing wrong with a good bit banter! :biggrin:

We've all got different ideas on how this forum should go but the decision lies with Justin and whichever way he decides to take the forum i'll still participate.

[Paul]

Me too

[Justin]

Thanks for your comments guys, especially the ones telling me what I can and can't do with the forum, much appreciated I certainly didn't start the thread in the hope of such a lively debate, it was an announcement, maybe I should have closed it but as always I welcome opinions....and it would appear criticism!

I really don't know where to start with responding to these comments, I think purpledragon has probably asked the most so I'll respond to that shortly.

[Justin]

Problem there paul is how will "watchers" know what the benifits of paying a membership are if they are not visable .

I will ensure the beneifts are made clearly visible so members can decide whether to join the scheme or not

I have never disputed that the forum costs money to run or have i disputed the amount of hard work that goes into running the forum
Clarity is what i called for is justin running this as a buisness yes or no
I will be running the forum as part of my business yes, several reasons for this that don't need discussing here. It will make no difference to my plans/ideas for the forum.

My initial thoughts were do i want to pay £10 a year for the privallage of giving others the benifit of my experiance just so i can be rewarded with 10% discounts from suppliers i dont buy from but then justin let more info out, theres huge benifits in the pipeline. what are these benifits? its a bit unfair for a debate to be started on "trust me it'll be worth it" its only ever worth it if you are interested in whats offered.

I don't recall saying 'huge' benefits, I did mention great offers, I may be wrong. I haven't mentioned any particular suppliers or % discounts at this stage. You really dont' have to "trust me it'll be worth it". I'll detail the discounts, offers etc. and if you feel it isn't worth it for you, don't join...simple.

I think its worth remembering that its the members who make the forum what it is to alienate certain members will only spread discontent.

Who are we alienating?

Justin says theres no plans to block non paying members at the moment... its the at the moment bit that worries me and i hope that was an unfortunate term of phrase i seem to remember in the past debates there were no plans for paid advertising "at the moment" and then further forward there were no plans for paid membership "at the moment".

I think you've misread what I've said there. I have no intention of blocking non paying members. What was mentioned by other members was the possibility of allowing only paid members access to certain sections of the forum. This works well on other forums but I haven't actually agreed to this. I have no intention of doing so at this stage, this is correct but sometimes things do change, other sections may become necessary for members only, i won't rule anything out.

I do hope this clarifies things a little further. It's already been a long day so if I've made any mistakes please don't attack me!

[purpledragon]

Bit unfair Justin not only have you singled me out and thereby villifying me on a public forum you have also taken points ive raised in answer to other posters but you have made them look like ive fired a barage of questions at you. I merely pointed out a few of my thoughts in my initial post what followed was essentially a debate between various forum members there were many comments made by many others yet only my comments are highlighted and are totally out of context.Im totally suprised to be honest Ive obviously upset you in some way though i cant see how , throughout all my posts i have always recognised the extremely hard work you must put into this forum and i still do if i dont end up banned from the forum i think i shall keep any comments and opinions to myself infuture

[Justin]

As I said in my previous post, I don't know where to start with all of this so I chose your post as it seemed to contain the most questions and incorrect information. I certainly didn't intend to vilify you and thought I was simply answering the points you had made.

I really don't have the time or to be perfectly honest, the energy, right now to answer every single comment that's been made to this thread, whether justified or not.

You haven't upset me in any shape or form and I appreciate your input and comments a great deal. This was certainly not mean't as any type of attack on you, I'm merely trying to answer your concerns.

This whole thing has been taken out of context, members seem to be worrying over matters that may never arise. Let's just slow down people and wait to see what happens. I've said it before, if you don't want to pay then don't, that decision is always going to be yours.

[Ian M]

At the end of the day most of us would pay the £10 membership wouldn't we. You are always going to have the situation where some will join & some will not that's a fact of life.

Remember......'You can please some of the people some of the time but, you can't please all the people all the time'.

[JSR]

Blimey, I can't access the forum for three days and I miss a big announcement followed by a heated debate. What timing!

[Ian M]

Blimey, I can't access the forum for three days and I miss a big announcement followed by a heated debate. What timing!

I was wondering where you were Jonathan.

[gstk]

I think personally.the cleverest way forward is the way friends reunited did it. Totally free to look and accessible but you paid a fiver to actually do anything. That way people can ask a hundred questions or choose to take advantage of deals after membership.

Might cut some drivel too (Tin hat. Firmly on)