When I first signed up as a subscribed member, it was automatically renewed every three months by PayPal. Yesterday, it didn't happen and I found that I reverted to standard member. I've re-subscribed now. So what's going on?                                                                                                                                                                              

Welcome back Cat.. lol
I think most people are down Cornwall or away at rallies this weekend, but there's still some ride outs/meets going on.                                                                                                                                                                             

Sorry Karey, but I think you're missing the point. I've only been unsubscribed for one day and could access forums and events anyway. I was asking what was going on with the automatic renewals of my subscription which didn't happen this time.  

ooops...haha ..sorry Cat   Not sure about the subs...  I'm sure Matt will enlighten you though                                                                                                                                                                             

  Hi Catar, if I remember correctly Matt did away with paypal payments, a long time ago, cos he had to pay paypal fees, or something  like that. Like Kaz said, Matt will explain, prob best to contact him via the contact page tho.                                                                                                                                                                             

Cat .... Has your card been renewed ...when that happens (as did with mine) the numbers are your new card change slightly and then it isn't recognised hence having to re-subscribe.

Hope that helps
                                                                                                                                                                             

Since posting my messages, I received an e-mail to say that my automatically renewable subscription had been paid at the original cost - all be it 2 days late. So it looks like another screw-up by PayPal who owe me an explanation. Is there any chance that I can I have the sub I paid manually this morning back, please?

  Cata probably best to contact Matt direct as he is the one who deals with subs, no one else.                                                                                                                                                                              

Hey Cat,   That's exactly why we stopped the automatic payments (at least we haven't accepted NEW recurring subscriptions in about 2 years).   The reason is that Paypal is RUBBISH at time-keeping.  They will leave 2 days before sending the renewal through, in which time people sign up again and then end up paying twice.  I was spending so much admin time making refunds and people were losing trust in the system so I had to stop it.   The confusion about how to stop the recurring payments was also a problem for some people (even though it's very very easy with step-by-step screenshots on our help page).   Another reason was indeed fees... everytime you make a 99p payment for a week (as it always was) we have to pay the minimum 23p fee, which is 23% loss!  Now with yearly payments of 50 quid with 1.70 fee that's only 3.4% fee... big difference for the site and allows us to do much more with your money.   Last reason... many banks were refusing the 99p payments randomly.  99p on a card over the internet is often seen as a test-payment by fraudsters in preperation for a larger scam payment.  So, many banks were blocking the payments and causing mayhem and confusion for us, paypal and you the members.   I will indeed refund your one-off payment that you made right away.  Hope the above explanation helps you understand the system a bit more.  FYI i can give you a discount code to make the top-up payment the same price as your long term subscription if you want to use the top-up method in future.                                                                                                                                                                             

Thanks Matt. I have received an e-mail from PayPal with my refund. I've been a subscribed member for nearly 3 years and its the first time they've been late like this - at least when I wanted to access BM. They did once cancel my sub and claimed that I requested it although I did no such thing. It may have been because I accessed my PayPal account after looking at Bker Match but I had logged off before moving to the PayPal site. I agree that their performance is less than satisfactory but if there's a problem in an IT system, it will usually find me.

Thanks again. I'll stick with the automatic renewals for the time being but be more patient is they're late next time around.

If they're late next time just PM me and I'll bump up ur account.   Cheers for continuing to support the site!