I dont get it

[alohakevin]

I have been a member of tug for several years and have found it to be of great value to me for many reasons especially given the cost equates to $ 1.25 a month. I would be willing to bet there have been hundreds of thousands of dollars saved by the existence of this web site. I myself didnt find tug until I had purchased my first time share from the developer it was both enlightening and infuriating. Because I did find tug and took the time to absorb some of the vast knowledge given freely I was able to learn and enhance my time share position. Tug has taught me how to maximize my ownership with the confidence in knowing how to fully utilize my options. I still have much to learn but take comfort in knowing I have a trusted resource to do so. Not to mention that over the years reading many posts I feel as though I have come to know some tug members eventhough remotely. By the way kudos to the virtual gathering by Dioxide great fun in putting faces to names. This ramble leads me to the reason for this post. I dont get it?

First please understand this is not a slight to anyone. I am not casting aspersions here but am genuinely flummoxed. I have recently noticed the amount of individuals that are registered as guests. Many of these people have been guests for years and have more posts than the average member. I realize good content and contribution by guests adds to the value of the site I just dont see why some one wouldnt contribute to help keep the lights on. I think we would all agree Tug Brian ( and moderators ) does a great job with this site and I for one am grateful he does. Thanks

I realize this may ruffle some feathers but here again that is not my intent. This is not a judgement just an observation that led to a question. Happy Easter

 

[DaveNV]

Even if someone has a paid membership, unless they opt to change their status, they'll still show as a Guest. So while some of those you're referring to probably aren't currently paid members, I'd think some of them probably are.

But your greater point is well taken, particularly in light of membership timeframes being able to be extended through writing reviews and such. So it can't be about the money. $15 a year is chickenfeed for what Tug offers, and reduced even more by writing a review. At the end of the day, you can only do what you can do, and others have to take care of themselves.

Dave

 

[Talent312]

I concur with your sentiments.

But I have a minor request as to your style (not that mine is any great shakes)...
It'd be easier for peep to read it you put some white space between paragraphs.
Becuz it looked like one big blob, I almost skipped it, which would'a been a shame.

 

[alohakevin]

Even if someone has a paid membership, unless they opt to change their status, they'll still show as a Guest. So while some of those you're referring to probably aren't currently paid members, I'd think some of them probably are.

But your greater point is well taken, particularly in light of membership timeframes being able to be extended through writing reviews and such. So it can't be about the money. $15 a year is chickenfeed for what Tug offers, and reduced even more by writing a review. At the end of the day, you can only do what you can do, and others have to take care of themselves.

Dave

Thanks for insight on status. That may explain a lot.

 

[bnoble]

I don’t begrudge someone who decides not to be a paid member, particularly if they are active contributing participants on the forums. They don’t have access to reviews or the sightings board, but they might not want those.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Even if someone has a paid membership, unless they opt to change their status, they'll still show as a Guest. So while some of those you're referring to probably aren't currently paid members, I'd think some of them probably are.

But your greater point is well taken, particularly in light of membership timeframes being able to be extended through writing reviews and such. So it can't be about the money. $15 a year is chickenfeed for what Tug offers, and reduced even more by writing a review. At the end of the day, you can only do what you can do, and others have to take care of themselves.

Dave

How do we determine if we fall under this circumstance? For example, do I show up as a guest or a TUG Member? For some reason that I have never traced, I receive two identical TUG newsletters to the same email address - one says I’m not a member, the other says I am. I originally joined via Tapatalk - which I think many people use to consume forum content on mobile devices across multiple disparate forums like me. It is nice to have one app that concatenates all of my subscription content into a single view. I suspect this is why I receive two different newsletters - my “Tapatalk” account is different than my actual TUG account.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DaveNV]

How do we determine if we fall under this circumstance? For example, do I show up as a guest or a TUG Member? For some reason that I have never traced, I receive two identical TUG newsletters to the same email address - one says I’m not a member, the other says I am. I originally joined via Tapatalk - which I think many people use to consume forum content on mobile devices across multiple disparate forums like me. It is nice to have one app that concatenates all of my subscription content into a single view. I suspect this is why I receive two different newsletters - my “Tapatalk” account is different than my actual TUG account.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You show in this thread as a Member. See this screen shot:

If you were a Guest, it would show you as such under your screen name. As to why you get double emails, my guess is your email is in the system twice, and only one of them is attached to your member account. I'd suggest sending MakaiGuy or TugBrian a message, and ask if they can remove the duplicate entries, and get you situated the way you want to be. I don't use Tapatalk, although any posts I make from my iPhone give me the option of continuing with my phone's browser or with Tapatalk.

So ask the Mods. They can get you figured out.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

I don’t begrudge someone who decides not to be a paid member, particularly if they are active contributing participants on the forums. They don’t have access to reviews or the sightings board, but they might not want those.

That's a very good point. I personally wouldn't want to only have part of the Tug experience, so not being a member isn't an option. But others may not care.

Dave

 

[geekette]

I am a longterm guest. We go through this discussion every few years.

I don't ever pay for internet content. I was on the internet long before most people and my rule has held all this time. Has nothing to do with Tug. I do my best to stay away from subscription services generally. No Hulu, NetFlix, Amazon, no investment "newsletters", etc. I don't have a smartphone so I'm not paying data fees, either. My job forced me into those gadgets long before others and I'm quite over it. Consider me a cheapskate vs trend follower.

I don't generally seek reviews on anything so I'm not actually missing anything I need.

I don't expect that my reasons will track with reasons of others as I don't seem to be like many others. I'm just me. Avoiding fees everywhere I can.

 

[Big Matt]

I just pay the money because I think it's a fair price to share experiences and get/give advice. I used to post and read a lot of reviews, but if you've been around long enough you realize that in the beginning this WAS the BEST place for reviews. Sites like tripadvisor were just getting started. I don't use the marketplace either. I would never consider not paying.

 

[presley]

I think there's a couple reasons. One, being needing to take the additional step of getting "member" under the name. It was something that I didn't understand right away after becoming a member.

The other is that people truly don't understand the money involved in keeping things like this up. People might think it cost a one time fee for Xenforo license... that internet bandwith only costs a flat fee...all the moderators are volunteers... etc. Basically, I think a lot of people who don't run forums don't have a clue as to how much it costs to keep something up and running and current. There's a lot of fees, even though it's all volunteer work.

 

[TUGBrian]

Generally whenever someone renews a membership, I will update their forum profile manually if they dont have the TUG MEMBER tag already...

but no, we have never required someone to pay for participation on the forums here, it started as a place owners can get help and advice for Timeshares for free and shall remain as such as long as Im still around anyway!

We survive on the fact that many people like the OP find great value in supporting the site with a paid membership, so much so they actually refer others to TUG as well! There is no advertising better than word of mouth!

 

[Tank]

More vulnerable to scammers as well.

No info - no check and balances

 

[bbodb1]

.... Avoiding fees everywhere I can.

A wise and sensible approach!

In the interest of full disclosure, and as a public service reminder, I have only paid TUG membership once but have made sure to do reviews each year since so that the yearly fees could be waived. However, that is going to be a potential issue this year since travel has pretty much stopped. With that in mind, @TUGBrian - a question if I might....

In light of the current situation, will TUG relax the two review per year method of offsetting yearly membership fees?
I think I recall you mentioning somewhere in another thread we could review a TS stay in the past that we had not done before. Is that correct? If so, is there any limit (time wise) in the past for this (meaning we can only look back X number of years)? Thanks.

 

[bbodb1]

That's a very good point. I personally wouldn't want to only have part of the Tug experience, so not being a member isn't an option. But others may not care.

Dave

Okay, @DaveNW - I'm gonna pick on you just a little bit here.... do we have a triple negative in play here? This made my head hurt this morning sir!

 

[DaveNV]

Okay, @DaveNW - I'm gonna pick on you just a little bit here.... do we have a triple negative in play here? This made my head hurt this morning sir!

Ok, I'll play. I think my words show the beauty of the English language. The point of this entire thread is to ask why someone wouldn't want to pay for a membership, so the implied negative side of my words follows, at least to me. The opposite doesn't have nearly the impact: "I'd want to be a member" sounds pretty antithetical.

Dave, overthinking things, as usual

 

[TUGBrian]

Sadly given the fact that we are down 75 to 80% of normal new memberships and renewals, it will be difficult to cut down even more.

we can only hope that this is all a distant memory for everyone soon and things return back to normal.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Sadly given the fact that we are down 75 to 80% of normal new memberships and renewals ...

we can only hope that this is all a distant memory for everyone .....

Hi Brian ,
Based on my current TUG usage - I have likely driven my cost per hour to below 2 cents ( USD) on an annualized
basis .
(ie) - 2 hours + per day x 365 = 730 hours
1500 cents for an annual membership

worth every penny

I will be happy to buy additional memberships / pay for future years
if it helps keeps TUG as vibrant a forum as it is today

 

[dioxide45]

How do we determine if we fall under this circumstance? For example, do I show up as a guest or a TUG Member? For some reason that I have never traced, I receive two identical TUG newsletters to the same email address - one says I’m not a member, the other says I am. I originally joined via Tapatalk - which I think many people use to consume forum content on mobile devices across multiple disparate forums like me. It is nice to have one app that concatenates all of my subscription content into a single view. I suspect this is why I receive two different newsletters - my “Tapatalk” account is different than my actual TUG account.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also consider, there are many people here who show as "TUG Member" who are not actual paying members. Perhaps they had a membership years ago but let it lapse. Unless they remove the code from their profile, they will always show as a TUG Member.

I try my best to "pay" for membership by submitting reviews, not cash.

 

[TUGBrian]

there is no real risk of TUG shutting down, weve just cut back on a bunch of items accordingly during this time of reduced traffic etc.

 

[alohakevin]

there is no real risk of TUG shutting down, weve just cut back on a bunch of items accordingly during this time of reduced traffic etc.

I have seen lifetime membership and was curious how one would go about attaining such a membership. Is there a certain amount that can be paid? Or is it participation driven. If there was such a membership that could be had with purchase to me that would warrant some serious consideration.

Thanks

 

[jbiza]

I have been a member of tug for several years and have found it to be of great value to me for many reasons especially given the cost equates to $ 1.25 a month. I would be willing to bet there have been hundreds of thousands of dollars saved by the existence of this web site.
.....

.....
This ramble leads me to the reason for this post. I dont get it?

First please understand this is not a slight to anyone. I am not casting aspersions here but am genuinely flummoxed. I have recently noticed the amount of individuals that are registered as guests. Many of these people have been guests for years and have more posts than the average member. I realize good content and contribution by guests adds to the value of the site I just dont see why some one wouldnt contribute to help keep the lights on.

I realize this may ruffle some feathers but here again that is not my intent. This is not a judgement just an observation that led to a question. Happy Easter

Without burning a lot of mental energy for a specific answer, being a "Guest" versus being a paid TUG "Member," is OPTIONAL, per TUG policy.

That, to me is it in a nutshell .

 

[dioxide45]

I have seen lifetime membership and was curious how one would go about attaining such a membership. Is there a certain amount that can be paid? Or is it participation driven. If there was such a membership that could be had with purchase to me that would warrant some serious consideration.

Thanks

As far as I know, TUG Lifetime membership is achieved with 10 member referrals. So refer 10 other people who sign up and you are in. Not sure of other qualifications and not aware of a way to pay your way in.

 

[TUGBrian]

I have seen lifetime membership and was curious how one would go about attaining such a membership. Is there a certain amount that can be paid? Or is it participation driven. If there was such a membership that could be had with purchase to me that would warrant some serious consideration.

Thanks

it is granted to either someone who has provided a good bit of volunteer work (moderator/admin/author/etc)...or someone who has referred 10 other members to TUG.

it is not something that can be purchased no.

 

[Big Matt]

Brian, it might be a fun idea for you to give some sort of award for lifetime achievement awards, etc. It would be an ideal time to do it virtually via zoom, facebook, etc. Just a thought.