Cactus seed payment

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Terry S.
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by Terry S. »

Why do you think Jennifer and I gave up doing the MSG seed distribution???? Not everyone has internet access and a Paypal account and I suspect that it is a much lower number of members who are trying to save money by not having a proper bank account. Fairness to all is a near impossibility and if people complain too much perhaps we could loose volunteers to manage the BCSS distribution too.
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el48tel
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by el48tel »

Terry S. wrote: Sat Dec 29, 2018 11:42 am Why do you think Jennifer and I gave up doing the MSG seed distribution???? Not everyone has internet access and a Paypal account and I suspect that it is a much lower number of members who are trying to save money by not having a proper bank account. Fairness to all is a near impossibility and if people complain too much perhaps we could loose volunteers to manage the BCSS distribution too.
I'm new to this -- but I'm so glad TerryS that you've spoken out and told it "as it is" --- been there; done that; got the trivia from being a volunteer in other organisations.
Endeavouring to grow Aylostera, Echinocereus, Echinopsis, Gymnocalycium, Matucana, Rebutia, and Sulcorebutia. Fallen out of love with Lithops and aggravated by Aeoniums.
Currently being wooed by Haworthia, attempting hybridisation, and enticed by Mesembs.
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ragamala
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by ragamala »

Terry S. wrote: Sat Dec 29, 2018 11:42 am Why do you think Jennifer and I gave up doing the MSG seed distribution???? Not everyone has internet access and a Paypal account and I suspect that it is a much lower number of members who are trying to save money by not having a proper bank account. Fairness to all is a near impossibility and if people complain too much perhaps we could loose volunteers to manage the BCSS distribution too.
Terry - when I rejoined the societies after some time of absence I was in awe at the persistence and continued effort of people such as yourself and Jennifer, and others whose names I recognised still as being the drivers after some three decades. No-one is suggesting here - certainly not myself - that any criticism can be directed against those who have unselfishly given so much to the hobby. And I myself have I think offered no criticism of unfairness.

But times do move on. "Proper" bank accounts are hard to define these days. I still have a couple of these, perhaps, in your eyes. But although I am offered chequebook etc, I don't want to do business the old fashioned way, just as I don't want to go to the Post Office to buy a postal order. I use internet banking. And a far, far, better way to transact business it is. I want to do things the easy way. If we are wanting to encourage uptake of society membership amongst younger people, we have to accept that for many of the next generation (or two), operating "standard" bank account transactions by mobile phone app or by internet is the norm. It is not a question of saving money, it is a generational lifestyle change.

It might be interesting to know how many of our members are still actually without internet access. There may be a few, but is it a significant number?
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habanerocat
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by habanerocat »

From reading all this thread again it looks like we need a flexible payment system that suits all.
Not an easy situation to be in.
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Jim_Mercer
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by Jim_Mercer »

ragamala wrote: Sat Dec 29, 2018 12:42 pm It might be interesting to know how many of our members are still actually without internet access. There may be a few, but is it a significant number?
Based on my branch I would say the majority do not use the internet
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ragamala
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by ragamala »

Jim_Mercer wrote: Sat Dec 29, 2018 1:16 pm
ragamala wrote: Sat Dec 29, 2018 12:42 pm It might be interesting to know how many of our members are still actually without internet access. There may be a few, but is it a significant number?
Based on my branch I would say the majority do not use the internet
My tongue in cheek reply might be perhaps they are too old to be desperately interested in seed-sowing..... :wink:

But this does raise the issue of the membership benefit. For me it is carrying on my family tradition of membership and support, and enjoying the journals. To be honest, my interest this year was prompted by the excellent list of Conophytum seed on offer through the generosity of a certain contributor.....
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mary44
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by mary44 »

Life was an awful lot simpler before the days of the internet. I've been a member of the National and then the BCSS since the early 70's. We received the December journal and sent off the seed list. We had no way of knowing if our journal arrived two days before or after anyone else so no one complained about that. And if we sent off our seed list promptly we knew we had a good chance of getting the seeds we asked for, and if we left it a week or two we also knew we might get substitutes if our first choices weren't available.

It feels as though all some people seem to do nowadays is grumble if they perceive themselves disadvantaged because someone else gets their list earlier than others or first choice of seeds. Or can use paypal when they cannot. What ever you do someone is going to lose out unless you reduced the seed distribution back to U.K only and kept it as it is now with the cheque system. It does raise the question how the society dealt with overseas seed orders in the days before the internet and paypal? I have no idea.

Reading this thread and the numerous others regarding seed lists from the MSG and BCSS both on here and on other forums like facebook just makes me feel really sad.
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Phil_SK
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by Phil_SK »

ragamala wrote: Sat Dec 29, 2018 12:42 pm It might be interesting to know how many of our members are still actually without internet access. There may be a few, but is it a significant number?
My branch has 58 members, 46 of whom have an email address associated with them. A further 2 are associate members for whom a spouse has provided an email, indicating some sort of internet access. Of the remaining 10, only 2 have attended a branch meeting since I became secretary - one definitely doesn't have internet (though is keen to get it at some point) and the other wasn't very convincing when I last asked if they had an email address. That would leave 8 except that one of those has used this forum, so must be online. I know very little about the other 7. In conclusion, at least 84% of my branch is online. I suspect it's considerably higher - into the nineties.
Phil Crewe, BCSS 38143. Mostly S. American cacti, esp. Lobivia, Sulcorebutia and little Opuntia
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Peter
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by Peter »

a) the seeds are cheap and are a privilege.
b) the society doesn't actually have to provide them.
c) if you're too busy to adhere to the society's published payment methods you shouldn't really be growing plants.
d) I find it wearying that so many folk who do little or nothing to help the society complain,complain,complain....or just moan.
e) it's always been like that, as my experience of helping manage a branch for years gives ample evidence.
f) but it's got worse. That's one forum effect.
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Re: Cactus seed payment

Post by Stevium »

I didn't know this would become such a hot topic. I resent some of the suggestions and ideas put forward here, and the notion maybe I shouldn't be growing plants (?). I literally just enquired about a complementary way in which to pay for seeds, and when it was explained why this would be difficult I said I would get a postal order as per society guidelines.
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