I have always said that I will not disadvantage any member and to follow that through and based on your suggestion that we should only use one process the only option would be to continue to use the paper based system. My proposal whilst not perfect would be a move in the right direction and whilst initial estimates will never be accurate it would be a starting point and we can always dynamically adjust the ratio when we find out we have it wrong. I am sure that through an evolution process it wouldn't be long before everyone ordered their seed on line.ragamala wrote: ↑Mon Dec 31, 2018 12:02 pmIanIan Thwaites wrote: ↑Mon Dec 31, 2018 9:59 amTerry,
I do agree with you and as I have said I will never disadvantage the generation without internet but the society will need to move on. I am thinking that perhaps we will open the orders at a date after Christmas and then allocate 30-40% to postal orders and 60% to the net. This way we would cater for both options and also those living in the back reaches of the UK who may have their journal and seed order delayed.
Terry has a very good point. To try and use a segregated system would be difficult and hard to justify. Quotas rarely work well in many fields. If the intention is to adjust the items on sale for internet purchasers depending on availability this raises two problems. One is internet purchasers may be denied seedds which are available but in the postal quota. Secondly, the lack of such a system for the postal quota creates an inequality, with postal orderers possibly ordering out-of-stock items (even if available through the internet quota). I just can't see this working well. Nor can I see that the first year's experience would lead to a perfect change - if internet availability is "sold out" and non-orderable, you have no idea who may have ordered the items if they had been available.
I think one system for all is the answer. If individual members have no internet access surely they can prevail upon friends and relatives to do the ordering for them? I know many folk who use free library access but don't have home internet.
Contrary to what one member who has contributed here thinks, the forum is the only place we should feel able to discuss openly the issues involved which affect us all. Without rancour.
Also I am hoping that as we develop the web site we will be adding more and more content that will encourage most of our membership to enjoy the on-line experience.
Happy New Year all