Funding

mepbmlist
#1

Chris,

I can appreciate how this could become a matter of principle. I too live in
the US and all interaction on my account is handled by email as well.
However, I can't generalize my specific situation to apply to all US players.
There may be a few who submit or receive their turns by snail mail. Or, the
US market may be bringing in more new players resulting in more "newbie"
questions. Or, the US market may be more prone to letting our accounts run
low/delinquent after being spoiled by the auto-payment option offered by the
US moderators (I must confess to being guilty of this on occasion). I'm sure
you can imagine several other problems that arise due to distance.

Additionally, companies set prices on their products that vary by geographic
location. Any trip across our States makes that readily apparent, and we're
in the same country!! For example, I'm pretty sure that the price of gas in
my town is different than the price of gas in your town, yet I doubt you
complain to Mobil/Exxon about it any more than I do. Once again, I'm sure
you can imagine several other similar examples.

Anyway, my point was that the price we pay is less than what we paid when the
moderators were in the US. I don't think anyone complained about the price
drop when Harly took over. Since we're not looking at a sudden, dramatic
price change, why should we complain now?

- Dilip

In a message dated 1/14/02 6:16:57 PM Eastern Standard Time, cameyer@visi.com
writes:

Dilip,

I can't speak for everyone, but for for me it isn't a matter of
price, it is a matter of fairness. I don't care about the exchange
rates. I just want to be treated like any other UK player (even
though I live in the US). All interaction for my account is done
electronically and I do not pursue any special attention. This would
seem to rule out any mumbo jumbo about me being more expensive to
maintain than a UK player.

Often in life for me it isn't a matter of price it comes down to a
matter of "principal" and this is one of those issues.

Chris

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#2

As one of those UK players who pays 5%, which I never had to pay
prior to Harlequin, I can understand some of the concern. That said,
it is cheaper to take a UK cheque, because the credit card companies
take a cut (5% on small transactions like mine!). Why should the
cheque payers subsidise me?

The same arguement applies to a difference in US and UK admin charges
which I suspect reflect extra communications, credit card and
currency conversion costs. Why should UK players pay more to support
US players particularly when US players have already seen a drop in
price from their previous provider. I am sure Harly are happy to
charge you the UK price + 5% for the credit cards and the additional
cost of admin (say 5%)if you really want to pay in sterling.

The postage point seems valid.

If we were talking about some huge multinational, fair enough though
you only have to look at the difference between UK and US mobile
phones to see that they price rig. There are no huge profits being
made out of MEPBM as far as I can see from my visits to Cardiff.
Perhaps a standard UK/US price with a $1 a turn across the board
increase to cover admin and credit cards would be fair for all :wink:

Cheers
Chris Courtiour

--- In mepbmlist@y..., dilipdavid@a... wrote:

Chris,

I can appreciate how this could become a matter of principle. I

too live in

the US and all interaction on my account is handled by email as

well.

However, I can't generalize my specific situation to apply to all

US players.

There may be a few who submit or receive their turns by snail

mail. Or, the

US market may be bringing in more new players resulting in

more "newbie"

questions. Or, the US market may be more prone to letting our

accounts run

low/delinquent after being spoiled by the auto-payment option

offered by the

US moderators (I must confess to being guilty of this on

occasion). I'm sure

you can imagine several other problems that arise due to distance.

Additionally, companies set prices on their products that vary by

geographic

location. Any trip across our States makes that readily apparent,

and we're

in the same country!! For example, I'm pretty sure that the price

of gas in

my town is different than the price of gas in your town, yet I

doubt you

complain to Mobil/Exxon about it any more than I do. Once again,

I'm sure

you can imagine several other similar examples.

Anyway, my point was that the price we pay is less than what we

paid when the

moderators were in the US. I don't think anyone complained about

the price

drop when Harly took over. Since we're not looking at a sudden,

dramatic

price change, why should we complain now?

- Dilip

In a message dated 1/14/02 6:16:57 PM Eastern Standard Time,

cameyer@v...

writes:

> Dilip,
>
> I can't speak for everyone, but for for me it isn't a matter of
> price, it is a matter of fairness. I don't care about the

exchange

> rates. I just want to be treated like any other UK player (even
> though I live in the US). All interaction for my account is done
> electronically and I do not pursue any special attention. This

would

> seem to rule out any mumbo jumbo about me being more expensive to
> maintain than a UK player.
>
> Often in life for me it isn't a matter of price it comes down to

a

ยทยทยท

> matter of "principal" and this is one of those issues.
>
> Chris
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]