Pegasus said:
the fact that BCA is not able (or whatever phrase is correct) to communicate with its members by e-mail is ridiculous....
...and not actually true.
I am not a member of BCA Council and I cannot write authoritatively, but I think the comms problem is far more to do with volunteers' time than anything else. Certainly the list of DIM members, which I manage, holds email addresses, indicates which have withheld permission for us to use their email; its just that the "BCA Online" system that did the general emailing had to be dismantled a while ago.
At the moment, Katie Eavis and I are handling DIM membership, and I can confirm that all DIM members
WILL receive an emailed reminder of the need to renew their membership. (Apart from the thirty odd who have no email, and the half-dozen who have asked us not to email them). CIMs should receive their reminder from their club.
I can also confirm that the online form now shows the new membership rate for DIM caving members and can be used for 2022 membership - some of you have already "voluntarily" renewed for 2022 - thank you.
Someone asked about the difference between joining and renewing. There is no difference. BCA membership runs January to December (and there is a grace period for insurance after that date). If you join as a new member, now, for 2022, you get the remainder of this year free. So renewing for next year is just like joining now. This is why the form does not mention a distinction. But ...ok, perhaps it could be clearer.
As I said, an emailed reminder will be sent to members, but Im currently undecided about the best time to do this, as it depends on progress with other parts of the system. The slight difficulty is that the current online form is till the ancient clunky one that doesnt work well on phones and seems to glitch occasionally. Eventually it will be replaced with something that is easier to use, but the timing of that in relation to a renewal reminder needs bit of thought. When there IS a new online form, we will start to address the payment methods. I do agree that Direct Debits would be handy. But if anyone feels desperately that they want to pay using an automatically-recurring payment, you could always use a standing order. These are easy to set up using your online banking.
Whilst Im writing, a couple more points ...
1) If you know your membership number, it DOES help us if you to quote it on the form. Membership numbers have five digits, like 45678. Dont confuse that with the "transaction reference" of your last payment, which looks like BCA20-3456. When I send out the reminders, I will also remind you of your membership number.
2) Customers regularly tell us that they cannot pay via Paypal because they do not want to open an account. If you follow the links on the application form (unwieldy and clunky though it still is) you should be taken to a Paypal page that DOES allow you to pay without opening an account. You might have to look at the small print - because Paypal clearly would prefer you to open an account - but you do not NEED to.