JamesFrance Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Being back to motorhomes since before I used the internet, I have joined a few other forums. What they didn't make clear was that they would be pestering me for money, even though they are advert supported. I am a member of many other forums about different things such as internet security, canals, yachts and life in France, but none of them behave like this. I decided to delete my account from those, but they can make it really difficult, quite unethical really. Presumably all I can do is disallow their cookies and remove my saved passwords from Firefox, in case I ever visit them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Like you, I've stopped using the two main MH forums ( Ithink they are the other two main ones anyway), as I'm tight, and ain't gonna pay to use them. I still visit them once in a while to view some of the technical threads, but not for anything else now. I find that with Google, almost anything you might need to know is out there for free..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROND Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Yes i dont agree with paying to read ones own information either. I have answered a few queries over the years on different sites and now they want me to pay to read them, SORRY not likely. Now i just read them and think to myself i could answer that and help that person but cant because certain sites dont allow you to write anything or respond with help. So who is losing out !!! not me thats for sure RD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 The forum I have been most involved with belongs to someone who has the ambition of providing the world's best internet security, free for everyone. He is getting very close to achieving that now. In a small way I have tried to help by testing and helping to iron out bugs before each new version is released to the public. I have really enjoyed being a part of that and it has cost me nothing at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 I think its very unfair, knocking the other forums, the main one i am involved with is very good, well worth a tenner.we camp with them at shows and have been on rallys, we have tried most other clubs rallys, but these are definately the most friendly, they are also the largest forum wich must say something, see how many daily postings compaired with the mmm sight. I visit both each day when at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 trooper - 2011-04-21 6:18 PM I think its very unfair, knocking the other forums, the main one i am involved with is very good, well worth a tenner.we camp with them at shows and have been on rallys, we have tried most other clubs rallys, but these are definately the most friendly, they are also the largest forum wich must say something, see how many daily postings compaired with the mmm sight. I visit both each day when at home. I also signed up to Motorhomemadness but soon realised what a commercial operation it was, I believe the guvnor also has interests in online accessories and so on but...... 50,000 members according to their figures @£10ea = loads of money, the members must have more money than sense. you can get lots of help and entertainment from the free sites which tend to be linked to Publications. >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Pay to be on a forum 8-) 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Retread24800 - 2011-04-21 7:47 PM ......50,000 members according to their figures @£10ea = loads of money, ......... >:-) Don't forget that not all those members are fee paying, only a minority pay the fee the rest log on to see what it is like don't join up but their account remains as a member. Also there are many, such as myself, who have joined up with multiple accounts to be able to have the five free posts. It used to be shown up when the news letter came out but the real statistics have been removed, it obviously is not good for potential advertisers etc. to see the truth. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Basil - 2011-04-22 12:21 AM . Also there are many, such as myself, who have joined up with multiple accounts to be able to have the five free posts. Bas Now why didnt I think of that? Like your style :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I think some of the remarks on here prove my point, I have met many on the other forum and have not met one person who has not been an open and apparently honest person, I think that anyone who only has something because it is free describes what they are really like in life. I would happily pay a little to use this forum even though its users are more blinkered than the other one. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 Trooper, I don't know which forum you are referring to, but I have not noticed any criticism of members of other forums. What I was complaining about was the methods used by the proprietors of certain forums, as you are encouraged to become a member and it is only later that they start pestering you for money. In my view they should make it clear from the start that they are in it for the money. To me what they are doing is unethical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Sorry James, I agree with your point to a degree, its just that so many people asume they are being ripped of for the sake of a few quid , when they will spend many 000s on other things quite happily. It is indeed a personal choice which forums one uses,as I use this one, but the owner of the leading forum is indeed a very pleasant person who I have since met, and he is Not out to rip anyone off, in fact all I have met have been very good, whearas I have been insulted more than once on this forum. All the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 trooper - 2011-04-22 6:56 PM I would happily pay a little to use this forum even though its users are more blinkered than the other one. :-) I'm not blinkered Don :D ....................I'm blinking tight (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 hi, I don,t use the pay forums anymore. I think it wrong that I was being asked to read a forum and help with questions and answers, information etc, that i freely give and then being asked for 10 pounds for doing so. Its the people using the forums that make the forum, not the forum that makes the people. so asking for money so say for the upkeep and of course not for themselves was wrong. I use lots of forums and would never pay to use or read any of them, thats the one great thing about the internet the content is mainly free. michael ps, if you do read this please send me 10 pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilmac Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 ROND - 2011-04-20 6:33 PM Yes i dont agree with paying to read ones own information either. I have answered a few queries over the years on different sites and now they want me to pay to read them, SORRY not likely. RD I haven't come across any paid forums that charge to READ 8-), except maybe the odd category. What I find strange about paid forums is that a non-paying visitor can (mostly) read and benefit from the information available but in order to contribute, and therefore put something back in, to the forum a payment is required - seems daft but it also seems that very many folks are happy to pay up to do so. Each to their own ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 trooper - 2011-04-22 8:03 PM Sorry James, I agree with your point to a degree, its just that so many people asume they are being ripped of for the sake of a few quid , when they will spend many 000s on other things quite happily. It is indeed a personal choice which forums one uses,as I use this one, but the owner of the leading forum is indeed a very pleasant person who I have since met, and he is Not out to rip anyone off, in fact all I have met have been very good, whearas I have been insulted more than once on this forum. All the best We like to make you feel at home! :D I agree with a lot of what has been said about paying to give advice, I thought long and hard when the MHFun forum change to a pay one and in the end decided that, at the time, it wasn't for us, perhaps when we have more time to spend with them at rallies etc we may join, as it was I had very little time to spend on their forum. I have rarely used the MHFacts forum except initially before it became fee-paying (that's a long time ago! 8-) ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John J Thompson Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Mel B - 2011-04-24 9:57 PM trooper - 2011-04-22 8:03 PM Sorry James, I agree with your point to a degree, its just that so many people asume they are being ripped of for the sake of a few quid , when they will spend many 000s on other things quite happily. It is indeed a personal choice which forums one uses,as I use this one, but the owner of the leading forum is indeed a very pleasant person who I have since met, and he is Not out to rip anyone off, in fact all I have met have been very good, whearas I have been insulted more than once on this forum. All the best We like to make you feel at home! :D I agree with a lot of what has been said about paying to give advice, I thought long and hard when the MHFun forum change to a pay one and in the end decided that, at the time, it wasn't for us, perhaps when we have more time to spend with them at rallies etc we may join, as it was I had very little time to spend on their forum. I have rarely used the MHFacts forum except initially before it became fee-paying (that's a long time ago! 8-) ). MHFun and MHFacts are actually clubs not just forums. They have sought exemptions under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. Like other caravan clubs they rally and MHFun is even setting up its own CLs network. They may be forum based but are actually much more to those who subscribe. I subscribe to both and to "the Wildcamping forum" with its super POI data for members. Each has its own benefits for me, just as my subscriptions to the "Big Two" benefit me. I was a paper MMM subscriber and would willing subscribe to an online MMM, but because of my lifestyle (Full timing in UK and EU) I have no means of getting up to date copies of the magazine by post as I am not in the same location for long. I keep in touch using this forum and read copies when I find them, or when back in the UK, a kind person has kept them for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 I pay to join a forum if I take advantage of the advice on offer and benefit. For example, I had a lot of help when my electric step broke saving me c£200 [dealer wanted to fit a new motor and the actual cost for the solution was only £25 for a new part] and I saved £50 on my insurance. £10 was a bargain that year. I leave when I get fed up of paying to be insulted or reading insulting comments targeted at other posters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 John J Thompson - 2011-04-25 9:25 AM MHFun and MHFacts are actually clubs not just forums. They have sought exemptions under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. Like other caravan clubs they rally and MHFun is even setting up its own CLs network. Ah that explains a lot, it is a pity that they don't make that clear when you first have a look at them and they encourage you to join. I would then have known that they would not be for me as a French resident and could have read things of interest without the constant pressure to pay them. I have now removed their passwords from my browser and disallowed their cookies, so they no longer see me to keep pestering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilmac Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 John J Thompson - 2011-04-25 8:25 AM MHFun and MHFacts are actually clubs not just forums. They have sought exemptions under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. Like other caravan clubs they rally and MHFun is even setting up its own CLs network. Aren't these exemption applications and CLs very recent things for these forums? I think they have been paid forums well before these latest schemes, as I understood it they charge to use the forums to pay for their 'overheads'. These latest features are addons to what are basically forum sites. Some of the members may well like to rally but the basis of the subscriptions is to belong to the forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairydog Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 The "overheads" are pretty small, in reality. I think the busier forums tend to use software that costs around £100 (one-off payment) and rather less than that as an annual hosting fee. So if the membership was 50p per year, they'd be well in pocket. But the cost of collecting that 50p would mean they'd have to charge £1. We tend to assume that anything on the web should be free, but the reality is that a forum such as those under discussion really consists of the contributions of its members. The membership fee tends to undermine that, but it may also help keep abusers, spammers and scammers away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairydog Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 the site went odd and posted my message twice, but won't let me delete the duplicate - but it will let me edit it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 neilmac - 2011-04-25 7:55 PM John J Thompson - 2011-04-25 8:25 AM MHFun and MHFacts are actually clubs not just forums. They have sought exemptions under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. Like other caravan clubs they rally and MHFun is even setting up its own CLs network. Aren't these exemption applications and CLs very recent things for these forums? I think they have been paid forums well before these latest schemes, as I understood it they charge to use the forums to pay for their 'overheads'. These latest features are addons to what are basically forum sites. Some of the members may well like to rally but the basis of the subscriptions is to belong to the forums. MotorHomeFacts (MHF) started out as a free forum comparable with the then "MMM" forum. It was very popular and its owner decided to develop it heavily beyond its original quite limited concept. The cost of that development was to be funded by a subscription fee. Moving MHF from free to pay caused considerable uproar. Lots of MHF members moved to the MMM forum and a new free website - MotorhomeFun - entered the stage. (MHFun is, of course, no longer free.) As John J Thompson says, Facts and Fun are much, much more than just forums nowadays and for motorcaravanning novices must surely be worth the smallish subscription fee. Conversely, it's not unreasonable to expect that 'expert' motorcaravanners afflicted with a severe case of Mother Teresa Syndrome and interested only in forum participation will object to paying to read their own advisory contributions. When, on the few occasions I've been asked to 'mentor' a prospective motorhome buyer, I've always advised them to buy a John Wickersham book, join the Caravan Club and see how they get on with the MHFacts website. Most, having 'tasted' MHF, chose to fork out the subscription fee to obtain full usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 no matter how you wrap it up, ita about making money. I remember the start of the pay sites, when it was to cover the cost of the site ( which is very small) then it was to cover the time to look after the site,(i ask you what time does that talk). sorry all rubbish and just to cover a money for nothing idea. If all the web sites asked for money from people giving their time etc for free then the internet would be a sadder place then it is now. michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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