RIPE 29 payment details (was: Re: meeting?)
On Fri, 9 Jan 1998, "MN" == Mike Norris wrote:
MN> Register now, Geza, with the option to pay later. That's what I did, but see below. MN> There is no surcharge provided you're **registered** before 18th Jan. MN> That's the way I read it and I trust the NCC agree ;-) Unfortunately, no, they don't. I just received a message from the RIPE NCC Meeting Registration telling me that I will be charged an additional 50 ECU if I _pay_ on site (credit card or cash makes no difference). That was NOT the message I got from the information provided to me earlier (on the web and through the ripe-list). However, I hesitate to provide my CC details with the currently available technique: Fax: The last two times I did this by fax, my card was charged a total of 5(!) times for two meetings. I was told this was due to a fault in the NCC's fax machine, causing multiple copies of my card details to be printed, and hence my card was charged more than once(?). Nevertheless, it took me several iterations to get this fixed, which leads me to the conclusion the process is not foolproof. E-mail: I wouldn't mind sending it by PGP encrypted e-mail, but that's not an option at this moment. And just plaintext e-mail is, well, too primitive. If the NCC can guarantee me that they have bought a proper functioning fax machine in the meantime, or provide me with a RIPE NCC PGP public key, I will consider sending the details. Once bitten, twice shy. Cheers, Steven -- Film Fact #43: Having a job of any kind will make all fathers forget their son's eighth birthday.
I apologise for the confusion that may be caused by the confusion that may heve been caused by traffic on this list. We sould have clarified things earlier. So -better late than never- here is the clarification. Short version: Asking for a surcharge on payments after a certain date is common practise and is done for a reason. There have been problems with credit card payments in the past but procedures have been significantly improved since then. Long version: The reason for charging an attendance fee has been discussed before. It is a combination of the increase in costs due to the size of the meeting and a sharp decline in sponsorship. We have now started to charge an additional fee of ECU 50.- for payments made later than a few days before the meeting. The reason for this is that payment close to or at the meeting creates quite a number of problems such as long queues at the registration desk, error prone haste and the security concerns associated with keeping a lot of cash around. We believe it is much more convenient for everyone concerned to process payments in advance. This procedure is being used for quite some time by similar meetings such as the IETF, NANOG and APRICOT as well as just about any conference that you may care to attend. Credit card payment problems have indeed occurred in the past. Some of these were due to processing errors made by us and others were due to the credit card companies. It was not always possible to determine exactly what went wrong. We have apologised to those affected and the errors have been corrected. We have learned from this and changed our procedures. The stimulation of pre-payment is part of that change. Further we are now submitting payment data in electronic form rather than via error-prone paper slips and lists transmitted by fax. No it is not done via the Internet ;-). We now have a portable credit card machine that processes transactions electronically via telephone. We will have it available at the meeting also. This means you can also pay with PIN passes (EDC, Cirrus) if they are valid for international payments. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Kind regards Daniel Karrenberg RIPE NCC Manager
I'm afraid I'm still confused. I registered in time, understanding that I could pay at the meeting by credit card without penalty. If this is not the case, then I would like a clear statement to this effect. Until this is clarified for me, it is not appropriate for me to say more. Niall O'Reilly
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 15:05:43 +0100 From: Daniel Karrenberg <Daniel.Karrenberg@ripe.net> Subject: Payments of Meeting Fees & On-Site Payment Surcharge To: Steven Bakker <steven@icoe.att.com> Cc: Mike Norris <Mike.Norris@heanet.ie>, Turchanyi Geza <turchanyi.geza@matav.hu>, ripe-list@ripe.net
I apologise for the confusion that may be caused by the confusion that may heve been caused by traffic on this list. We sould have clarified things earlier. So -better late than never- here is the clarification.
Short version:
Asking for a surcharge on payments after a certain date is common practise and is done for a reason. There have been problems with credit card payments in the past but procedures have been significantly improved since then.
Long version:
The reason for charging an attendance fee has been discussed before. It is a combination of the increase in costs due to the size of the meeting and a sharp decline in sponsorship.
We have now started to charge an additional fee of ECU 50.- for payments made later than a few days before the meeting. The reason for this is that payment close to or at the meeting creates quite a number of problems such as long queues at the registration desk, error prone haste and the security concerns associated with keeping a lot of cash around. We believe it is much more convenient for everyone concerned to process payments in advance. This procedure is being used for quite some time by similar meetings such as the IETF, NANOG and APRICOT as well as just about any conference that you may care to attend.
Credit card payment problems have indeed occurred in the past. Some of these were due to processing errors made by us and others were due to the credit card companies. It was not always possible to determine exactly what went wrong. We have apologised to those affected and the errors have been corrected.
We have learned from this and changed our procedures. The stimulation of pre-payment is part of that change. Further we are now submitting payment data in electronic form rather than via error-prone paper slips and lists transmitted by fax. No it is not done via the Internet ;-). We now have a portable credit card machine that processes transactions electronically via telephone. We will have it available at the meeting also. This means you can also pay with PIN passes (EDC, Cirrus) if they are valid for international payments.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards
Daniel Karrenberg RIPE NCC Manager
participants (3)
-
Daniel Karrenberg -
Niall.oReilly＠ucd.ie -
Steven Bakker