Grex finances for October, 2000

Nov 27 02:00 UTC 2000

Here is the treasurer's report on Cyberspace Communications, Inc. finances
through 10/31/00:

Beginning Balance     $5,067.85

Credits                 $552.00         Member contributions
                        $  5.00         Auction proceeds
                        $  1.48         misc donations
                   ------------
                      $  558.48

Debits                   $69.46         Pumpkin Rent for November
                         $54.34         Electricity for October
                        $302.85         Phone Bill
                        $317.15         CardService fee for September
                         $90.00         Chargeback
                   ------------
                        $833.80

Ending Balance        $4,792.53

Our balance as of 9/30 breaks down as follows:

$4,631.76               General Fund
  $139.86               Silly Hat Fund
   $60.00               Spare Parts Fund
  ($39.09)              TOP sponsorship fund

There was no activity in the Grex Store this month, so the balances remain: 

                         Cash                                    Stock
                     ---------                                ---------
                      ($26.60)                                 $281.60

We had no new members and no returning members in October.  We are 
currently at 122 members, of which 91 have paid through at least 
11/15/00. 

Notes:

    - we had another chargeback in October, for $90.  Maybe I was wrong
      about the discounts being (partly) responsible for the funny number
      of the chargeback in September.
    - The large credit card fee this month reflects the trouble in September
      that I described a while ago.  Notice that there is no Charge Solutions
      fee reported; this is because they didn't take any money out of our bank
      account in October.  I have no idea why not.  Maybe they decided that
      since their software had loopholes, they wouldn't charge us.  Maybe they
      just forgot.  I don't know.  Anyway, with that possible exception and the
      exception of the fact that we're stuck with CardService until at least 
      February (see below), we're clear of the whole credit card mess.  For
      the moment.  
    - As I mentioned above (and at the Nov. board meeting), when I tried to
      close down our account with CardService, as the board authorized in
      October, I discovered that somewhere in the contract was a clause that
      said we had to renew for six months at a time.  We could get out early
      for some godawful fee, or grit our teeth and take the $35/month until
      February.  

Thanks to everyone who contributed in October:
aruba, bruin, devnull, dpc, dpfitzen, eeyore, flem, gjharb, jmm,
krj, mary, n8rxs, scott, sekari, wasf

Thanks everyone!

If you or your institution would like to become a member of Grex, it only
costs $6/month or $60/year.  Send money to:

Cyberspace Communications
P. O. Box 4432
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-4432

If you pay by cash or money order, please include a photocopy of some 
form of ID.  I can't add you to the rolls without ID.  (If you pay 
with a personal check that has your name pre-printed on it, we consider 
that a good enough ID.)  Type !support or see 
  http://www.cyberspace.org/member.html 
for more info.

response 2 of 11:

Nov 27 18:20 UTC 2000

I'll worry if this continues for a year.  I have my doubts about that.

response 4 of 11:

Nov 27 19:06 UTC 2000

Is the statement about "no new members and no returning members" in 
error?  I, at least, am a returning member...

response 6 of 11:

Nov 27 22:59 UTC 2000

What are the chargebacks for?  I was under the impression that Grex did 
not give refunds for memberships (which are just about the only thing 
that would be $60 or more)

response 8 of 11:

Nov 28 02:21 UTC 2000

You really don't understand this disaster, richard, do you?

response 10 of 11:

Nov 28 20:59 UTC 2000

The chargebacks were, iirc (I'm not at home at the moment), as follows.  The
one in September was for whatever number of pounds equaled $120 (2 yrs.
membership) at the time of the transaction.  The one in October was, I think,
for two separate transactions of $60 and $30.
  We can use CardService at the moment, but the only way we have to do
so is directly by phone.  So, if you were to call me on the phone and
give me your card number, I could turn around and call CardService,
give them our merchant number and your card number, and they can
do their thing.  So, if you really really want to pay with a credit
card, we can probably work something out, but this is not a very good
solution, for reasons which should be pretty obvious.