Automatic renewal of Yosef pledge

[AtlantaMountaineer]

First let me say that I love App and my Mountaineers. I have been a member of the Yosef Club and purchased season tickets going on 10 years. I have even left App State and the Yosef Club in my will. So this week I went on line to make my annual pledge and purchase my season ticket package. When I signed on to my account I noticed that my pledge for 2017 was noted as already been made and that my normal pledged amount is showing as due for 2017. My question is has the Yosef Club started automaticaly renewing your annual pledges without notification. I know this can be an option to get more points but I have never opted for this. If this is the case it has left a bad taste for me. I have had trouble in the past getting out of automatic renewals for security monitoring, satellite radio, magazines, etc. This seems to be the wave of the future but is not something I like or approve of. Has anyone else noticed this on their account. If this is going to be a continuing practice then I will have to rethink my obligations. I plan to call the Yosef office on Tuesday to get a clarification but just wondered if anyone on the Board had experienced the same thing. Since I am in my mid 60s I hope to continue to make the trip up the mountain from Atlanta as long as my health allows but I know one day I may not be able to support my Mountaineers in person. Thanks for any insight other board members may have.

[Gnomeneer]

I just looked at mine, and it's has the same pledge as the previous year. However, there is a confirm button, therefore it can be changed - up(hopefully) or down. I think this is just showing what the previous year was. I have no problem with this, especially with the confirm button being there.

[TheMoody1]

My pledge is there and there is a link that states confirm beside it. I assume they put in last years amount and they are waiting for me to click the confirm or to cancel.

[AtlantaMountaineer]

Thanks for the info. Did not notice the confirm button. These eyes are getting old i guess.

[DaphneUrquhart]

I'm one who normally pledges out five years at a time at a level I'm pretty sure I'll be able to afford. My account simply has "Pay Now" as an option. I, too, would be a bit miffed at the assumption of a pledge, if that's what is intended by what you describe. Would you kindly let us know what you hear back from Yosef? Hopefully, the amount shown is just there as a reminder of what you did last year and can be changed or canceled with ease.

Thanks for being part of Yosef! I appreciate your giving.

[AtlantaMountaineer]

I just signed back in and I now see the confirm button. So it was my mistake. Sorry guys.

[scatman77]

I re-upped via Daphne's instructions that she posted. Last year I did that and my monthly draft was the entire pledge, which I got fixed with a phone call and all worked out properly. I called a few minutes after I made the online pledge yesterday and had to get it fixed again. I don't know if I misunderstood the directions or something glitched in the YC office. Nevertheless I was professionally and politely treated and the pledge was fixed.

[hapapp]

I was finally able to renew! I guess whatever glitch existed was fixed. I guess to be safe I should call on Tuesday to make sure all is correct.

[App91]

For some reason, when i click confirm a little box pops up and i have to put an amount in it. when i do that, it goes right back to where it was to begin with. am i missing something?

[App91]

I'm one who normally pledges out five years at a time at a level I'm pretty sure I'll be able to afford. My account simply has "Pay Now" as an option. I, too, would be a bit miffed at the assumption of a pledge, if that's what is intended by what you describe. Would you kindly let us know what you hear back from Yosef? Hopefully, the amount shown is just there as a reminder of what you did last year and can be changed or canceled with ease.

Thanks for being part of Yosef! I appreciate your giving.

Hello Daphne, can you see my post above? wanted to see if you had a bit of guidance what i was doing wrong?

[DaphneUrquhart]

For some reason, when i click confirm a little box pops up and i have to put an amount in it. when i do that, it goes right back to where it was to begin with. am i missing something?

It's much more likely to be a site problem than an issue with your typing / clicking skills. I'm going to forward these threads to Alan Daniel so he has a better sense of what's going on.

[App91]

thanks

[DaphneUrquhart]

I had a nice chat with Alan Daniel earlier this week. As I suspected, the issues with Neulion are all "known issues". I'm not privy to details on how long our contract with Neulion runs or any truly insider information. I do know that the Yosef folks are learning from / listening to other successful universities to see how they do things and what vendors they use.

I can tell you that you'll all do yourselves and Yosef a huge favor if you report specific issues - your name, what you were trying to do, what went wrong, etc. The more we provide specific feedback to Yosef, the more Yosef can address specific issues with Neulion. Think of it this way - if you walk into a physician's office and give the physician no information other than "I don't feel good", the physician cannot diagnose or assist in helping you. The same holds true for software problems.

Here's the deal on the prior year pledge amount showing as an option for 2017:
In order to maintain season ticket location, parking benefits, etc. from 2016, one must donate at least as much for 2017 as for 2016. They're added (or will add) some language to the donor interface to confirm that. The 2016 pledge pops up for 2017 to be confirmed or increased / decreased in an effort to help folks keep their parking and seating benefits on the front end.

I think of it this way:
Say I gave $2500 in 2016 and parked in the Stadium lot. Of course, I want to park there again. Let's say I'm unaware that the Stadium lot generally requires a $2500 donation. My kid is going to have to have braces in 2017, so I log in and donate $1000 instead of $2500 because, in all honesty, I don't remember what I gave last year. That means I don't get Stadium lot privileges ... but I don't know that until I get my Greenwood parking pass or until Yosef tracks me down to remind me by phone that I need to give as much as I did last year to keep my Stadium lot spot. The "reminder" of last year's pledged amount and of needing to give as much as you did previously is simply an effort to help folks retain the benefits they're accustomed to having.

Thanks to all of you who have provided feedback here. Please be sure to provide specific feedback to Yosef so they can continue efforts to make technological headway.

Thanks for being Yosef!

[MtnDevil95]

As an IT professional, I can echo Daphne's request for very specific feedback. The support folks at Yosef or Neulion cannot fix what's wrong unless the users call it out, and the more detail you provide the faster their turnaround on a fix will generally be. I've worked with some Healthcare.gov bad software vendors in my time, and even the bad ones are better when the defects include specifics. Things like what browser and browser version you are trying, or if you're coming in from a mobile device, and what type of device and level of OS you're running are key data points toward determining root cause and a fix.

I've reached out to Yosef today that from Chrome on my MacBook (running OSX El Capitan) I cannot change my pledge (even to the target 10% increase) and there is no button providing me the option to set up monthly payments. I included screenshots. This should help them help me, Jerry.

[Rekdiver]

I called the Yosef office and suggested they find a way to segregate those on payment plans and stop sending out a letter every month showing the donated amount. You only need 1 letter for taxes with the total amount.

[jwash99]

Yosef Club renewal...Done
Season ticket renewal..Done

[Rick83]

Yosef Club renewal...Done
Season ticket renewal..Done

Ditto...and it feels good...is it September yet??

[DaphneUrquhart]

Took a leap of faith and increased my pledge by 10%.
Renewed my tickets.
Renewed grandkids' Yosef and grandsons' season ticket ... yes, he had his own season ticket order as a 3 year old last year.

Now for the hard part - 1) tax season followed by 2) "waiting for football" season.