is it free to mail other members on SH

28 May 2006

I know it sounds a dumb question so please forgive my ignorance as im pretty new to SH, its just that some of the adverts say on that they are not paying members and could you leave contact details etc. I have successfully recieved mail but I just wonderd if someone could clear it up for me in case im sending mails to no avail. i know SH states its free but its very hazy about its description of what is actually free. Thanks in advance and sorry for sounding like a complete moron...Andy

29 May 2006

Hiya Andy

good question, and first post.
firstly, let me :welcome: you to the SH forums. :cheers:
secondly in reply to your question, I too would like to know the answer to that one, we get sooo many PM's with hopelessly disguised e-mail adies in :shock:
and thatâ€™s just from the regulars lol

will be watching this thread with interest :rascal:

29 May 2006

Andy good question but unsure if I can explain it easily rolleyes

It is free to place an ad but you have to pay to pic up the site replies to that ad.
So people ask if you can find other ways of contact so they do not have to pay. Any ad found doing that stands a fair chance of being deleted.
Those that had already paid will be able to reply to any ad and pick up site emails.
Does that help confused

29 May 2006

You do have to reply with badly diguised emails though as the filter will block them out. making it impossible to have any contact with the suitor!

29 May 2006

Blimey, didn't realise that free members can't reply to my messages.
Now I'm confused. There are a couple of places on the site that refer to Premium Membership (in the T's & C's box on the eXtras link, for example). On the page linked to by "Is this a free site?" there is a further link to "upgrade options", but that link just shows the general "Terms and Conditions of Use" page.
I can't find prices of or sign up to Premium Membership. Or has eXtras replaced Premium Membership?
I have an awful feeling I'll spot an obvious link as soon as as I press Submit.....

29 May 2006

Thanks for the replys guys. I'm glad i got that cleared up. Theres nothing telling you of this anywhere on the site or nothing that i could find, it just states that the site is free. so myself and others could have been sending loads of mails totally oblivious to the fact that many free members cannot reply. mad

29 May 2006

While I really didn't expect any replies to my ads, I am now rather confused too ! As a "free" member ( that is joined while the site was free) I understood that I could place an ad, reply to ads and get replies to my ad. So having a current ad, and as a non paying member, I will not actually get anything but a wink from another non paying member, a proper reply from a paying member but then I cannot even reply by message to both but maybe only with a wink back ?

29 May 2006

Here is the confusion.
From what I can gather. If you joined before the site started charging, you can still have almost full member benefits, chatroom, sending and replying to messages and so on and so forth. you also have a limited amount of winks (20 a day) that you can send. These are preset and cant be edited. However you can upgrade so you can ad colour to your profile, have unlimited winks which you CAN also edit. you can also use the extras chatroom amongst other things.
If you joined AFTER the day the site started charging, all you can do is place an ad, and send 2 winks a day. You cannot enter chat or enlarge pics that have been posted on members ads, you can NOT send or reply to messages either, you can only read them if they have been sent to you. To send or reply to messages and get all the benefits of the extras you have to become a FULL member, then all the extras benefits are included.
I think that is right, im sure soemone will put me right if it isnt.

29 May 2006

Quote by foxyandbeasty
Here is the confusion.
From what I can gather. If you joined before the site started charging, you can still have almost full member benefits, chatroom, sending and replying to messages and so on and so forth. you also have a limited amount of winks (20 a day) that you can send. These are preset and cant be edited. However you can upgrade so you can ad colour to your profile, have unlimited winks which you CAN also edit. you can also use the extras chatroom amongst other things.
If you joined AFTER the day the site started charging, all you can do is place an ad, and send 2 winks a day. You cannot enter chat or enlarge pics that have been posted on members ads, you can NOT send or reply to messages either, you can only read them if they have been sent to you. To send or reply to messages and get all the benefits of the extras you have to become a FULL member, then all the extras benefits are included.
I think that is right, im sure soemone will put me right if it isnt.

Thanks, F&B, that makes sense and explains why I have all the site facilities available to me. After I read the previous posts I tried sending myself a Wink and a message to see what would happen, and was able to reply to both. I have been lurking in the chat rooms for a couple of days, too. Signed up in March '04 according to my profile, and have never paid any money. Bargain!

29 May 2006

Right I see. so this privilage will continue at least for me until my free membership "expires" then on, Its a paysite for most of the useful functions of the site.

29 May 2006

I dont believe this privlilege does expire.

29 May 2006

Ok ! But i remember seeing somwhere a while ago "your account expires on...." but I can't find it now ! So to correct myself, As a member who joined before the changes I have most of the privilages for premium members..umm,..until something changes....

29 May 2006

Quote by andyfzr
Thanks for the replys guys. I'm glad i got that cleared up. Theres nothing telling you of this anywhere on the site or nothing that i could find, it just states that the site is free. so myself and others could have been sending loads of mails totally oblivious to the fact that many free members cannot reply.

hhhhhmmmmmmmm! i see! and as a new member, you found that ever so slightly misleading did you?
cheers! :thumbup: ;) some have been saying that for a while! lol

;)
foxyandbeasty, AFAIK, the ability to send PMs, post on forums, chat, etc etc that you mentioned might well expire, cos most of those functions require full membership. we who were here before take-over have that privelege, but it is a privelege for those with full accounts. there's still some doubt as to whether this privelege will be revoked come december?

in the light of st3v3's comments on another thread, ignore me. there seems to be less doubt for the doubters on that little issue? yay! biggrin

neil x x x ;)

29 May 2006

Quote by neilinleeds
Thanks for the replys guys. I'm glad i got that cleared up. Theres nothing telling you of this anywhere on the site or nothing that i could find, it just states that the site is free. so myself and others could have been sending loads of mails totally oblivious to the fact that many free members cannot reply.

hhhhhmmmmmmmm! i see! and as a new member, you found that ever so slightly misleading did you?
cheers! :thumbup: ;) some have been saying that for a while! lol

;)
foxyandbeasty, AFAIK, the ability to send PMs, post on forums, chat, etc etc that you mentioned might well expire, cos most of those functions require full membership. we who were here before take-over have that privelege, but it is a privelege for those with full accounts. there's still some doubt as to whether this privelege will be revoked come december?
neil x x x ;)
I see what you're saying Neil. However if they revoke it I will be a little peeved to say the least. They advertised this site as a free site when we joined. Another site we are members of was completely free, they then made it a pay site but all previous members were given a lifetime membership for no cost.
I agree that running costs may have made it neccessary to start charging to use it but to penalise the long term members is harsh to say the least.

29 May 2006

Right ! So in a Peenut (shell) ....
1/ If you were a member before the site changed, you get most (but not all) the privileges of a full paid membership....at the moment....but you can upgrade(pay) to premium you get all the toys.
2/If you joined after the site change you get very limited use of the site unless you .pay to upgrade to a premium membership..
3/ Become a premium member from joining the site upgrade,
and the cost is per year.

Are you sure?