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| Porn Users Forum » Sites that charge more in EUR than in USD |
| 1-34 of 34 Posts | Page 1 |
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| 06-01-08 05:19am - 6048 days | Original Post - #1 | |
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atrapat (0)
Active User  Posts: 182 Registered: Apr 19, '08 Location: Non-USA |
Sites that charge more in EUR than in USD I'm European and I've seen a couple of site comments from European people this week complaining about US sites who are showing prices in EUR at signup pages much higher than should be expected from the listed price in USD at PU. When trying to join a couple of US sites recently, I've also noticed myself that the membership price was one of the usual numerical values (19.95, 29.95) but in EUR instead of USD. Let's say you get a 24.95 EUR price by default and when you convert it to USD you see 38.78 USD which is a rather unlikely price for a US pay site and makes me think that they saw I was coming from Europe and raised the price for that reason. I've seen in the past people complaining to PU staff for not getting at some site the exact same price that is being listed here. Let me stress that I know this has never been PU's fault and I am not blaming PU at all about this kind of issues as the final price a site decides to show to a user is beyond their control. I know nothing about the pricing structures ccbill or other payment providers offer or if the current EUR-USD exchange rate has some effect on that so I am not saying this is sleazy per se. I only know that I wouldn't be joining as much sites if these practices became more common place and membership fees raised a 55% from one day to the next (fyi, currently 1EUR=1.55USD). | |
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| 06-01-08 11:41pm - 6047 days | #2 | |
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Toadsith (0)
Active User  Posts: 936 Registered: Dec 07, '07 Location: USA |
The exchange rate issue is a very real issue that many sites ignore and I think they don't realize how much it hinders business with European customers. You aren't the first person to address this issue, yet numerous sites keep treating the Euro and the Dollar as if they are at the same rate. Most of the really big sites have become aware of the problem and taken steps to adjust for it. On those sites, they'll originally present the price in USD and you can select a different denomination and get the current conversion rate. The numeric value isn't going to be a nice simple number, but it is fair. Hopefully more webmasters will realize this needs to be done and make the appropriate adjustments. "I'm not a number, I'm a free man!" Second Grand Order Poobah in the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo | |
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| 06-02-08 04:31pm - 6047 days | #3 | |
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Wittyguy (0)
Active User  Posts: 1,138 Registered: Feb 04, '08 Location: Left Coast, USA |
x Edited on Apr 19, 2023, 02:30pm | |
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| 06-10-08 04:51am - 6039 days | #4 | |
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mr smut (0)
Active User  Posts: 107 Registered: Dec 27, '07 Location: Germany |
That's exactly what happened in the past. My last invoice from my credit card company shows the old amounts I have been charged for from CC Bill plus an additional 1% extra for international payments which is fine with me. Now I see that sites I'm a member with for a long time want to charge me 57% more because they treat $ and € equally! | |
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| 06-10-08 10:30am - 6039 days | #5 | |
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atrapat (0)
Active User Posts: 182 Registered: Apr 19, '08 Location: Non-USA |
That's the issue I tried to point in my original post. Maybe it's just me but I prefer the old times when all you were offered was the price in USD. I can do the math myself and I know that if I am signing up with a serious payment processor they will use the right exchange rate. Whether those 19.95 USD eventually show up as 13.56 EUR or 13.66 EUR in my credit card statement doesn't really matter. Payment processors have been showing for some time a set of buttons which lets you choose the price in your currency but the exchange rates were always around the official ones. I feel cheated, though, when I get to a US site and I am greeted with a beautiful 19.95 EUR instead of 13.56 EUR (let's say listed price at PU is 19.95 USD). I wish someone could explain me why I have to pay 57% more than an American user for the exact same service. I sympathize, though, with American users who are facing the reverse problem (willing to join a European site from the US). All my respect to European sites who offer prices in USD lower than should be expected by official exchange rates (let's say list price is 19.95 EUR but US users are asked only for 24.95 USD). I wish US sites had done the same back in the day when the USD was much stronger than European currencies. | |
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| 06-10-08 11:25am - 6039 days | #6 | |
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mr smut (0)
Active User Posts: 107 Registered: Dec 27, '07 Location: Germany |
To be honest I also see no reason to charge more from Europeans for porn. All costs are the same except maybe the cost for data transfer over the Internet but I'm not sure if there's a difference made in the US. Here in Germany it doesn't matter from where on the globe data is being acquired ... maybe someone else has information to share about this. Do you know of any good European sites? Sites as good as AllOver30, ALS Scan, ALS Angels or GirlsOutWest. I've seen something strange in one bar here in Germany about 20 years ago. Those who ran the bar exchanged $ and DM (German Mark) 1:1 which was more than an insult in my eyes. Every American who bought drinks using dollars lost at least 45-55% compared to the normal exchange rates at that time! | |
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| 06-10-08 01:37pm - 6039 days | #7 | |
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atrapat (0)
Active User Posts: 182 Registered: Apr 19, '08 Location: Non-USA |
Sorry, but I'm not into Euro style. Nothing but US porn for me. Private is probably the only Euro site I've ever joined and didn't like it that much. As for content produced in Spain, I just checked Torbe Network (a type of site totally different to the one you asked for) because I thought it was probably the most popular here in Spain and there's quite a nice price: "One Month Membership 29.99 renew 29.99" with absolutely no reference to what currency they are using anywhere in the page!! This is even worse. Spain is different. | |
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| 06-10-08 01:53pm - 6039 days | #8 | |
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mr smut (0)
Active User Posts: 107 Registered: Dec 27, '07 Location: Germany |
When you check that with some fake data you can see that they use EPOCHEU.COM as their payment processor and that they want to charge you €19.96 per month. This site looks interesting and I will put that one on my maybe-join-list ;-). <off-topic> Ole, ole, ole! Spain won it's first match 4:1 against Russia. I hope you could enjoy it. I still had to work. </off-topic> | |
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| 06-10-08 02:12pm - 6039 days | #9 | |
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atrapat (0)
Active User Posts: 182 Registered: Apr 19, '08 Location: Non-USA |
Thanks for clarifying (although that first page without currencies is still unbelievable). Glad to have helped you :) Torbe's work isn't my thing but he is quite popular here. If male performer's looks matter to you, take into account that Torbe is probably in many of the scenes and he is the guy with the sunglasses at the top of the home page. <off-topic> Couldn't watch the match either but fear not: like in every major tournament, Spain will finish first in the group but whoever faces them in quarter-finals has a 100% certainty of advancing to semi-finals. Spain is different. </off-topic> | |
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| 06-10-08 03:47pm - 6039 days | #10 | |
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Wittyguy (0)
Active User Posts: 1,138 Registered: Feb 04, '08 Location: Left Coast, USA |
x Edited on Apr 19, 2023, 02:30pm | |
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| 06-11-08 12:12pm - 6038 days | #11 | |
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atrapat (0)
Active User Posts: 182 Registered: Apr 19, '08 Location: Non-USA |
<off-topic> It depends. Some people prefer national teams over club tournaments. Within club tournaments, some prefer pan-European tournaments (Champions League) over strictly national ones (Premier League, Bundesliga, Calcio and so on). It all boils down to this: you have the national league (just like NBA regular season without playoffs) around 40 weekends a year and, to get a second match every week, you have the Champions League or a National Cup or World Cup qualifying around Wednesday. National teams tournaments (like the current Euro Cup) are played every 4 years at the end of season to get some soccer all year long. </off-topic> | |
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| 08-04-08 02:35pm - 5984 days | #12 | |
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lurifax (0)
Suspended Posts: 3 Registered: May 02, '07 |
Sorry, I am in the wrong place. The right place is way up this list - where it now is located. Edited on Aug 04, 2008, 02:41pm | |
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| 08-04-08 05:23pm - 5984 days | #13 | |
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Drooler (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 1,831 Registered: Mar 11, '07 Location: USA |
With the US dollar having lost so much of its value against the Euro, sites have differed in how they've responded to it. 1byday, for example, had switched to a Euro denomination for awhile earlier this year; then they went back to their old dollar pricing for US consumers. Now I see they've raised their US dollar prices (was $29.95, now 34.95 for a month; was $179.00, now $199.95 for a year). So some will raise their rates in dollars. Some won't, which makes the compared cost higher in Euros. And some will base the price in Euros and charge dollar-based consumers by something close to the current exchange rate, making it pricier than before for them. It's hard to see how there are any clear winners or losers in all of this. It's an issue that both the sites and the consumers are struggling with. For consumers, it simply depends on what they are willing to pay. If you think the price is too high, don't pay it. Wait until more content builds up in the site to make it worth it to you. Or take the risk of waiting for the dollar to rise again -- not that we can be sure of that. Or just do without altogether. And if you're willing to pay the price they offer, do that. So I'm just saying that we do have a number of options, and when we click "submit" for a payment transaction, what we're saying by doing that probably has a greater overall impact on pricing than what we say here at the PU site. Same goes for when we don't click that "submit" button. What else can I say? It's a free market. I wanted something new, so I left England for New England. | |
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| 08-05-08 09:18am - 5983 days | #14 | |
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shady7twenty4 (0)
Suspended Posts: 1 Registered: Aug 05, '08 Location: usa |
the usd is weak, if you like the porn pay the money if you dont like dont pay who cares what the price is right? as long as it looks good Edited by Staff on Aug 06, 2008, 05:29am (Khan: spam URL removed) | |
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| 08-05-08 11:02am - 5983 days | #15 | |
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Wittyguy (0)
Active User Posts: 1,138 Registered: Feb 04, '08 Location: Left Coast, USA |
x Edited on Apr 19, 2023, 02:31pm | |
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| 08-05-08 03:07pm - 5983 days | #16 | |
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Drooler (0)
Disabled User Posts: 1,831 Registered: Mar 11, '07 Location: USA |
Yeah, we have real sense of ownership about this site. Spam OUT! And stay out! I wanted something new, so I left England for New England. | |
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| 08-06-08 07:22am - 5982 days | #17 | |
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Denner (0)
Active User  Posts: 1,217 Registered: Mar 03, '07 Location: Denmark |
Of course it's a free marked - pornsites included. But even as Europe-based I don't find the problem that big - though some/a few sites has some serious over-charging, anyway - in euros. One of the worst exampels is Teenrotica (US based, BTW): The price according to TBP is $24.95 (for US-market). When this user try to join the price is 34.95 euros - and thats a big difference. 34.95 euros is about $53 - that's more than twice the price....pretty steep. And has nothing to do with strong or weak currencies So what is there to do: Stay away, like the Drooler suggests..or just pay and smile. Here I smile without joining, because the site has never been that good, anyway. "I don't drink anymore - I freeze it, and eat it like a popcicle" | |
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| 08-06-08 07:25pm - 5982 days | #18 | |
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pat362 (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,575 Registered: Jan 23, '07 Location: canada |
No matter which country you reside in or which currency you deal with. The reality is that we all have "X" amount of money budgeted for porn. It's the amount we've put aside for that purpose. As a general rule the US$ is used as the main point of reference for other currencies. That means that most websites chose to deal in US$ for their membership prices. 20US$ is about 10GBP, and about 12Euro and so on. If websites notice drops in their final profit margin because of the US$ trading lower and decide to increase the membership cost that's one thing, but to have a website charge 20US$ and at the same time 20GBP that's like robery. If websites decide to use the Euro or the GBP for their membership fees than great for them. They better consider that 20GBP is about 40US$. That kind of cost increase could make their website unavaible for many people that have budgeted for 20US$. Long live the Brown Coats. | |
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| 08-07-08 05:26am - 5981 days | #19 | |
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moonbyrd (0)
Active User Posts: 17 Registered: Aug 07, '08 |
This seems to be a fairly recent development with CCbill. Some months ago when you joined a site from an European location the form showed the price in euros but converted from US$ using a fairly reasonable rate. You could change the currency to US$ if you wished. Now the same signup form does not convert the price into euros, but changes the currency sign. You can still change the currency, but then the US$ price is calculated according to the exchange rate and is correspondingly higher than what US-based surfers are offered, i.e. a $29.95 site turns into a $43.96 site when accessed from Europe (as of today). (The above example is from the ftvgirls signup form. Another interesting point is that on the page they offer a subscription to another site at a price which is obviously converted from US$ - €4.73 which converts to $6.95 when you switch currencies on the page. Strange...) One almost wonders if this is a programming error at their end. Has anyone tried to contact CCbill and ask about this? As things stand, I'm not inclined to join any porn sites. | |
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| 08-07-08 06:19am - 5981 days | #20 | |
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lurifax (0)
Suspended Posts: 3 Registered: May 02, '07 |
A warning about CCBill's usuries to residents outside of the US$ zone... On many websites I have noticed that CCBill charge in one's local currency - in my case, in GBP. I thought that this was a 'nice' (and convenient) service. But, this is a typical example of "THE WOLF CLOTHED AS A SHEEP"! Working out what it should cost in GBP, and compare the result with what CCBill charges; I found that CCBill is slapping on 39+% above the basic rate of exchange. More than a week ago I sent an email to CCBill, titled 'usury', asking how they could justify this exorbitant fee. Surprise, surprise, CCBill did not reply - did not even bother with supplying the standard bullshit one is used to from banks... In summary: they have shown; not only are they committing 'daylight robbery' but the 24/7 'service', they brag about, is @ their discretion (And convenience!) but may well be 0/7. | |
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| 08-07-08 08:49am - 5981 days | #21 | |
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atrapat (0)
Active User Posts: 182 Registered: Apr 19, '08 Location: Non-USA |
This is by no means a programming error on ccbill's part but a decision they have made based on this logic: "consumers are accustomed to paying 1:1 when it comes to US products". Just google this: Regional Pricing Demo ccbill and you'll come up with a slide presentation of the logic behind their regional pricing product. Regional pricing isn't exclusive to ccbill. I'd say nowadays the only sites that still aren't doing regional pricing are those using ccbill that haven't activated this option. Most epoch sites I've checked recently charge more in EUR than in USD although they don't use the 1:1 conversion. Honoring its name, all localbilling sites I've seen are using the 1:1 conversion. I have trouble understanding why I should pay 60% more than a guy in the USA for the exact same product (site membership). Edited on Aug 07, 2008, 08:54am | |
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| 08-07-08 09:07am - 5981 days | #22 | |
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moonbyrd (0)
Active User Posts: 17 Registered: Aug 07, '08 |
Hmm... US products... in that case one could say that an European site such as Explicite Art (to which I was subscribing until yesterday) is now offering massive discounts to US customers. Well, I hope the scheme backfires. Thanks anyway for the info. | |
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| 08-07-08 03:02pm - 5981 days | #23 | |
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atrapat (0)
Active User Posts: 182 Registered: Apr 19, '08 Location: Non-USA |
In the case you are mentioning (European site that lowers the price for US clients) it's somewhat different as the site is charging the usual price to Europeans and offering a discount to US clients to avoid losing them. Although it's easy for me to be understanding as I've rarely signed up to European sites. | |
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| 08-07-08 06:23pm - 5981 days | #24 | |
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pat362 (0)
Active User Posts: 3,575 Registered: Jan 23, '07 Location: canada |
If European sites decided tomorrow to charge the same amount for their North American customers as they do their European, then in all likelyhood they would lose most of that market. I can't see to many people in the US wanting to pay 29 Euro for a site since that translates to about 45US$. Long live the Brown Coats. | |
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| 08-07-08 10:51pm - 5980 days | #25 | |
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moonbyrd (0)
Active User Posts: 17 Registered: Aug 07, '08 |
Sorry, I was being unclear and misleading in my post. In fact they did not lower the price for anyone, but decided to raise the price for some customers based solely on the location of the customers. I can see why physical goods imported across the globe should be more expensive than in their country of origin, but this case is different, because now the merchant has arbitrarily decided that some guy living next door to the production studio must pay more than another one across the ocean. And the way they do it is very crude, substituting euros for dollars. As for the US vs European porn thing, that is beside the point and I should have expressed myself more clearly. In any case, it seems that most of the top pay sites at thebestporn.com either are European or offer content produced in Europe (Hungarian, Czech and Russian). I mentioned Explicite as an example of European porn just because it offers something different, featuring predominantly French models and being more vérité in its approach, which I find refreshing compared to, say, the majority of the 21 Sextury sites. | |
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| 08-09-08 05:23pm - 5979 days | #26 | |
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lurifax (0)
Suspended Posts: 3 Registered: May 02, '07 |
Ain't seen nothing yet...? I notice that there are (rightfully) a lot of complaints about some smartasses 'equaling' the UA$ to the 'euro'. Well, I was going mad about this myself a couple of years ago - wrote to 'moregonzo.com' about it, asking how they could justify it, and asked if they charged their prospective Japanese customers the same (numerical) amount in Yen. Surprise, Surprice (!): NO REPLY was received. It seems to be getting worse: At 'club Jenna" (if you join from the UK) you may pay up to 120% (ONEHUNDRED AND TWENTY PERCENT!) more in GBP than you would have to pay in the US$ zone: Trial in the US$ zone: $9.86... In the UK it is GBP6.95 (at present = $13.35) - up 50%. Monthly fee - if you join from the US$ it is $19.95 , but if you join from the UK... ...it is GBP 22.95 (=$44.05), which is 120% above the US$ prise. Apart from having noticed that 'Jenna' lost her marbels a couple of years ago - exemplified by her 'Punk' stile (piercings and all) in "Jenna loves Briana"... In my visdom I like to add: "Caveat Emptor" "Look after your pennies - and the pounds will take care of themselves." I.e. Don't go there! Edited on Aug 09, 2008, 06:30pm | |
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| 08-30-08 11:03am - 5958 days | #27 | |
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wiild1 (0)
Unverified User Posts: 52 Registered: Apr 14, '07 Location: UK |
We shall NOT tolerate differented pricing: Internet is global and so should pricing be! It is even ILLEGAL to use differented pricing in EU countries as it is violating EU competion rules, Apple had to stop doing it for Itunes: http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1199872921.68/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6520677.stm Here are the USD eqv prices for Brazzers.com, a popular hardcore site based in the US: Congrats if you live in Angola! :-) Angola: 17.95 Argentina: 17.95 Iceland 24.70 Sweden 29.68 UK 27.70 Germany 31.00 Also posted here: https://www.pornusers.com/replies_view.html?id=20718 | |
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| 08-31-08 12:26pm - 5957 days | #28 | |
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snoopy67 (0)
Suspended Posts: 3 Registered: Aug 31, '08 Location: London |
Interesting first read on this forum. Looks like us Brits are getting ripped off as usual! | |
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| 01-21-09 01:31am - 5814 days | #29 | |
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bengun (0)
Active User Posts: 9 Registered: Sep 14, '08 Location: germany |
"We shall NOT tolerate differented pricing: Internet is global and so should pricing be!" I agree 100%. In my opinion this is a rip off! for example: I thought about buying a membership to allinternal.com because the content looks great, but i discovered, they bill unfair(outside US customers). The price is 29,- Dollars for US-members, and they charge 29 Euros (about 40,- Dollars)for outside US-members. I mailed the webmaster two or three times, to get a statment, but got NO reply at all. I had expected a serious statement at least! As you may agree, this is not a very customer-friendly behavior - So i left it alone. It seems to me, there are just not in the need to answer "stupid" customer questions....just annoying!! But, o.k. no problem. There are tons of other websites out there which have nice content AND take their customers seriously..... It`s annoying, because i really would have liked that membership, because of the great content, but if a company don`t take their customers serious, i will not also pay them for that attitude....why should i... ...hope my english is not so bad, hope you understand my point...:-) best regards bengun Edited by Staff on Jan 21, 2009, 05:46am (Khan: corrected URL) | |
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| 01-21-09 06:30am - 5814 days | #30 | |
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Tree Rodent (0)
Active User  Posts: 708 Registered: Oct 29, '08 Location: UK |
I believe the best way to deal with this regional discrimination is the same as dealing with DRM or limited downloads. If the site operates this policy then DON'T subscribe. Vote with your wallet. It's one of the reasons I subscribe to American Vice and not Video Box, although I prefer American Vice anyway, as they do actually have a customer service that answers customers' questions. Karup's I have noticed don't do regional discrimination or all the other bad things either. Is this a coincidence, or is it maybe that those sites that have the really bad things that we hate, like DRM, download limits, cross checking, and regional discrimination, also have really bad customer service? Whereas the sites which have great customer service don't have those bad things. The answer is to keep checking in here and subscribing to those sites which have great customer service and treat their customers well. Don't just look at the pretty pictures and be tempted. That company could be run by crooks and scumbags who once they have your money don't care, because you're not getting what you think you're getting anyway. The pictures on the home page may be great, but the site doesn't always live up to expectation. The people who run these things may be just there to rip you off in any way they can. So support the good guys is what I'm saying. Keep the good guys in business, by diverting your money away from the bad guys. This helps everyone. | |
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| 01-21-09 06:57am - 5814 days | #31 | |
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bengun (0)
Active User Posts: 9 Registered: Sep 14, '08 Location: germany |
"The people who run these things may be just there to rip you off in any way they can. So support the good guys is what I'm saying. Keep the good guys in business, by diverting your money away from the bad guys. This helps everyone." yes. I agree! But how to find the "good guys"?? By the way American Vize looks nice too....maybe i`ll give it a try next time... best regards bengun | |
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| 01-21-09 09:57am - 5814 days | #32 | |
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Tree Rodent (0)
Active User Posts: 708 Registered: Oct 29, '08 Location: UK |
Simple, keep looking around here. Read the reviews and the posts. Who the good guys are becomes apparent quite quickly. Take a look at some of the threads about rogue sites and wanting to make a list about them. Look at the posts and reviews where all those things I mentioned - cross checking, bad customer service, inability to access sites, DRM, and download limits, are brought up. Look up any site you are thinking of joining, then look it up under the TBP A-Z then at the bottom of the page see what PU members think. I will not join a site nowadays that has a poor rating from PU. I really wanted to have a list of the worst sites, but the people who run PU will not allow it because it is bad business, and could involve lawsuits. But you can still check out all the posts and reviews of each site you are thinking of joining. | |
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| 01-21-09 06:58pm - 5814 days | #33 | |
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williamj (0)
Active User Posts: 102 Registered: Sep 29, '07 Location: usa |
This is a great read if your questioning exchange rates. Will | |
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| 01-22-09 02:11am - 5813 days | #34 | |
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moonbyrd (0)
Active User Posts: 17 Registered: Aug 07, '08 |
Seems to me this is too black and white. In my whole time as a porn consumer I have subscribed to only 10 different sites (unless I forget one or two), always after checking the reviews on several different review sites, not just TBP/PU. None of those sites have ever used DRM or download limits (as far as I recall). I'm not sure what cross checking is, unless you mean automatic subscription to some other site on the signup page - this I have seen a couple of times but it was easy to opt out - you just had to read the page and notice the check box. Many of these sites have recently adopted regional pricing. Still I wouldn't call any of them "bad guys" based only on that, even though I do not approve. Of course, some would say being in the porn business alone qualifies them for that moniker. Anyway, some of the sites I am talking about are among the top 10 at TBP. I can't say I have ever fallen victim to false advertising or other rip-off practices. Sometimes I have been more satisfied with the content than others, but that is more a matter of taste than anything else. About customer service I do not have much experience. I haven't had many problems that would have required me to contact the sites. Offhand I remember only two such occasions, in one case the issue was fixed, in the other I did get a reply promising a fix for a faulty video clip but nothing else happened - I didn't have very high expectations that time, the clip in question was fairly old and I assumed many other users would have complained about it before me and if it hadn't been fixed before then why would my message make a difference. About Videobox versus American Vice: pricing aside, both have their pros and cons; based on content alone I would still go with VB because their videos look better and they have some stuff I like the other one doesn't. | |
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