PPA... Am I Missing Something?

I joined PPA in September of last year. I budgeted to repay my dues this September. About two weeks ago I got an email saying they tried to charge my credit card THREE MONTHS EARLY but I had actually just canceled that card (lost it, whoops!) the week before. Then today I get this email:

We notice that your PPA membership expired on 09/30/2012!

And it went on to inform me that I no longer had my PPA benefits or insurance coverage.

Is anyone else experiencing this right now? Or is there some clause in PPA's small print that says you're supposed to pay 3 months before your membership expires or else they'll cancel your membership 2.5 months early that I missed somehow?

Or have I unknowingly entered a Time Warp or Black Hole and popped out in October 2012??

You do know Halloween is next week right?

Perhaps the unusual stuff was caused by your credit card being declined. Consider a call or email to them.

Definitely call them, they are very helpful and their customer service is very good.

Picture North Carolina wrote in post #14695691
Perhaps the unusual stuff was caused by your credit card being declined. Consider a call or email to them.

But why was my credit card charged THREE MONTHS early to begin with?

PeaceFire wrote in post #14695961
But why was my credit card charged THREE MONTHS early to begin with?

Have you tried asking the source of the problem, PPA. I belonged to a website at one time that had an annual charge. They always put it through about two months before it was due to expire and when I challenged them on it, they pointed me to a section in their terms and conditions that said they did this so that in the event of problems with wrong credit card (as is the case with you here), there is time to get it resolved without having loss of privileges. I'm not saying that this is the case here but it does happen and I am like most people and pretty much always just check the "read and agree to terms and conditions" box when signing up for something.

Yup, I have been trying to contact PPA all day. Given I only contacted them the first time around 7:30AM and the second time around noon, but it is almost 2 here and no response yet. Getting a little annoyed now.

And whether or not I pay for another year or whether or not they bill early shouldn't mean I lose my benefits early, right?

Yay! Finally got a reply but it still makes no sense to me. They said that the email I got was an error, but that my membership still lapsed. Which, again, makes no sense since I paid through September. I wish I'd brought my paperwork on my assignment with me but I didn't and won't be back home until mid-August so I can't see what the paperwork says. I never checked any boxes or anything since I paid in person during an event but I'm sure all of that paperwork they sent me after the fact says something. I was just curious if anyone had any insight as to how PPA's payment structure works.

PeaceFire wrote in post #14697773
Yay! Finally got a reply but it still makes no sense to me. They said that the email I got was an error, but that my membership still lapsed. Which, again, makes no sense since I paid through September. I wish I'd brought my paperwork on my assignment with me but I didn't and won't be back home until mid-August so I can't see what the paperwork says. I never checked any boxes or anything since I paid in person during an event but I'm sure all of that paperwork they sent me after the fact says something. I was just curious if anyone had any insight as to how PPA's payment structure works.

I opt for the monthly fee. I get billed monthly at a recurring rate. When the year rolls around they just send me the new year membership packet in the mail. Never had an issue and dont have to worry about it.

PeaceFire wrote in post #14697773
Finally got a reply but it still makes no sense to me. They said that the email I got was an error, but that my membership still lapsed. Which, again, makes no sense since I paid through September.

May I assume you asked them why? What was the response to your question about the membership ending? How was it explained to you?

PeaceFire wrote in post #14697670
Yup, I have been trying to contact PPA all day. Given I only contacted them the first time around 7:30AM and the second time around noon, but it is almost 2 here and no response yet. Getting a little annoyed now.

And whether or not I pay for another year or whether or not they bill early shouldn't mean I lose my benefits early, right?

You called them? I've never called and not gotten their customer service first time every time. They've got a chat function from their website, but I've not tried that yet.

I have my card charged monthly. They did make a stumble when I changed cards once and tried to charge the old card, but that's been the only issue.

Scatterbrained wrote in post #14694881
You do know Halloween is next week right?

I was actually thinking last night that the weather felt like October and that halloween seemed like it wasnt that far away

Your weather felt like October? You could send some of that October weather our way.

It did last night. Normally its been in the high 90's or low 100's and no rain for ages, but the last week its been raining a fair bit, figures thats when ive had most of my appt's scheduled. got another one for today at 6:30 with a thunderstorm scheduled at 7, im planning on wiating it out and hoping its a short one. worst case reschedule or go to my studio.

cory1848 wrote in post #14697907
I opt for the monthly fee. I get billed monthly at a recurring rate. When the year rolls around they just send me the new year membership packet in the mail. Never had an issue and dont have to worry about it.

Same here. I don't have to worry about it. I do, however, go through a good number of credit cards being cracked, etc. I just call them and update my card number. It only takes about 5 minutes. Sorry to hear you're having issues with them. It'll all get worked out.