Paying subscription to Vrienden op de Fiets

[Ignoramus]

Does anyone know how to pay the 8 euros sub? We sent cash last year, but this year Vrienden op de Fiets say that they won't accept cash. I've emailed them twice to ask for details of how to pay into their Bank in Britain but had no reply. We visited the Netherlands at Easter and went specially to a branch of Ing bank with our paying in slip and 8 euros, but were told there would be a fee of 10 euros to make the payment, so we didn't do so. Meanwhile, we've received our membership card etc, but we would like to pay!

[vernon]

There's a telephone number on the web site.....

[johnb]

Think you would need someone in the Euro zone to pay by Giro for you and you could forward cash to them, as far as I can remember you incur a hefty surcharge doing this from a UK bank.

[JJF]

There is a thread on this forum referring to Pre-loaded Euro currency cards. If you know someone who has such a card you may be able to get them to pay for you and settle up between you. It wouldn't be worth your while to get such a card for one transaction. However if you are planning tours in the euro zone you might find them beneficial.

[jake]

Damn. I sent cash three weeks ago and have not heard back from them. I rang the number and couldn't get an answer so opted for the way I paid a few years ago.

[R80RT]

I contacted them via their website & the moderator/webmaster was kind enough to let me tranfer the funds direct to his paypal account whereupon he paid the subscrition locally.

He recognises there's a problem so there may be a better online solution soon.

[Ignoramus]

Thanks everyone - there clearly is a problem with this. If I find the answer myself, I'll post it.

[fietslogies]

I'm pretty sure in the end everything will be fine. Probably they're struggling a bit with the increasing number of foreign members and the transition from a local association to a more international organization. The most recent numbers I picked up spoke about 70000 members and 4500 hosts.
Not that long ago, everything was run by volunteers.

[jags]

ok ut me out of my mysery what the hell is vrienden op de fiets.

[fietslogies]

This link will tell you (almost) everything: http://www.vriendenopdefiets.nl/pages/en/index.html
Let's say it's sort of small scalish b&b. With private families offering one or two rooms to cycling tourists. Not for free (it's Dutch but for a modest 19 euro pp/pn including breakfast. Some real b&b's also participate and give a (serious) reduction on their normal prices.

[Ignoramus]

Some-one from the Dutch tandem club very kindly telephoned Vrienden op de Fiets about how foreigners can pay. Vrienden op de fiets recognise that there is a problem, but they don't want people to send cash. It seems that the only way of paying at the moment is via some-one who has a Dutch bank account and who is prepared to make the payment for you. In our case, our friend from the tandem club is going to make the payment and we've sent the money to him by post.

It is quite extraordinary, tho, that we weren't even able to make the payment without incurring a 10 euro charge when we took the money and the paying in slip to a branch of ING in the Netherlands.

[fietslogies]

There may be a lot of criticism about the Euro and the Eurozone. But there's at least one advantage. Even very small payments are executed without any problem or extra cost.

[johnb]

There may be a lot of criticism about the Euro and the Eurozone. But there's at least one advantage. Even very small payments are executed without any problem or extra cost.

by Ignoramus » Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:08 pm
We visited the Netherlands at Easter and went specially to a branch of Ing bank with our paying in slip and 8 euros, but were told there would be a fee of 10 euros to make the payment, so we didn't do so.

Don't see the advantage you speak about here.

[edgar]

There may be a lot of criticism about the Euro and the Eurozone. But there's at least one advantage. Even very small payments are executed without any problem or extra cost.

by Ignoramus » Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:08 pm
We visited the Netherlands at Easter and went specially to a branch of Ing bank with our paying in slip and 8 euros, but were told there would be a fee of 10 euros to make the payment, so we didn't do so.

Don't see the advantage you speak about here.

May I add something here that might be relevant for customers using bank systems in the European Economic Area (which includes the UK)?
The advantage that has come a few years ago already, that Fietslogies might be referring to:

If a customer (and I now take Netherlands as the example) wires an amount in Euros to another customer in the EER, using the right BIC (might be referred to as Swift code) and IBAN codes (ask this from the receiving party), there are no costs incurred.

If this is applicable in the UK, this might also vary per bank.
For UK customers the only costs I could see is the transfer of GBP into Eur.

Best regards, Edgar