Anyone else find the AOPA Legal Services 'tacked' on to the renewal

twdeckard

twdeckard

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twdeckard
Anyone else get the legal services tacked on to their auto renewal?

Apparantly I had "complementary" legal services which then rolled over to be automatically billed at the next cycle?
 
twdeckard said:
Anyone else get the legal services tacked on to their auto renewal?

Apparantly I had "complementary" legal services which then rolled over to be automatically billed at the next cycle?
Click to expand...

Mine's "tacked on" but I signed up for legal services several years ago and expect to continue for as long as I'm flying.
 
twdeckard said:
Anyone else get the legal services tacked on to their auto renewal?

Apparantly I had "complementary" legal services which then rolled over to be automatically billed at the next cycle?
Click to expand...

Thank you for the heads-up. I see (after digging around and checking) that I was scheduled to be charged for it on the next cycle as well.

I am very disappointed that AOPA would resort to one of those "Hey, here is a freebie! but we are going to keep charging you for it until you tell us to stop" deals.

Tim
 
That reflects very poorly on AOPA.

Another reason not to be an AOPA member. :-(
 
They reversed the charge after an email.

I am taking this PoA survey to find out if it was an isolated accident. It'll affect the letter I am drafting.

I re-joined AOPA when the User Fee lobbying was in swing. I like the magazine and feel they are an important group, however, I resent the marketing. I sent an angry note after I was solicited for the credit card and to their credit Landsberg called the house to apologize.

I just want some backdrop as to if this was an "accident" or bordering on fraud.
 
FWIW, I did not, but I never got the free plan either.

It could be a sneaky marketing ploy, or it could be poor programming of a database (This guy is on the legal services plan, include this on the renewal. But the program was never told to exclude the freebies handed out).

The appearance and effects to members are the same in either case.
 
From my seat, AOPA is a very valuable entity. The lobbying arm is crucial (although they will likely fail) to hold off a restructuring towards User Fees. The Safety foundation produces some very high quality material.

However, as the saying goes "no bucks, no Buck Rogers"

They realize that these organizations need cash for fuel. And they have built an effective subscription system and have a strong marketshare among pilots.

I was pretty crabby after they called the house for the credit card, 30 seconds after I had renewed my membership but after an angry-gram Bruce Landsberg did reach out to me and offered his home number in the event I had any issues. Having met Boyer at one of the town hall meetings I do have a sense that the organization is very accessible.

I doubt this was a "database error" I am sure their marketing folks realized that the legal services plan is pure gravy, and my apologies to Lance -- marketing it to non-commercial pilots is just that -- pure marketing.

They capture $30/year and probably have little expenses. "I was on an IFR flight plan and am facing an enforcement action ... answer: take your time on the bench"

Since very few of us sign up for it they offer it "free" Now how does this work? I don't use it, its not like a free year on Aeroplanner where I say "hey this is neat, I'm kind of addicted to it now" An infintesimal number of folks actually will avail themselves of it and you'd appreciate the value if you did need it -- whether you had it or not. Nope they were laying this down.

When we were going thru my very old Grandmothers affairs I discovered she was paying $50/year for Sickle Cell insurance. Grandma didn't have any sub-Saharan African lineage that we knew of. But she refused to cancel it on some jinx principal. Some unscrupulous insurance agent had tacked it on and despite all my arguing she wouldnt' cancel it. It was only $50 after all and if you kids cancel it ... I'll probably wind up getting it at 93.

The more I type the more incensed I am getting. This was sickle cell insurance tacked on hoping I wouldn't notice or would be too supersticous to rescind it.
 
Yep -- in the three (yes three) mailing I get.

Apparently at some point they set up everything under a slightly different name, so I get three (yes 3) mailing of everything AOPA, including the expnsive Flight School marketing stuff.

I guess it's time to call once again and ask them to save some money...

:mad2:
 
My membership renewal, which was due the end of this month did not have the legal services tacked on. There was a chance to add it. There was also the request for an ASF donation which I tend to do every year.
 
Aopa's legal services plan is a joke. I purchased it one year and went to use it to form a LLC. You get a 15 minute consultation and that's it. Your better off to find or use your own attorney.
 
I have never bought the legal services plan and I have never been charged for it.
 
my latest renewal has medical service (??) tacked on.
I tossed it, but now, after reading this, I wish I had paid more attention.
My biggest gripe with aopa is getting about 2-3 renewal notices a year like my membership is expiring at any moment when it is months away.
 
I don't recall if I got one year free when I joined the LS plan, but I did recognize that I would have to pay eventually. Maybe, since you were signed up for one year free, when you got your next membership notice you didn't see that it was for $64.99 instead of $39.99, and so were surprised to be signed up again??:dunno:

I'm on auto renew, so I re-up both AOPA and LS plan automatically.

Lots of AOPA badmouthing, but they are often the only voice at the table speaking for us. The only voice (yes, sometimes EAA weighs in too). Wanna hazard a guess what ADS-B would look like WITHOUT them? It's bad enough as is. We sometimes forget that AOPA is only one voice, and can't just get what it wants, every time, just because it's the AOPA and a bunch of cranky pilots wish it so.

I support the AOPA.
 
Somebody has to pay for all those vice presidents and their 12% raises.
 
I know AOPA has their issues (what org doesn't?), but they are, on balance, very valuable. If there are things I don't like (and there are), I am in the best position to complain and secure changes as a member.

They have never sought to tag on legal services for me, BTW.
 
Bob Noel said:
What would it be without AOPA?
Click to expand...

Shoved down your throat, tomorrow. No free FIS-B or TIS-B. All airspace, including G, requo\iring ADS-B out equipage. Period.

Even the prevent defense is good for something.
 
flyersfan31 said:
Shoved down your throat, tomorrow. No free FIS-B or TIS-B. All airspace, including G, requo\iring ADS-B out equipage. Period.

Even the prevent defense is good for something.
Click to expand...

1) Shoved down your throat tomorrow - Nope, wouldn't happen. You can't equip the fleet that fast. And the FAA can't equip their systems that fast.

2) No free FIS-B or TIS-B - Nope. It isn't free now. You have to have ADS-B in, which isn't at all "free". ADS-B out is gold-plated as it is. I wonder what people are thinking when they expect installation of systems that exceed the value of the aircraft.

3) All airsapce, including G, req ADS-B - Sorry, don't buy it. Even the pointy-hair geniuses at the FAA wouldn't expect ADS-B out where transponders aren't required.


In summary, AOPA didn't do anything useful wrt ADS-B.
 
Bob Noel said:
1) Shoved down your throat tomorrow - Nope, wouldn't happen. You can't equip the fleet that fast. And the FAA can't equip their systems that fast.

2) No free FIS-B or TIS-B - Nope. It isn't free now. You have to have ADS-B in, which isn't at all "free". ADS-B out is gold-plated as it is. I wonder what people are thinking when they expect installation of systems that exceed the value of the aircraft.

3) All airsapce, including G, req ADS-B - Sorry, don't buy it. Even the pointy-hair geniuses at the FAA wouldn't expect ADS-B out where transponders aren't required.


In summary, AOPA didn't do anything useful wrt ADS-B.
Click to expand...

We can agree to disagree. :thumbsup::D:yinyang:
 
AOPA exec wages

Somebody has to pay for all those vice presidents and their 12% raises.
Click to expand...

Red board has a lively 7-page thread on this;


Craig Fuller, AOPA pres shows up on post 117:

"The leading statement suggested AOPA raised salaries for top management by 14% in 2009.
Now, I admit that this is hard to believe.....but, it is also flat-out wrong!"

I have not had a chance to read rebuttals.
 
Re: AOPA exec wages

I've been a member since I started flying six years ago. Their various fund raising efforts never seem to let up.

I was thinking I would go up to the summit in Long Beach, until I discovered it was another one of their money generating endeavors. From what I could gather, it would be several hundred dollars to attend.

Once a year they publish their financial condition in the magazine. AOPA is not the cash strapped benevolent organization it presents itself as. Their various fund raising schemes seem to be very successful.

Myself, I really am starting to think about the value of membership. I earn every penny I make with my hands, I do not get paid a dime if I don't work. The AOPA annual dues with add ons is around a hundred and twenty or thirty dollars. In todays economy, there is not all that much demand for custom made picture frames, so I am having to watch my pennies a whole lot closer.

So, what if I just paid the basic fee, what would be the value of membership? I would get a magazine and a card.

I would not get legal help, medical help, flight training magazine , or much else.
I tried their aircraft financing thing a few years ago, all it amounts to is they send you to a banker they are chummy with. The same holds true for their aircraft insurance, nothing that any insurance broker would not do, except it was in the upper price ranges.

I did get a free hat a few years ago. I've gotten some of those nifty little yellow measuring scales for chart reading.

Since I have been a member, I have sent around a thousand dollars in their direction. For that I have received:

*A membership card.
*A hat.
*A magazine every month.
*Flight Training Magazine.
*Little yellow measuring scales.
*A chance to win an airplane. ( I hardly ever win an airplane.....actually never.)

I get all those things for a little over ten dollars a month. I think that is a good value because I do like them. The big question right now is, do I need them? Then there is the issue of being able to even afford such ostentatious luxuries during this period of "change" in America.

John
 
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So anyway there are a lot of organizations that are doing this kind of thing. They give you something free for a period of time, they start charging you if you don't cancel it. On Star has me on that plan. They gave me a year free with my new truck. I had to buy minutes for the hand free phone. Cost me next to nothing, but now they have my credit card number. I just have to remember to cancel it when it comes time to renew next year.
I subscribed to Runner's World Magazine on line, and didn't read the small print. Small print says that they will automatically renew the subscription at their "low rate". Right, the new "low price" is $24 a month. If you get one of the five or six subscription cards that come inside the magazine each month, you can subscribe for $15. I don't care what they say, the hope is that you will forget to cancel and not pay attention to your credit card bill.
 
Re: AOPA exec wages

*A membership card.
*A hat.
*A magazine every month.
*Flight Training Magazine.
*Little yellow measuring scales.
Click to expand...

I think the intangible, that of a voice in Washington is what they would say is much more valuable, than any of those trinkets. I do not have enough information to say if their argument is accurate but I suspect without a unified voice, GA would have gone away by now.
 
Re: AOPA exec wages

flyersfan31 said:
Wow -- what are you adding on??????:hairraise:
Click to expand...

I have legal added on and Flight Training Magazine. I've used the legal just once, about four years ago. I got to talk to a real lawyer on the phone for about ten minutes. AOPA had referred me to him as one of "their" attorneys. They said his costs would be covered under my legal add on. He then sent me a bill for several hundred dollars. I sent that to AOPA, they took care of it.

John
 
Re: AOPA exec wages

Let'sgoflying! said:
I think the intangible, that of a voice in Washington is what they would say is much more valuable, than any of those trinkets. I do not have enough information to say if their argument is accurate but I suspect without a unified voice, GA would have gone away by now.
Click to expand...

Every year I have been a member, I have received many solicitations for funds for lobbying Washington. I contributed every year to this effort. This is the first year I did not contribute.

From what I can tell, those solicited funds are what pays for lobbying, not the basic membership fee.

John
 
Re: AOPA exec wages

Let'sgoflying! said:
Red board has a lively 7-page thread on this;


Craig Fuller, AOPA pres shows up on post 117:

"The leading statement suggested AOPA raised salaries for top management by 14% in 2009.
Now, I admit that this is hard to believe.....but, it is also flat-out wrong!"

I have not had a chance to read rebuttals.
Click to expand...

Now you forced me to read through this thread :incazzato:

Craigs posts in that thread explained some of the issues but certainly not all of them.

Even after you take out the deferred comp for Boyer, a number of the VPs got 12-16% raises (one of them took a 55% cut which masks a number of the increases in the overall number) This is presumably information avweb pulled out of the 990 filings or annual reports, I haven't had a chance to review those myself, but as Craig didn't dispute those individual numbers, I'll take it that they are correct.

It is allways difficult for nonprofit membership organizations to strike a balance between appropriate salaries for management level staff. At a time of decreasing membership and revenues, any salary increase to management staff is suspect.

The membership fee for AOPA (and I only do the basic deal) is a great value for a well produced magazine and the lobbying effort on behalf of GA. Their marketing efforts to upsell on top of the basic membership fee are however a bit tiresome.
 
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