Wendy Windblows Subscriptions FAQ

We offer three types of subscription

Monthly Subscription

This is £4.95 per month. The minimum period is, of course, one month, but it can carry on as long as you want it to. You can convert it to Annual or Two-Yearly subscription at any time by calling or emailing the office.

Annual Subscription

This costs £46 per year, which works out at £3.85 per month equivalent. The minimum period is one year. You can convert it to one of the other rates at the annual renewal date.

Two-Year Subscription

This costs £60 every two years, which works out at £2.50 per month equivalent. The minimum term is, of course two years, so you might opt for this subscription if you know you're likely to use the service for that length of time.

Subscriptions Are Continuous

Like any other subscription - for a magazine, say, or Sky TV, or your Internet Service, a Wendy subscription carries on until you tell us to stop it. To make it perfectly clear: We'll charge your card again when your subscription runs out unless you tell us not to.

We're only a 2-person business, and we don't have the time to keep contacting everyone regularly to ask if they still want the service. There are so many subscribers, we'd never get any other work done, like maintaining and repairing the weather stations!

Also, to be frank, less than 10% of subscribers quit flying and cancel their Wendy subscriptions in any one year, so we'd be wasting our time contacting the other 90% who want to carry on...

If you don't want to carry on with the service, just tell us by phone, email, or letter, and we'll cancel your renewal, no problem. But please tell us before the renewal is due!

Your Rate Never Goes Up!

We believe that loyalty deserves rewarding, so Wendy has an abiding principle: As long as you stay a subscriber, your rate will never go up - if the price increases, it only affects new subscribers, not existing ones. We have many subscribers who have been with us for 14 years or more, and who are still paying the rate they joined at in 1996 - which, by the way was £24 a year! This only applies if you stay continuously subscribed - if you quit, and come back a year or two later, you then pay whatever the going rate is at the time. You stay with us, we look after you.

(One obvious exception is if you ask us to change you from Annual to Monthly subscription, then you would pay the higher monthly rate, of course.)

HM Forces Personnel Can Suspend Their Membership

Forces personnel can be sent overseas at short notice for several months, to Afghanistan, or somewhere else equally desirable, and therefore cannot perhaps make use of an Annual or Two-Year subscription in case a good part of it is it is wasted. To support them therefore, we offer to freeze their membership if they are posted overseas, and add the unused portion on to the end of their term when they return to the UK.

No, we won't freeze your membership if you go to Australia on holiday for 2 months next winter -it's your choice to go. This is a small favour we do for those people who don't have any choice about whether they are out of the country or not... and who might get wounded or killed in the course of their duty.

Of course, if anyone is seriously hurt flying, and is laid up for weeks or months while they recover, we'll extend the same help to him or her, on receipt of confirmation of injury.

Are there Any Other Charges?

Only one, if you choose an extra. We have an Alert service, where Wendy keeps an eye on the weather at your chosen station or stations, and emails you or texts you when conditions are good. (You can choose which days and/or times these Alerts are sent to you).

Emails are free, but if you opt for Text Alerts, then these are charged at 12p each. You are asked to pay £12 to charge your account with 100 texts, and these will be used up as messages are sent to you.

When your account gets down to about 20 texts left, you'll be sent a reminder, and you can go to our website and recharge your account.

If you have any queries or questions, please contact us here: Contact Details

"I'm Paying £3.50 A Month By Standing Order at present."
"I've Heard That You Offer A £2.50 Per Month Rate. Can I Reduce My Monthly Payment To £2.50?"

We don't actually offer a £2.50 per month rate - we offer a £60 payment which covers you for two years. To simplify the Wendy subscription structure, some time ago, we instituted 3 rates:

Like most things in life, the more you buy, the cheaper it gets! So, if you only wanted to commit to a month at a time, it's £4.95 a month.

If you're happy to commit to a year, it's cheaper per month at £3.85 equivalent and if you're happy to commit to 2 years, it's cheaper still, at £2.50 a month equivalent!

"Why Are The Annual And 2-Yearly Rates Cheaper? And Can I Pay Them Monthly?"

They are cheaper because there's less work, and fewer bank charges for us.

If you pay annually, or 2-yearly it means much less work for us, as we only have to process one payment, rather than a payment every month, which is why it's cheaper!

If you pay monthly, we have to check each month that your monthly payment has come in, enter it on our database, and then inform the website of your latest payment, and when you'll expire. (see the welcome message on the post-login page, where it tells you this.)

So, in the case of a yearly subscription, we have only to process one payment, rather than 12 monthly payments...

In the case of a two-yearly subscription, we have only to process one payment, rather than 24 payments...

That saves a lot of time and hassle, so we charge less.

However, we have another principle for Wendy, and that is:

If You Stay A Member, Your Rate Never Goes Up!

New prices only affect new subscribers. This is a loyalty bonus, if you see what I mean. Those that stay with us, get a progressively greater discount the longer they stay, in that their payment stays frozen at the rate they joined at. We have lots of people who have been with us for 14 years or more, and are still paying £24 a year, the rate that we charged in 1996!

This is why your monthly payment may be much less than the current rate for new subscribers of £4.95.

"So, Can I Cancel My Current Monthly Payment, And Change To The New Rate?"

If you are currently on, say, £3.50 a month, it will be because that's what you joined on.

Our putting the monthly rate up to £4.95 (because it involves the most admin work for us) about 2 years ago doesn't affect you. Your rate, as a continuous member, is guaranteed not to increase.

But you could cancel your S/O, and pay the £60 for 2 years if you wish... that would be cheaper in the long run.

Or, you can stay as you are, as that's pretty cheap too... in today's terms! We don't mind either way.

Call Rod or Lynn on 0114-287-8936, and we'll help you work out what's the best for you, and if you want to change, the best time to do it.

"Why Don't You Contact Me Before Automatically Renewing Me Each Year?"

Lots of reasons, really.

• We don't have time. There are only two of us, and Rod is out on the road a lot, repairing the stations. There are LOTS of Wendy subscribers, and if we had to contact everyone before renewing them, we'd never get any real work done!
• It's difficult. Lots of subscribers move house, change their mobile numbers, and change their email addresses too (some seem to change email on a monthly basis!) - and, lots of them forget to tell us! The contact details we have for a good proportion of our subscribers are out of date. Again, it's a waste of our time phoning switched-off numbers, or sending emails that bounce back as undeliverable..
• Only about 10% or less of our subscribers quit in any one year. We would be hassling the other 90% when they want to continue. If I want to quit, Rod, I'll bleedin' tell you was one user's reaction when I mistakenly asked him recently.
• Strictly speaking, as your payment amount doesn't change, nor does the interval, we don't have to - according to the rules. We would only have to inform the user if the amount or timing of a payment changes. As it's completely regular, you should know about it.

It's simple, really. Other subscriptions, like your ISP payment for your Internet service, come out regularly from the bank or card account - they don't keep contacting you to ask if you want to continue.

It's assumed you'll carry on with the service until you tell the supplier when you want to quit. Well, Wendy is just the same. It makes the service cheaper for you, as it reduces our costs and hassle a lot.

Just let us know, please before your renewal date, if you wish to quit, and we'll cancel you, no problem.

"Can I Suspend My Membership If I Go Away?"

Rod's first reaction is: Don't be tight, Wendy is so cheap it's not worth the hassle!

However...

HM Forces Personnel Can Suspend Their Membership

Forces personnel can be sent overseas at short notice for several months, to Afghanistan, or somewhere else equally desirable, and therefore cannot perhaps make use of an Annual or Two-Year subscription in case a good part of it is it is wasted. To support them therefore, we offer to freeze their membership if they are posted overseas, and add the unused portion on to the end of their term when they return to the UK.

No, we won't freeze your membership if you go to Australia on holiday for 2 months next winter -it's your choice to go. This is a small favour we do for those people who don't have any choice about whether they are out of the country or not... and who might get wounded or killed in the course of their duty.

Of course, if anyone is seriously hurt flying, and is laid up for weeks or months while they recover, we'll extend the same help to him or her, on receipt of confirmation of injury.

If you have any queries or questions, please contact us here: Contact Details