Does anyone else avoid Patreon.com like the plague?

[Cecil6243]

When I see a score/tab that uses Patreon.com for payment I end up very disappointed. Had a bad experience with them last year where I made a donation for a score/tab, and it ended up being a regular payment, which I never requested.

The thing that really got me was Patreon was unresponsive, and I had to end up cancelling the debit card and getting another one just to stop payment.

[PeterM]

No, but I avoid Paypal like the plague. Still waiting for my $$$ from their rilping me off. Was that 9 or 10 years ago already?
Guess I should write that one off.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by PeterM

No, but I avoid Paypal like the plague. Still waiting for my $$$ from their rilping me off. Was that 9 or 10 years ago already?
Guess I should write that one off.

So what happened?

[JonPR]

I would never pay for tabs. Any tune I want to play, I load it into Transcribe! - https://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/screenshots.html - and work it all myself. I've never found any tune that I want to play that can't be worked out that way. (There's plenty of stuff I can't work out that way, for various reasons, but never anything I actually want to play.)

I've been transcribing fingerstyle pieces for myself ever since the 60s (clunky 2-speed tape deck back then), while I was still learning the basic technique; in fact that's how I taught myself to play fingerstyle. So if you have even a low level of technical skill I'd throughly recommend doing it yourself. It's really not hard. It can be time-consuming, of course - you need to go note by note, and you have to write out your own tab - but not really more time than learning from tab from somewhere else. Plus, it's more involving and more satisfying.

I might sometimes look for free tabs, if I get stuck on deciding fingering position, but if I can't find it free I'll just choose whatever fingering works for me.

I'm obviously not against paying for teachers, books, DVDs, etc, if you enjoy that process and you benefit from it! But mysterious online sellers? Complicated payment systems? Makes no sense to me.

I use Paypal quite often, though - for receiving payment for transcriptions, or for paying for low-priced things from trusted sources - and never had any problem with it.

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by Cecil6243

So what happened?

Purchased something, never received the product...no refund.

Plus I cannot buy or sell here cause they only use Paypal. ( my principles)

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by JonPR

I would never pay for tabs. Any tune I want to play, I load it into Transcribe! - https://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/screenshots.html - and work it all myself. I've never found any tune that I want to play that can't be worked out that way. (There's plenty of stuff I can't work out that way, for various reasons, but never anything I actually want to play.)

I've been transcribing fingerstyle pieces for myself ever since the 60s (clunky 2-speed tape deck back then), while I was still learning the basic technique; in fact that's how I taught myself to play fingerstyle. So if you have even a low level of technical skill I'd throughly recommend doing it yourself. It's really not hard. It can be time-consuming, of course - you need to go note by note, and you have to write out your own tab - but not really more time than learning from tab from somewhere else. Plus, it's more involving and more satisfying.

I might sometimes look for free tabs, if I get stuck on deciding fingering position, but if I can't find it free I'll just choose whatever fingering works for me.

I'm obviously not against paying for teachers, books, DVDs, etc, if you enjoy that process and you benefit from it! But mysterious online sellers? Complicated payment systems? Makes no sense to me.

I use Paypal quite often, though - for receiving payment for transcriptions, or for paying for low-priced things from trusted sources - and never had any problem with it.

While I feel "each to his or her own" on what folks choose to purchase and how they choose to do so, I heartily second the recommendation for Transcribe!. On my Android tablet I use Amazing Slow Downer. The ear training one gets from doing this is certainly more fun than listening to intervals and other aspects of the more traditional approach, not to mention that one can learn whatever is of interest whether or not somebody else has already tabbed it. I run Linux on my laptop and the Linux version of Transcribe! works well, complete with the ability to slow down and loop video as well as MP3 audio. I download any youtube videos I want to study further.

Two other programs I run on my Linux laptop are Guitar Pro 8 and TablEdit. I run these in the Code Weavers CrossOver Windows emulator environment with no issues since they are both Windows programs.

Tony

[Charlie Bernstein]

Don't have to. Never heard of it.

[Merak]

I have one Patreon subscription, had another I cancelled without an issue.

[Arapaho G]

I have 1 Patreon subscription and I'm quite happy with it. For 5.00 a month he has a library of around 40 tunes with tabs, a video lesson and performance for each tune, and a new tune every month. The video's are well done hi def and very thorough. For 5 bucks a month well worth it if you use it. All fingerstyle instrumentals.

[rmoretti49]

I tried to avoid all "deals" that require me to sign up for a subscription that recurs automatically.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by rmoretti49

I tried to avoid all "deals" that require me to sign up for a subscription that recurs automatically.

Agreed. I am retired on Social Security now with a seasonal income, and don't like automatic payments. Let me buy a tab or lesson outright and not leave me obligated.

[K20C]

I am not a gifted guitarist but I am a very determined one and I’m not too proud to take all the help I can get.

I’ve used Patreon off and on for several years with a couple of different content creators. It’s very easy to start and stop a subscription.

I’ve paid JonPR for a couple of transcriptions. He’s fast and accurate. I’ll use him again.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by K20C

I am not a gifted guitarist but I am a very determined one and I’m not too proud to take all the help I can get.

I’ve used Patreon off and on for several years with a couple of different content creators. It’s very easy to start and stop a subscription.

I’ve paid JonPR for a couple of transcriptions. He’s fast and accurate. I’ll use him again.

As I said It wasn't easy for me to stop a subscripton to Patreon so I must be an exception.

[Jeffreykip]

It stinks that you had a bad experience. I think it is a great way to give back to the many, many people who share their talent and expertise online.