Frequently Asked Questions - Enrollment and Donation

Every enrollment defaults to automatic renewal.  However, we are well aware that some of our enrolled members do not wish to have their account automatically renewed.

If you would like to opt out of this automatic process, you may. You will need to follow these additional steps at the time of enrollment or re-enrollment to opt out of the auto-renewal process: 

1. Log in to your account, click on the "My Account" link at the top of the page, and make sure that your enrollment is active.
2. On that page, under "Membership Autorenewal," you will see your order information. On the right-hand side of the order is a link with the words "opt out." Click this link.
3. You will see a confirmation page asking you to verify that you do really want to opt out. If you click "Opt Out," you will be taken back to your "My Account" page, where you will see that the order information under "Membership Autorenewal" has disappeared. This confirms that your account will not be automatically renewed.

If you need help opting out, you can e-mail us for assistance well in advance of your expiration date. 

Please note that you will have to follow this opt-out process each time you reactivate your enrollment.  This means that if you forget to opt out or notify us before your expiration date that you want to opt out, the system will, by default, automatically renew your enrollment.

We understand that this process inconveniences a small number of our enrolled members.  Most of our enrolled members prefer this option.  Unfortunately, we are not able to provide refunds for any reason (you can read our policy here.  We appreciate your understanding.

Good question!  In a nutshell, they are the same thing.  Paid memberships used to be called "subscriptions," but now they are called "enrollments."  Subscribers are now called "enrolled members" (and unpaid members are now called "registered users.")  Paid members pay the same price and receive the same benefits as before; all that has changed is the wording we use. 

We found it necessary to make this change to accommodate a new and useful feature called Content Subscriptions.  You might notice the word "Subscribe" shown as a link in blog posts and forum threads.  If you click on this link, it gives you a number of options to choose from.  Subscribing to content in this way will result in your receiving e-mail notification when various additions or changes are made in that thread, by that author, or in other ways, according to the options you choose.  To manage your content subscriptions and preferences, click on "My Account" in the navigation bar and choose "My Content Subscriptions."

Most Martenson Reports are only available to enrolled members, but a handful of them are available for free to registered users.  If you'd like to get a taste of what a Martenson Report contains, or you'd simply like to take advantage of the free reports that Chris has made available to all, you can find them here:

• The Great Asset Bubble
• It's Simple: Trust Yourself
• How The Credit Markets Affect Us All
• The Six Stages of Awareness
• A Preview of Chapter 20 (or, Navigating a Martenson Report)
• Commodities Crushed and How This Can Help You
• Charting a Course Through the Recession
• The Federal Reserve Plays A Dangerous Game
• So Long, Mr. Dollar
• Exponential Money in a Finite World
• How Safe Is My FDIC-Insured Bank Account?
• Uh Oh.
• The End of Money
• Housing - Simple As That
• The Unkindest Cut of All
• The Game Is Afoot
• The United States Is Insolvent

If you are unsure about whether or not you are currently enrolled, you can figure it out at a glance while you are logged in.  If you are currently enrolled, your enrollment expiration date is visible at the top of the page in red, and the number of days left in your enrollment is also noted.

We regret that we are unable to give refunds of any kind. Chris Martenson has devoted five full-time years of his life to developing the content on this site while supporting his family exclusively from his personal savings. The enrollment fees and donations received by ChrisMartenson.com are applied toward site maintenance and projects that benefit site readers. Chris is passionately devoted to making as much of this information free to the public as possible while drawing enough financial support to keep the site running. We simply do not have the resources to process refunds.

This policy applies to automatic renewals.  When you enroll, you receive information about how to opt out of the automatic renewal process.  If you choose not to opt out, your account will continue to be automatically renewed by the system at the end of each enrollment period. 

This policy also applies to accounts that have been suspended or blocked due to noncompliance with the Forum Guidelines and Rules.

We hope and anticipate that ChrisMartenson.com will continue for as long as its message is needed, and we feel the message will be valid for a very long time. By enrolling, you are agreeing to our no-refund policy and accepting the risk that, should the site become financially unviable, your enrollment might end prematurely. We will do everything possible to prevent this situation but want to be clear about this possibility so that you can make an informed choice when purchasing an enrollment.

Thank you for your understanding.

Our enrollment renewal process now defaults to automatic renewal.  For most users, this means that your account will be renewed after each enrollment period without any additional steps on your part.  However, under certain circumstances you will need to re-enroll to regain access after your expiration date.

Three groups of users will not be automatically renewed and will find it necessary to re-enroll after their accounts have expired if they wish to continue benefits.  This is necessary for 1) people who enrolled prior to the implementation of our automatic renewal system, who will need to re-enroll only ONCE to be covered under our new protocol; 2) users who voluntarily opted out of our automatic renewal process, who will need to re-enroll after expiration each time they opt out; and 3) users whose credit cards are declined at the time of auto-renewal, who will find their account has expired and will need to re-enroll to continue receiving benefits.  If you find that your account has expired for one of these reasons, you will need to re-active your enrollment by repeating the enrollment process.  

To regain access after your expiration date, you will need to follow these instructions:

1. Make sure you are logged in.
2. Click on the "Enroll Today" button on any page.
3. Follow the instructions and your account will be reinstated.

We understand that not everyone will want their account to be automatically renewed. If you would like to opt out of this automatic process, you may. You will need to follow these additional steps to opt out of the auto-renewal process:

1. Log in to your account, click on the "My Account" link at the top of the page, and make sure that your enrollment is active.
2. On that page, under "Membership Autorenewal," you will see your order information. On the right-hand side of the order is a link with the words "opt out." Click this link.
3. You will see a confirmation page asking you to verify that you do really want to opt out. If you click "Opt Out," you will be taken back to your "My Account" page, where you will see that the order information under "Membership Autorenewal" has disappeared. This confirms that your account will not be automatically renewed.

Please note that you will have to follow this opt-out process each time you reactivate your enrollment.

If you would like to change the length of time that your subscription covers, please contact us for help. 

You have our word that we will never sell your info or use it for anything that is not related to ChrisMartenson.com.  We value the integrity of our own personal information and take the same care with your information that we take with our own.

Yes.  You can send an enrollment payment via www.paypal.com to paypal@chrismartenson.com.  If your payment is for a donation, you can use the Donate button to send us a Paypal payment.  If you want to mail us a payment by check or money order, please make it payable to Chris Martenson and mail it to PO Box 412, Montague, MA, 01351

If your payment is for an enrollment, please be sure to indicate “Enrollment Payment” as the subject, or our processors will assume your payment is meant as a donation.  Also be sure to include your username and/or the e-mail address that is associated with your user registration so that we can properly credit your payment to your account.   We will activate or renew your enrollment after your payment has been received and processed.

If you have had trouble getting your transaction completed, it may be due to a credit card error.  There are a few common problems that could be the culprit.  First, make sure that your name and address are entered exactly as they appear on your credit card statement.  Next, please make sure you have correctly entered the CVV code – this is a common cause of transaction failure.

If you are a customer located outside of the United States, your address will need to be entered in the standard format used in your country.  This information can usually be found on each country's postal service website. Sometimes the locally-accepted form of an address does not match the official postal service version.  For additional help in determining this format, you may find the following websites helpful: http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/postal.html and/or http://www.bitboost.com/ref/international-address-formats.html.

If you still have difficulty, you may want to try submitting your credit card payment via Paypal as an alternative.  

We understand that some readers do not have the resources to enroll.  We are considering future changes to our enrollment offerings that would address this.  If he could, Chris would give all his services away for free to everyone who was interested in his work. 

Unfortunately, this is not realistic, as the site is costing him thousands of dollars to run, he has supported it almost completely out-of-pocket for the past five years, and he isn't drawing any profit from it, despite working more than fulltime on the site and his cause.  And we just increased the size of our part-time staff, which will help us better fulfill the needs of site visitors but will also increase our running costs.

Enrolled receive access to more extensive site content than registered users, including special in-depth reports and  guides, and to special features such as the Subscribers-Only forum, where Chris personally participates in discussing the issues.  However, Chris remains generously committed to keeping the entire Crash Course free and available to everyone, along with the other fundamental features of the site. 

Very occasionally, generous supporters offer to sponsor scholarships for interested readers who cannot afford to enroll.  If you would like to be considered for a scholarship, please contact us and explain why you feel you would be a good candidate. Scholarship opportunities are limited, but we will take your inquiry under consideration when and if another scholarship is sponsored.

If you are interested in sponsoring a scholarship for someone who is unable to afford one, please contact us to make arrangements. Thank you.