Importing paid-through dates and comps

When you move members from another system, many have already paid you up to a date, and some are comped or lifetime members. Put that in your spreadsheet and the contact import stages each member with those terms. When you activate them, nothing is charged that day: paid-through members are billed from their date, and comps are never billed.

For the import wizard itself, see Importing members and contacts.

Before you start

Importing needs the Manage CRM permission. Anyone who can import can stage members with these terms.
Activating paid-through members needs activating without a card turned on for your business by WineView, and the Manage comps and no-card activation permission. See Activate members without a card.
Activating comps needs the Manage comps and no-card activation permission. See Comps and lifetime members.

The columns

Download Import Template includes three columns for this:

Paid Through: the date the member has paid up to. On the Map step this column maps to Paid Through / Expiration. WineView also recognises headers like "Expiration Date", "Renewal Date", "Next Billing Date" and "Valid Until". A credit card's expiry date is never used.
Comp: marks a comp. It maps to Comp / Lifetime.
Comp End Date: the day a comp ends. It maps to Comp End Date.

Only rows in subscription or membership-only clubs use these columns. Release clubs bill per release, and rows without a club become prospects, so the terms are ignored there. The row shows a note saying so ("Release club — paid-through date ignored", "No club — comp ignored", and so on).

Paid-through dates

A date in Paid Through stages the member to activate without a card, paid through that date. Their first charge runs on that date, with the card they add before then.

The date must be 2 days to 2 years from today. A date outside that range, or one WineView can't read, blocks the row until you fix it ("Paid-through date isn't a date we can read").
Clubs that bill everyone on one date move the first charge to the club's next billing date on or after it. The row shows the date it moves to: "Paid through {date}, the club's billing date".

Comps

A row becomes a comp when:

Paid Through says "Lifetime", "Never" or "Comp" (also "Never expires", "No expiration" or "Complimentary"), or
Comp says "Yes", "Comp", "Lifetime", "x" or "1" (also "Y" or "True").

A comp ends on its Comp End Date. If that's blank, it ends on the Paid Through date. If both are blank, it's a lifetime comp. A Comp End Date on a row that isn't a comp is ignored.

Reviewing the rows

On the Review step, the Paid Through column shows each row's terms: "{date}, no card", "Comp until {date}" or "Lifetime comp". It appears on its own when any row has terms; otherwise turn it on under Columns.

Below the table, a bar sums up the batch (for example "12 members paid through a date, no card · 3 comps") with two choices:

Fulfillment for paid-through members: for clubs that ship or hand over wine. Current cycle already paid ("They're fulfilled from the cycle they join now.") or Starts at first paid cycle ("Their first order is the cycle their first charge pays for.").
Activate them now: activates these members as soon as the import finishes. "Nothing is charged today. Without this they stay staged until you activate them." If you can't activate them, the box is greyed out and tells you why.

The import never emails anyone.

Re-importing staged members

A row for someone already staged in the same club and tier no longer blocks the import. It shows "Already staged for this club/tier — will update them". Importing it fills in any blank profile details and replaces their paid-through or comp terms with the ones in the file. Members whose activation has already started are left as they are.

To give staged members a paid-through date without re-importing, use Set paid-through date in the CRM (see Bulk Member Actions).

After the import

In the CRM, staged members show their terms under their name: Paid through {date}, no card, Staged as lifetime comp or Staged as comp until {date}. The contact sidebar shows the same line.

To activate them, set Contact type to Staged, tick them, click Activate and choose Activate on their staged terms. Each member is activated with their own date or comp, and nothing is charged today.

Card links can't activate these members, because the terms are something only staff can grant. A link that only saves the card still works. See Bulk Member Actions.