and my excuse is that no body gave me a second chance - unlike many starters who I repeat for those who missed the point arrived with non compliant cars
Oh well, your decision. After all, one of the points of a classic reliability trial is...you only get the one chance....at everything. Those who rectified faults did so before they started, as in, officially started the trial.
Not sure about the keyboard warrior comment? Or who it may have been applied to? When comments are made on a forum, then responses are also made. When I last did an Exeter [and signed on, as well as signing off...] , any dissatisfaction with the way I was treated on an event could be dealt with by the organiser, usually via a letter. It's known as the 'Official Protest' procedure.
Or..I could go and bleat down the pub afterwards....but few, if any, heard it or were bothered.
Luckily these days we can all post our dissatisfaction on the net for the world to see.
Why 160 members chose not to renew their MCC membership this year, I wouldn't like to say.....except perhaps, it is a sign of the times we apparently now live in? Maybe those lapsed members cannot justify the cost of competing, or don't actually feel they get enough from the MCC to continue paying?
Perhaps folk looked to the MCC membership as a means to an end? An end which is now no longer relevant to them? A lot of people join clubs, or societies, or 'special-interest' groups, for what they can get out of that group, or club
Rather than, what they could also contribute?
Perhaps the MCC trials lack the glitz and credibility that can be found in other forms of automotive enthusiasm?
Perhaps folk don't like the responsibility that goes with being a competitor, or an organiser, of this type of event?
Who knows?......