Ancestry and FindmyPast subs

[Susan48]

Perhaps they're the mysterious robots??

 

[Susan48]

I had an unpleasant surprise this morning when I logged on to Findmypast, searched for a name in the 1911 census, got a hit, but couldn't see the transcription. Instead I was invited to take out a subscription - which I thought I had!

It turns out that the credit card I use for buying my Findmypast subscription had been replaced with a new one in the course of 2016 but I had failed to update the details on Fmp so the payment had not been taken automatically. As I shall shortly be entering my 70th year I feel entitled to a few senior moments, and would have appreciated a reminder from Fmp. Even better, I shall opt out of the automatic renewal so that I get an email reminder to renew my subscription, as has always been the case in the past.

How many others fail to update their payment card details, I wonder?

 

[Gillian]

I think the lesson, learned the hard way, is never to tick the automatic renewal box.

 

[peter]

I think the lesson, learned the hard way, is never to tick the automatic renewal box.

Not necessarily a good idea - it could be an expensive mistake.

When Findmypast put their subscription prices up by 20% last February (and added the 1939 Register) they pledged that the first renewal for existing 12 month subscribers would at the old price (less the usual 10% Loyalty Discount); this was mentioned in my newsletter when I announced the changes.

This concession only applied to subscribers whose subscription renewed automatically, and this was stated in the email Findmypast sent to subscribers on or around 16th February 2016.

So it's likely that Susan has paid/will pay the new, higher price. Findmypast might, if asked nicely, refund the difference - I do know of one member who was able to get a partial refund, but you would be relying on their goodwill.

Also, I'm told that Findmypast don't send out renewal reminders to subscribers who have unticked the renewal box - so there's also the risk of losing your 10% Loyalty Discount.

At Ancestry there is no loyalty discount, so nothing to be lost by cancelling.

 

[Gillian]

OK, thanks, Peter. I sit corrected (once again).

 

[Pauline]

So how much should someone on an existing 12 month UK subscription with loyalty discount and automatic renewal have paid?

I ask because despite having automatic renewals ticked and updating our card details in plenty of time, it didn't happen automatically, and we likewise discovered we had no active subscription when trying to view something. This was in October and now I'm wondering if our subscription was deemed to have lapsed, and we missed out on the concession.

 

[Susan48]

Thank you for your comments, everyone. I sent a disgruntled message to Findmypast support but won't get a reply before tomorrow. It's hard to keep track of subscription renewals if no reminders are sent. Also, as I had ticked the box for automatic renewal, I'm surprised there was no 'automatic' email sent when payment could not be taken from the expired card. I suppose that justifies paying the higher subscription rate.

 

[Tim]

I just got 20% off the price. Paid £95.96.
I let my existing subscription lapse, and within 2 weeks they sent me an email offering the 20% off.

 

[peter]

So how much should someone on an existing 12 month UK subscription with loyalty discount and automatic renewal have paid?

I ask because despite having automatic renewals ticked and updating our card details in plenty of time, it didn't happen automatically, and we likewise discovered we had no active subscription when trying to view something. This was in October and now I'm wondering if our subscription was deemed to have lapsed, and we missed out on the concession.

The old price was £89.96, ie £99.95 less 10%; the new price is £107.55, ie £119.50 less 10%.

 

[Pauline]

Thanks, Peter. Looks like we did miss out on the concession then.

 

[Rhian]

I never automatically renew, in fact I never renew I always let the subscription lapse and wait for a better offer to come in. Not having access to new records for a month or so is no hardship, I can still view the thousands of records I have already seen and build a list of items to access when I can. The longer you wait the bigger the discount, best I had was 50%.

 

[peter]

I never automatically renew, in fact I never renew I always let the subscription lapse and wait for a better offer to come in. Not having access to new records for a month or so is no hardship, I can still view the thousands of records I have already seen and build a list of items to access when I can. The longer you wait the bigger the discount, best I had was 50%.

Yes, at Findmypast you can still view the records you've previously viewed. But at Ancestry you can't - unless you've saved them to your own computer.

Anyone who has a Findmypast renewal coming up at the old rate (ie between now and 15th February) would do well to tick the auto-renew box - it's extremely unlikely there will be any offers to match the effective 25% saving.

 

[Susan48]

I have just had a response from Findmypast to my subscription query (see posting above). I won't give all the details but they have been fair. However, they said they DO send out reminders prior to a subscription renewal. Unfortunately I never received them, although I do get the regular emails from them announcing new data sets and so on, so it's unlikely the reminders would have ended up in my junk folder - they haven't in the past.

This is the relevant sentence about reminders: "We do send reminders prior to any renewal for a subscription to the registered email address advising of the pending payment, the first being sent 30 days prior to a subscription renewal and the last being approx 14 days prior to the renewal date."

 

[Bryman]

I did get a reminder for my renewal from FMP but it was so much more than last year's cost (under 50 USD for World subscription) that I did not feel that I could afford it when coupled with the disaterous fall in the value of the pound after the Brexit vote. My pension is paid in GBP.

I am currently making do with Ancestry via 'free' online access to my local library and hoping for the equivalent of a lottery win (1 in x,000 ?) from the LC draw in a few weeks time.

I am not enjoying Ancestry searches and much prefer FMP so it is just as well that I have already added over one hundred blood relatives before my subscription expired. Further additions will be somewhat sparser unless I am lucky. (hint )

 

[peter]

I did get a reminder for my renewal from FMP but it was so much more than last year's cost (under 50 USD for World subscription) that I did not feel that I could afford it when coupled with the disaterous fall in the value of the pound after the Brexit vote.

You'd do better to buy a World subscription at Findmypast.com.au because the price is the same, but their dollars are a lot cheaper.

 

[peter]

This is the relevant sentence about reminders: "We do send reminders prior to any renewal for a subscription to the registered email address advising of the pending payment, the first being sent 30 days prior to a subscription renewal and the last being approx 14 days prior to the renewal date."

Note that it refers to reminders prior to renewals. This would tally with what I said about expiry reminders not being sent if auto-renew is not ticked.

I do get the regular emails from them announcing new data sets and so on, so it's unlikely the reminders would have ended up in my junk folder

This isn't necessarily the case - spam filters look more at the content than the sender. My newsletter emails are much more likely to be blocked if I use certain words and phrases, especially 'free' or 'xx% off'.

 

[Susan48]

The way my junk mail preferences are set I should still have received the reminders so I don't know what happened to them.

 

[peter]

The way my junk mail preferences are set I should still have received the reminders so I don't know what happened to them.

Fine in theory, but emails don't always get that far - email providers may refuse to connect to a server that is sending suspicious mail, might send it back to the sender, or might accept it but then throw it away (the latter causing the most problems - see my comments in last year's newsletters).

This is the sort of thing that email providers don't tell you - but when you send out over 2 million emails a year, as I do, you learn a lot about these sorts of things!

 

[Margery]

Ancestry via 'free' online access to my local library

I wish my local library had this access.

 

[Bryman]

I wish my local library had this access.

I say 'free' because I actually pay via the local rates, regardless of whether I use the facility, a bit like borrowing books.

It might be worth asking your librarians for this capability as they may be looking for extra things to add to the service. At least you would get your desire registered and if enough voice the same opinion then it may come about.