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The 1939 Register

Marguerite, I have encountered problems like the ones you describe on several occasions over the past year - and every single time it was either the bank or Visa who had blocked the payment, although they didn't always admit it during the first phone call.

They were all transactions within the UK, some with debit cards and some with credit cards, and in every case there were ample funds available. All of the companies I was dealing with were reputable, and none of them were in any way related to family history.

So whilst I can't be absolutely certain that Findmypast weren't in some small way to blame for the problems you faced, my experience would suggest that it is extremely unlikely.
 
Marguerite said:
At the moment my Swiss Credit Card Issuers are denying FMP Access to payment.
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My Marks and Spencer credit card declines payment to Find My Past.
I was just buying the minimum number of credits and they told me that the site was used by fraudsters to put a small amount on to a credit card to see if anyone noticed. If they didn't then the fraudsters would take a large amount. So they block your card if you use it on the FMP site.
I do not know if they block the card for subscriptions, but that was what I was told for pay as you go units.
My other card providers do not block my card on FMP.
 
Katie Bee said:
My Marks and Spencer credit card declines payment to Find My Past.
I was just buying the minimum number of credits and they told me that the site was used by fraudsters to put a small amount on to a credit card to see if anyone noticed. If they didn't then the fraudsters would take a large amount. So they block your card if you use it on the FMP site.
I do not know if they block the card for subscriptions, but that was what I was told for pay as you go units.
My other card providers do not block my card on FMP.
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This reminds me of the time I was in California and ended up phoning my credit card company in England from a payphone - it turned out that by making lots of small purchases of $5 to $15 I had set alarm bells ringing. Sadly my frugality when it comes to buying clothes ended up costing me a fortune in phone calls!
 
peter said:
So whilst I can't be absolutely certain that Findmypast weren't in some small way to blame for the problems you faced, my experience would suggest that it is extremely unlikely.
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Maybe not, but I'm suspicious since I had the same problem with FMP. In my case, the problem was solved by using a different credit card, though, it, too, was a Mastercard.
 
I am not in the least suspicious.

I have a Mastercard and for the last 12months+ FMP have been able to access monthly payments, as have Ancestry, and still do, without any problems whatsoever.

The first intimation that something was different, was when I tried to buy credits for the 1939 Registration. Then I was directed to "Pay to go" or whatever it is called. There I learned that my Mastercard issuer had denied payment.

OK, I thought, there is no rush. I thought the new payment conditions were because the site had opened up to include non-subscribers in an attempt to increase sales.

Now, I realise that this "paytogo" safe payment or whatever it is called has been extended to subscriptions.

My annoyance is that instead of informing me that the above might have caused the problem, FMP blithely tried to collect their subscription fees via USA but unfortunately (but for me fortunately) hit the same problem. My cautious Mastercard owners denied access.

Instead, they asked me to check out my Card detaîls (from which they have been able to access up to the last month, i.e. October 2015).

Ancestry has not altered the payment conditions and has no problem in accessing payment.

My annoyance is directed at FMP's insistence at trying to lay the blame at my doorstep. A typical FMP attempt to ignore the issue and sail into the sunset.
 
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Marguerite, I am very interested in your comments about problems with your card and FMP. I too ended up having to use a different card as FMP could not solve my problem. The last time they asked me to renew it came up in dollars and that's when my problems began. Not had trouble with my card on any other site (such as Ancestry, Amazon, Ebay etc etc). Didn't have any problems with my card before on FMP until prompted to renew in dollars (their error surely not mine)! I am not impressed with the FMP website. On other sites you can update your credit card details but you can't with FMP.

Now for another problem with the 1939 Register and FMP. I have managed to get at least 3 redacted entries opened by sending in death certificates. When you do so you receive an acknowledgement from FMP that they have received the info and will check it and the record should be open within so many days. This is all fine - however, when you try to upload a second death certificate for the same household you don't get an acknowlegement! I received instead a stupid "thanks for registering" response. It seems to me as if they don't want to open more than one record per household. Some of these certificates were sent on the same day so it isn't a question of not waiting long enough. Or is it their inefficient website rejecting further death certs for the same household like they do for some people's credit cards!

I'd have thought it was in FMP interest to open as many redacted records as possible if someone sends proof via death cert. All my opened redacted entries are for different households.

Also going back to the person who wanted to know if you could access the 1939 register without being a subscriber the answer is yes - HOWEVER, you can't provide a death cert to get a redacted entry open unless you are a subscriber. Non subscribers have to pay £25 to TNA. I found this out when I opened an account in my husband's name to buy credits (due to credit card problems) and that's when I discovered I could not send my death certs to FMP. So beware!
 
I might be wrong, but I suspect the reason you can't update your credit card details online is because Findmypast are trying to reduce/eliminate the risk of hacking. In one of their FAQs they say "We use the latest encryption technology and do not store card numbers on our servers. Findmypast is secure and we regularly monitor and implement the latest security developments." (Findmypast's parent company is a technology company - they only got into family history because they were/are the IT contractors behind the ScotlandsPeople site.)

This might also explain why, when something goes wrong with a payment, they have to ask the user to sort it out. (I have a similar problem at LostCousins - if a card payment fails I can only guess why this might have happened. The problems only seemed to occur for overseas members and continued to be common until we started accepting PayPal - now problems are very rare.)
 
peter said:
The problems only seemed to occur for overseas members and continued to be common until we started accepting PayPal - now problems are very rare.)
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I can endorse that if I see the option PayPal I will invariably use that method of payment. I use it for major and minor online purchases and it has yet to let me down as a straightforward and quick method of payment. It also allows me to choose my debit card by default or opt for a credit card should I so wish.
 
emjay said:
I note that Fmp are showing the name of an additional household member which will help identify it as the correct household.
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That aid to identifying the correct household seems to have been taken away now. I suspect some idiot trying to make their mark in the organisation is playing silly bu**ers. It seems to be becoming a less and less friendly site.

Something is amiss at FMP.
 
I have a deal of sympathy for those who have been inconvenienced when trying to make an FMP card payment - it happened to me also- and being upset with FMP! I was incensed with my bank and gave them a piece of my mind - only to have them INSIST it was not their end. In the meantime I had switched to a Visa credit card -who promptly texted to ask if the payment was genuine (WHY?) - and texting back 'yes' went through; so who was to blame -need you ask - why FMP of course.

To be totally impartial I have felt the same in the past when other (none FMP) card transactions are initially refused, only to go through with a change of card despite the original card being accepted over and over again. I never have the same rapport or trust when (and if ) dealing with the same company in the future. As Peter mentions - and I have posted agreement with - I try now to prevent this nonsense by selecting PayPal. Why? To borrow from local jargon .....I can't be doing with all this!:(
 
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emjay said:
I've had emails with 'euro' costings as well as £s
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I've been informed via 'chat' on FMP that's why my discount codes are not valid! They are being sent from FMP Ireland site, so I was given a link to fmp ie and invited to take out a subscription so that I can take advantage of the 1939 Register 25% discount code !!
 
emjay said:
I've been informed via 'chat' on FMP that's why my discount codes are not valid! They are being sent from FMP Ireland site, so I was given a link to fmp ie and invited to take out a subscription so that I can take advantage of the 1939 Register 25% discount code !!
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I have registered at most of the Findmypast sites, so often get different versions of the same email. If you buy credits it shouldn't matter which site you buy them from, just so long as you log-in to the same account. So maybe you can use that discount code after all!
 
Bob Spiers said:
I can endorse that if I see the option PayPal I will invariably use that method of payment. I use it for major and minor online purchases and it has yet to let me down as a straightforward and quick method of payment. It also allows me to choose my debit card by default or opt for a credit card should I so wish.
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I agree Bob Paypal is my first choice when making purchases.
 
I contacted FMP about second death cert submissions for same household not being accepted and they say they will look into it! I didn't get the "you can only send in so many death certs spiel". If that WERE to be the case, then they should set out clearly how many submissions they will accept from each subscriber before pulling up the drawbridge - instead of being woolly about it!
 
FamilyHistoryGal said:
I didn't get the "you can only send in so many death certs spiel". If that WERE to be the case, then they should set out clearly how many submissions they will accept from each subscriber before pulling up the drawbridge - instead of being woolly about it!
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I think they're hoping they won't have to impose ANY restrictions. In this context being woolly is a good thing.
 
No woolly is not a good thing because it doesn't give the subscriber the chance to prioritise which redacted records they most want to see. However, I can see that FMP doesn't put customers first - just themselves!
 
Just received five emails from Find My Past telling me that two redacted records I requested to be opened have been opened. I discovered that myself days ago by checking myself - their emails are a bit behind the times!
 
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