FMP renewal

[Kit]

I just received an email inviting me to renew for $59.99 as I am an introductory subscriber, so anyone else who signed up initially should also get the offer.

[Kit]

I take that back I just clicked on the link to do it and it says I am not eligible so something is wrong.

[kiterunner]

I had an email the other day from Australian FMP telling me that my sub would be up for renewal soon, but I haven't got an Australian sub!

[Oakum Picker]

I received that offer too on Saturday night followed by another 11 hours later offering the usual 10%.

I had decided to give up both my subscriptions so that I would start writing up my family history, Ancestry has already lapsed but I was sorely tempted by the first offer. Now I shall stick to my original plan - I much prefer NOT having to make choices.

Oops Kate you got in the middle. My reply was referring to Toni's post.

[Kit]

Aren't they all rolled into one FMP now?

I have the world sub as it was only $60 but got a UK one when the India office records came out because I have trouble with the world one. Then they merged them into one FMP so I thought they were all one. A bit strange you got an Aussie email though. My current sub page if I look at it says I am current until 14 July. It says that I should wait until October 2013 to renew. So something is a bit messed up with the system, at least the display side.

Oakum Picker if you can afford it take the cheap sub as I think they will keep offering that price as long as you don't cancel. Worth it if you will renew at some point in the future.

[Oakum Picker]

Toni

When I read your post I tried it but I too was not eligible. I've had 2 years at $60 so I had my doubts about getting a third but I would have taken it.

A question. When your sub lapses, can you still see all the pages you have already bought?

[kiterunner]

Aren't they all rolled into one FMP now?



Yes, but my email says
"Dear Kate,
Your findmypast Australia / New Zealand subscription is due to end soon." and it comes from the email address of the Australian site.

I don't think I have ever had an Australia / NZ subscription! I did have a free trial of the Australia / NZ site once, but as far as I can remember, I just looked at everything I needed over the course of the free trial. And I have had a world sub on the US site since then, so I would have looked at anything else I needed when I had that. At the moment all I have is a British sub from the UK site which is due to expire soon. If I log into the Australian site, it says I am a "Britain subscriber" until 30 Jul 2014 and won't let me view Australian records. I haven't had an email from the UK site about my subscription ending yet.

[Mary from Italy]

I had an email the other day from Australian FMP telling me that my sub would be up for renewal soon, but I haven't got an Australian sub!

I'm glad you said that, I had the same from the Irish FMP. I did use some free credits one time, but I only have a sub to the English FMP as far as I know.

[Kit]

It's all very weird.

I got another email to renew my sub at the 10% loyalty sub price that would normally be sent.

Glen I emailed them asking for the $60 sub. They offered it and I am hoping they will honour it. I think there are some glitches with the merger that are only now coming to light.

[Kit]

Well I contacted FMP via their contact us section and received an emailed reply from [email protected] that they had read my email and would get back to me.

After 24 hours I posted on FB who said to email the .com.au site as there was a problem and they would tell me what to do.

Still no reply from my original email so do you think I should contact the aussie email? I've never used the australian FMP.

[kiterunner]

Before they merged the sites, they seemed to think that people would only want a sub for the site covering their home country, i.e. if you lived in Australia they would think you wanted a sub to the Australian site, if you lived in Ireland you would want a sub for the Ireland site, etc. Well, I got this impression anyway, from the fact that whenever I tried to go onto one of the other sites (other than the British one), a message would pop up trying to steer me to the British site (as it still does, but the difference is that different sites used to have different databases). They never seemed to realise that you might want to trace your ancestors back to their original home country, or that you might want to trace relatives who emigrated. Or even that you might emigrate after buying your sub! Of course, since they originally set up the sites just to cover records from separate countries, many people had subs to more than one site. The world sub only started when they opened the US site, if I remember correctly, which was the fourth of their sites. And so many people who didn't live in the US took out the world sub on the US site, especially as it was very cheap.

So I suspect that when they merged the sites, they tried to figure out which country each member lived in, and then assigned them to that country's site, with future subscription renewals to be handled by that country's site. I could be utterly wrong about this, though. Unfortunately they did not send out a newsletter announcing the merger of the sites and explaining exactly how they had decided what to do with each member's account(s).

They don't seem to have a link to the terms and conditions on the page where you choose a subscription, but maybe it comes up when you have actually selected one, but anyway, looking at the Terms and Conditions linked to from the homepage, I can't see anything that says you have to live in a certain country to take advantage of that country's site's subscription price. As far as I can see, you should still be able to buy a world sub on the US site paying their US dollar price, even if you live in Australia. But maybe there is a clause about this hidden away somewhere that I haven't found.

I don't see why you should have to contact the Australian site about your renewal as you have never had a sub with them, unless they actually sent you an email or letter saying that your sub was being transferred to the Australian site (which I am assuming they didn't.) The US site's contact form page says that "We try our best to answer all email inquiries within two working days, if not sooner".

[Mary from Italy]

So I suspect that when they merged the sites, they tried to figure out which country each member lived in, and then assigned them to that country's site, with future subscription renewals to be handled by that country's site.

That does sound plausible.

I replied to the e-mail from the Irish site, querying their renewal reminder, but they haven't replied. Needless to say, I'm not in Ireland.

[Kit]

I had a reply overnight from the .co.uk site lol and they sent me a link to renew which I have just done, I'm all signed up until 2015 now. :)

So Glen or anyone else that received the email that didn't work email support at whatever country you want (I think they are all in the one place, not individual countries) and ask for your link.

I'd post mine but it went into my account so it wont work for others.

[Kit]

Just checked - I paid in US dollars, same as I always have. Depending on the conversion rate it will be slightly more or less than $60 Australian dollars.

[Kit]

Just going through my emails and I received a proper email from FMP saying that I'd been sent an email with a broken link and here is the right link. So they are correcting the error for everyone, not just those that contact them. :)

[Oakum Picker]

I too queried the original email & yesterday received an email with the new link. I'm away from home at the moment so haven't tried it but shall do so later in the day. I'll be back later.

[kiterunner]

Glad to hear it's been sorted out, Kit.

[Oakum Picker]

All signed up for another year - couldn't resist it. They even applied the promotional code for me so I just had to enter my details. I shall just have to be firm with myself & make myself write. At least I only have the 'one' to distract me now.

[Kit]

On the days you have writer's block you can use the new sub. :)

[kiterunner]

There's an offer on Facebook at the moment - one month US World sub for 5 US dollars, but it just says "Hurry - offer ends soon" and I can't find anything saying exactly when it ends. My current British sub ends on 30th July so I would ideally take out the one month sub then but I don't know whether it will still be available then! Or whether it is open to existing subscribers. Has anyone managed to find the terms and conditions of this offer, please?
https://www.facebook.com/findmypast/photos/p.10152119871335938/10152119871335938/?type=1&theater

[Mary from Italy]

I couldn't find out how long the offer lasts, but it is evidently available to existing subscribers, because I have a current UK sub through the .co.uk site, and it allowed me to buy the 1-month world sub through the .com site.

Thanks for the heads-up!

[kiterunner]

I've asked on their Facebook page but will have to see whether they answer. I would really like to see an answer from them before tomorrow so I know whether to go for the £1 offer on the British Newspaper Archive site!

[kiterunner]

I couldn't find out how long the offer lasts, but it is evidently available to existing subscribers, because I have a current UK sub through the .co.uk site, and it allowed me to buy the 1-month world sub through the .com site.

Thanks for the heads-up!

You will most likely need to make sure that auto-renewal is turned off, though you probably realised that already.

[Mary from Italy]

I did realise that, but when I looked at "my account" it says that the sub expires on 18th August, and doesn't say anything about auto-renewal.

[kiterunner]

They've posted a link to the terms and conditions of this offer now, and it does say it will auto-renew at the price of $19.95 per month unless you untick auto-renew:
http://www.findmypast.com/articles/international-facebook-offer

The offer is open until the 31st July. Also they said in their answer to my question on Facebook that the offer is for customers in America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and that there is a UK offer coming up soon. But this "international" offer is coming up on my Facebook and it doesn't say it is restricted to those countries only in the terms and conditions. I'll probably take it up at the end of the month (just for the one month!) when my British sub expires unless the UK offer has appeared by then.

[Mary from Italy]

They've posted a link to the terms and conditions of this offer now, and it does say it will auto-renew at the price of $19.95 per month unless you untick auto-renew:


Thanks for mentioning that; I thought it didn't auto-renew because there was no option to untick under "my account", but I've now found it hidden away under "personal details". Not very obvious at all.

[BlueSavannah]

I'm presuming that you've probably already seen this offer for FMP but just in case, here is an offer they have until the 31st July

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/content/Facebook_Offer_2?sourceID=13