FindMyPast subscription £10 for year

[libby9]

There was no £10 sub for 12 months, it was 1 month for £1

If there was no sub for £10 why did they say the voucher had been applied (as advertised)? Why did they deduct £89 from the 1 year price when the voucher was input?  Why did they add 1 year to accounts? Why did they take £10 from bank accounts?  Why did they confirm on their website and by email that a 1 year subscription for £10 had been awarded?  That is a lot of whys?

Yes, Pat. why, why, why, why, why?  Could it be because FindMyPast have got very little, if anything right since April?  I take no delight in saying this but, their incompetence proved over the months is a disgrace and they deserve the backlash this latest fiasco has prompted, it seems they just do not learn.

[groom]

There was no £10 sub for 12 months, it was 1 month for £1

If there was no sub for £10 why did they say the voucher had been applied (as advertised)? Why did they deduct £89 from the 1 year price when the voucher was input?  Why did they add 1 year to accounts? Why did they take £10 from bank accounts?  Why did they confirm on their website and by email that a 1 year subscription for £10 had been awarded?  That is a lot of whys?

Certainly is Pat, but correct.

I presume that Jay9 didn't apply for the offer otherwise they would have known what was said when the code was applied. I agree, it was a good offer, but as they have been offering £1 for a month for quite a long time as well as free weekends,  it didn't seem unreasonable that they offered it as a reward to loyal customers, rather than offering bargains all the time to non subscribers. Majority of us didn't take advantage by applying the code more that once.

[Parmesan]

companies quite often run 'loss leader' offers, that's what I thought this was.

[jim1]

Will be interesting to hear what the ASA has to say.

[Lostris]

Mine was withdrawn in line with others on here - I contested & showed them the advert from the voucher site .... (linked in an earlier post on here)  ... heres the response ...

That was not an advertisement placed by Findmypast, it sounds like inaccurate information has been placed by a third party on another website.

The terms I was referring to were those that were agreed with FFHS when the promotion was agreed with them – the offer was £1 for 1 month.

We did not advertise anywhere that this discounted offer was in respect of an annual subscription at £10 so we are entitled to withdraw the purchase and refund in full.

We just couldn’t honour such a massive discount of almost £90 for an annual subscription.  Our product is worth far more than £10 per year. We would not be able to stay in business long, nor indeed invest so heavily in the many record sets we are adding if we charged such a low price for a Findmypast annual subscription.

Finally, please be assured that we have taken steps to ensure that an error of this kind does not re-occur. It’s clearly a bad reflection on us as a company and is time consuming for myself and my team to try our best to rectify.

[Roobarb]

Whilst I agree that it's frustrating and they've certainly screwed up, I don't think any of us would want to see FindMyPast go out of business due to losing massive amounts of money.

Just remember the saying "There's no such thing as a free lunch" - or in this case a free (ish) subscription.

[groom]

I see from FB that it does seem that the free month has only been given to people without subscriptions in an attempt to persuade them to take out a subscription. Once again a case of loyalty not being rewarded.

[Nightlight]

I too managed to obtain a subscription for one year, which has now been withdrawn.

I have, however, been offered one month free:

I write in connection with a Findmypast subscription purchase that you made earlier this week.

The terms of this particular promotion were to get you started with Findmypast for £1 on a monthly subscription

For a short period, it was possible to also use the discount code for a purchase of an annual subscription and I can see that you have managed to purchase a £99.50 subscription at the price of £10.

That was our mistake and I have now corrected that by refunding your £10 payment and cancelling that annual subscription. That credit refund should reach your card within the next 2 or 3 working days.

We are sorry for any disappointment caused by this error and in recognition of that, and as a goodwill gesture, I have now added a complimentary 1 month subscription to your Findmypast membership.

I hope that will afford you enough time to have a good look at Findmypast and decide if you want to make a further purchase with us.

My response:

Thank you for your email.

Frankly, I am disappointed with its content. I saw the offer and purchased it in good faith.

You have stated that it was an error on the part of DC Thomson Family History and so not my fault. Therefore, why am I being penalised for your mistake?

Any goods and services that are purchased for an advertised price - whether in shops or on the internet -  should not then subsequently have the terms of the sale changed. Otherwise, other goods and services purchased through online shopping, which is what this is, could have money refunded or withdrawn from accounts with no notice of intent.

You have also stated in your email that, as a goodwill gesture, a complimentary one month subscription has been added to my account. This is not true. You have extended my current subscription to 10th January - a mere 11 days after it is due to end on 30th December. That is not a one month goodwill gesture, is it?

I took out my original subscription with Find My Past because it was owned by a British company and I do believe in supporting the home economy rather than one based on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Since doing so, the site was "improved" and I have spent the past year getting to grips with the changes and glitches that came with it.

Yes, I will take a long, hard look at the website and make a decision as to whether or not I continue to use it. If I choose not to renew, I will certainly ensure that my reasons are documented.

I would appreciated a response to the questions that I have asked above.

I will now wait to see if I do get a response.

[groom]

I'm just imagining the panic in the FindMyPast offices when the mistake was discovered.