FindMyPast subscription £10 for year

[jim1]

My reply
Nicky Doran
The resposibility is quite clearly with you.
To cancel the subscription without cancelling the aut-renewal appears like FindMyPast are taking advantage of the error they created.
Subscribers took up this offer in good faith & will now find themselves out of pocket & trying to get refunded.
FindMyPast have turned this fiasco into a one way street in it's favour.
Doing nothing isn't an option.

[smudwhisk]

Okay I phoned CAB

CAB say they were in breach of contract  not honouring the sale BUT the recourse to that is to either, reinstate the purchase OR refund.
I queried them refunding without me asking and they said they shouldn't have done that  but its done now. He said it COULD be pursued but advised it would not be worth the effort which reluctantly I agree with 

  Nothing lost, heigh ho.

Parmesan, did you actually mention the apparent misprice rule that they appear to be relying on or simply the fact they appear to have revoked a valid contract?  As far as I can see, under the misprice rule they don't appear to have to offer you a refund, they can simply do it.  But I am happy to stand corrected if anyone knows the exact rules.

At the end of the day, the advice given is only as good as the facts provided by the individual.  I don't mean this derogatively to you, but I know the CAB confirmed to a colleague of mine a few years back that she was in a jobshare when only she was "at risk of redundancy" (not her colleague who she believed she shared the job with) based on information she provided, but in fact her job wasn't a job share, nothing in the contract to that effect, and she had egg on her face somewhat when she challenged the employer to this.  In this case, it was the info originally provided that led to her being advised wrongly and perhaps them not asking the correct questions or seeing the paperwork. 

At the end of the day, we've only lost out a benefit of £90 discount, they would probably have been out of pocket to the tune of a lot of money.

[Parmesan]

What I told them was that I had not seen the offer myself only heard by word of mouth (true).  That when I went to the website I followed the purchase through to completion and what ensued following that. I also told them the contract bit from FindMyPast T&Cs

[nanny jan]

I've been given some legal advice that it is a straightforward breach of contract and a suggestion that a test case of small claims might be the way forward.  However, advice was that such an action, if successful, might kill the company.   

[groom]

Perhaps as well it is the way that it has been dealt with that has caused ill feeling. I'm sure we are all sensible enough to realise that it was a genuine mistake, probably caused by one person at FindMyPast who programmed the code acceptance incorrectly. Maybe if the letter withdrawing the offer had been more apologetic and had offered everyone a free month's subscription, people would have more sympathy with them. Instead it does seem as if they are trying to twist it and blame people for taking up the offer.

I've been given some legal advice that it is a straightforward breach of contract and a suggestion that a test case of small claims might be the way forward.  However, advice was that such an action, if successful, might kill the company.

I'm sure that no one would want that to happen, but I can see how it would.

[smudwhisk]

Well said Groom

[smudwhisk]

I've been given some legal advice that it is a straightforward breach of contract and a suggestion that a test case of small claims might be the way forward.  However, advice was that such an action, if successful, might kill the company.   

Again, as I asked Parmesan, did you mention to whoever you asked the fact they appear to be using the misprice rules to revoke the subscriptions? 

If not, it may possibly have meant you would have received different advice.  I don't know for definite, as I said I can't find anything showing the exact rules online, but it does have a bearing on what advice would be given, even if ultimately they may give the same advice.

I shall now remove my Law Graduates hat and crawl back under my stone, but it does need to be considered when asking for advice.

[smudwhisk]

My reply
Nicky Doran
The resposibility is quite clearly with you.
To cancel the subscription without cancelling the aut-renewal appears like FindMyPast are taking advantage of the error they created.
Subscribers took up this offer in good faith & will now find themselves out of pocket & trying to get refunded.
FindMyPast have turned this fiasco into a one way street in it's favour.
Doing nothing isn't an option.

Any new subscription on FindMyPast always lead to the auto-renewal box being ticked, I doubt they knew you had removed it previously and to be honest I doubt they had the time to check, if indeed they could, anyway.

I agree its annoying, but perhaps your post will ensure others do double check themselves and make sure they click the update button too.

[nanny jan]

I've been given some legal advice that it is a straightforward breach of contract and a suggestion that a test case of small claims might be the way forward.  However, advice was that such an action, if successful, might kill the company.   

Again, as I asked Parmesan, did you mention to whoever you asked the fact they appear to be using the misprice rules to revoke the subscriptions? 

If not, it may possibly have meant you would have received different advice.  I don't know for definite, as I said I can't find anything showing the exact rules online, but it does have a bearing on what advice would be given, even if ultimately they may give the same advice.

I shall now remove my Law Graduates legal hat and crawl back under my stone, but it does need to be considered when asking for advice.

I sent them copy of my receipt plus the FindMyPast email explaining the mistake and that a refund would follow (not yet arrived).