Lost Cousins - Customer service at it's worst?

[Parmesan]

A friend of mine emailed Lost Cousins to say how pleased she was that Findmypast is adding 1939 Register to Annual Britain and World subscriptions. Me too!

In her email she said she thought FindMyPast had come to their senses at last and that she would have been quite willing to pay a £20 premium on her subscription for complete access to the register in the first place.

The reply she received was quite shocking.  Here it is.

"If you, and people like you, had paid for information like the rest of us we might not all be faced
with a 20% increase in our subscriptions.
I can also see that in over 10 years of membership of my website you have only entered ONE
relative on your My Ancestors page.
I don't like selfish people - your LostCousins membership has been terminated.
Peter"

You'd think he was a little bit upset about the price hike but wait! In this month's newsletter he says this

"Whilst price increases are never welcome, the fact that Findmypast are adding the 1939 Register to existing subscriptions is really positive - and it's important to remember that even after the increase the cost of a Britain subscription will still be about 20% less than it was in October 2009 when the 1911 Census was added!"

I think he should realise that people aren't 'selfish', they are on budgets. The credits were expensive, too expensive and FindMyPast have realised that people can't afford to keep buying them.

Lost Cousins seem to be completely out of touch.  Rude, just rude.

[firefox1960]

LOST COUSINS - MORE LIKE LOST MANNERS.

His choice of language beggars belief - good manners cost nothing.
One can tell so much about a person by the way they treat people.
I find his manner very offensive and unacceptable,and to be quite honest his behaviour speaks for itself within the email he sent.

[groom]

I've been thinking for a few weeks of cancelling my membership to Lost Cousins as I don't like his tone sometimes. That has made up my mind for me.

[vrvt]

This doesn't surprise me. I have emailed Peter in the past with a well-reasoned dissenting opinion and got an earful. The newsletters used to be an interesting read, but of late have become very egocentric, especially with his affiliation with FindMyPast and "campaigning" for cheaper access to certificates.

[Parmesan]

This doesn't surprise me. I have emailed Peter in the past with a well-reasoned dissenting opinion and got an earful. The newsletters used to be an interesting read, but of late have become very egocentric, especially with his affiliation with FindMyPast and "campaigning" for cheaper access to certificates.

I agree.

[Pat Allen]

Well in that case, thank you all the so called selfish people who complained about the cost of the 1939 Register and thank you also to Find My past who for whatever reason have changed their policy and included access in the annual subscription.  The majority of people who complained about the costs said they would prefer a modest increase on the subscription rather than having to pay for expensive credits.  Find My Past seem to have done that now and have retained the subscription for existing subscribers at current rates until after their next renewal.
I am surprised that a professional genealogy site would berate it's member in this way.

[Lisajb]

I thought it might be an idea to use lost cousins to try to track down any Irish ancestors/cousins of my husbands.  I was finding the site a little difficult to use and emailed Peter for help. Got a reply basically saying he didn't have time to assist people like me who couldn't see the obvious.

[smudwhisk]

I have to agree with vrvt too.  The newsletter over the last 12 months or so has not been anywhere near as interesting and useful as previously.  The fact he often has discount offers for FindMyPast which provide him with commission I think probably tends to colour his views about the site.  That said, even he was critical of them at one stage following the role out of the new site.

Perhaps he'll respond as he would appear to loiter on RC occasionally or possibly one of the RCers who also frequents his beta Forum may draw his attention to the post.   I occasionally have a look to see if the Forum has actually taken off but after two or three years in beta format (join by invitation only, but you can see much of it without an account) they still get very few posts and only from a small number of members.

[Parmesan]

I thought it might be an idea to use lost cousins to try to track down any Irish ancestors/cousins of my husbands.  I was finding the site a little difficult to use and emailed Peter for help. Got a reply basically saying he didn't have time to assist people like me who couldn't see the obvious.

  Gosh, he has form then?

Not the best way to garner support for his site.
Be nice, be helpful and people will spread the word in a positive way. Tell folks to get lost and the  opposite will happen. Not rocket science.