Genealogy Chat

i ave just had my renew from genes and they have charged me £9.95 ............ im going to email them because thats not right is it

Before the topic completely runs dry................. Its cheaper than Ancestry and you can get more from it i.e. 'speak' to real people. All the researchers who give their time and advice freely....a BIG THANK YOU.........YOU ARE ALL STARS............YOU ARE GR. Gan Canny

This topic has probably run out of steam now but I just wanted to add how disgusted I am that they have put the renewal fee up! I haven't been on here for a while and I'd just decided to start updating my tree and trying to find people again and saw 'renew now' on my screen. Not sure it's worth it! Jayne x

nudged for reference

Hi, I also am up for renewal soon and have had two emails over the past three weeks, I replied to both of them as I am being asked for £9.95 when I have continuous membership ticked. I replied instantly to both emails and still have not had a reply to the first one yet! Before renewal date I will untick the box if I have not heard from GR regarding how much they are really charging.

Just to let you know that I have finally received a refund from my bank/credit card. Unfortunately, although this means I am back in pocket by the princely sum of £2.45, it seems that it is a courtesy payment from my Bank. But it wasn't them who'd messed up - it was GR! I will probably untick my Continuous membership option in the future as it gives no benefit whatsoever. Someone told me that they didn't even bother renewing and yet still have full use of the site. Anyone else come across this?

I had a message about this as well: This is the email I sent them::::: had an email from you today regarding continuing my membership. I believe that continuous membership is £7.50 so why have I been asked for £9.95? I have checked my account details and the continous membership box is ticked. Regards Linda and then the mail I received back Thanks for your email. The standard cost of renewal is £9.95 for one year's membership. If you opted for our auto-renewal the fee would be automatically taken from your card. We will email you 28 days before the renewal takes place so that you are free to opt out of it if you wish. If, for some reason, the auto-renewal fails then you will have to manually renew your upgrade. We do feel that £9.95 does offer extremely good value for money with new facilities being continually added to the site, including our brand new tree viewer and builder. I hope this clarifies the situation. Best regards, Lisa The Genes Support Team I mailed back saying thanks for your prompt reply (within 2 hours) but your email didn't answer my question. No answer, about 10 days now Linda

Thanks Tracey, Seems as if they dont know what they are doing. £9.95 or £7.50 Had an email from them yesterday, they still have not answered the question. Thanks Trish xx

revived for Trish over on the General board! Also see 'I'm having trouble renewing sub' on the General board for another problem which happens - ie GR claim they cannot access your credit card and then charge you a higher fee because of it.

My membership is up for renewal this week. I've had three email reminders from GR over the last three weeks, the 1st stated:- 'We will renew your membership for £9.95 on 15th November 2006 using the same card you used last time.' the 2nd:- 'We'll renew your membership for the next year on 15th November 2006 using the card you used last time.'(no price quoted) and the 3rd:- 'And at only £7.50 for a whole year, it’s great value too. Click here to renew!'(not saying that they will renew it for me) On clicking 'Renew now' on my home page after receiving each email the price has been quoted as £9.95, £9.95 and £7.50 respectively, it is now stating £9.95 again. WHAT are they playing at, I really don't know. Anne

Colin, hi. my renewal is due 2 Dec and told that it would be £9.95 and not £7.50 as that rate had finished. Then I read a post which said that they had been charged £7.50 so I emailed them back and asked them which is which. i got the same reply that it was now £9.95 and would I inform then about anyone who was still paying £7.50! I wont, but it seems that chaos is reigning at HQ if they dont know what the rate is. Ive requested that they post a message telling us all just what the rate is, and that will suffice. After all you would think its the obvious thing to do, and let us all know what is happening. Lets just see if they do. TED

Thanks Matt. Do you know how long that discounted offer runs for? It might be useful for folk whose renewals are up soon.

Nothing sinister Tracey I deleted the message myself I thought it had run out of steam! The offer was a 25% discount to sign up, making it £7.50 I just thought if they could do it for new custom they should do it for their loyal users.

Yesterday someone created a thread about some website which was offering a special rate new membership to GR. It attracted quite a few responses too. I book marked it but today have noticed that the entire thread has been deleted. How strange!

nudged for people on general board with same query

Thread revived for Ted! Quick update, my bank is currently pursuing this on my behalf. The same bank (HSBC) successfully got GR to refund another member who was similarly overcharged in IDENTICAL circumstances. Unfortunately, in the meantime, I have noticed the terms and conditions have magically changed, so the bank might have a tougher time in my case. Will keep you posted.

Letters, plus loads of supporting evidence, are now in the post to my bank AND Trading Standards. My advice to anyone with continuous membership is to check their credit card details on the GR renewal screen and make absolutely sure that the expiry date is up to date. Take a screenshot and keep it somewhere safe in case you need it as evidence later. If you hover your cursor over the time at the bottom of your screen, you will be able to brink up the date which will then be part of your screenshot. Hopefully that will prevent these renewal problems from happening to you. Good luck!

try this http://www*whocarez*nl/forum/ replace * with dots is a free site

Thanks to everyone who has PMd me with their support and own experiences. All I can say is that I am mortified by the scale of this problem and to recommend that anyone similarly affected also takes it up with their bank when the GR channels have failed. Good luck to everyone! Tracey

Liz, was that maybe the law of the company you worked for. I am really puzzled because what I quoted was what I was taught when I studied A level Law. Although, that was in the 80s so I am prepared to accept that the law could have been changed. Is there anyone on here up to date with the law? Ann Glos