Genealogy Chat

By the way, is there anywhere that you can check your c card details. I have looked in my account and can't find it. ann Glos

ann No basically there isnt a way to check, I only found out as my credit card bill came, and I checked that, I did also point out to GR, that on my reciept from them thanking me for payment, there was NO mention of HOW much the membership was to be, 'MOST' reciepts DO have howmuch they have debited your card by,(but NOT GR it seems) Hmmmn makes you wonder doesnt it??? Julie

A bit sneaky aren't they? I know it is good value, you can't get much for £10 these days. But I do wish they were more up front and honest about it. ann Glos

Added by Michael Stephenson on 17/10/2006 22:07:03 At £9.95 it is still less than two packets of fags if you are a smoker(which I am not!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Added by Ann in Glos on 17/10/2006 22:23:56 A bit sneaky aren't they? I know it is good value, you can't get much for £10 these days. But I do wish they were more up front and honest about it. ann Glos Michael, it depends on what you smoke, if you roll your own, it is cheaper, Ann, If GR were upfront about it i dont believe there would be SO many complaints, it OUGHT to state somewhere on the site, how much it will be to join, to say its misleading is an understatement, no wonder so many people have left and arent bothering to renew memberships, anyone know if they have fixed the blank message problem yet?? Julie

Hi Julie, Good to see you succeeded in getting a refund. As the circumstances of my over-charged renewal are identical to your own, hopefully I will be able to report the same. I've just sent yet another email to GR, so fingers crossed this time. How long did it take for them to resolve your problem? True, £9.95 is not going to break the bank but being mislead into expecting to pay £7.50 is a different matter. It is similar to a supermarket marking an item at one price and then charging whatever price it chooses at the till. Basically what can you get for £9.95 these days? Simple, a £7.50 subscription to GR! Tracey

Just received this reply from GR support which I know will be of huge interest to all of you following this thread: ----------------------------------------------------- '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 at the same price you have always paid on the site. If, for some reason, the auto-renewal fails then you will have to manually renew your upgrade at the standard cost of £9.95. I am afraid we are unable to refund any difference in cost as the failure to pay has come from your own bank. This is something that is out of our control. I hope this clarifies the situation.' --------------------------------------------------- I am not impressed. There was NO WAY that that was obvious from this misleading renewal email they'd sent, copied here: --------------------------------------------------- 'Your annual membership to Genes Reunited is about to come to an end. You don't need to do anything because you've asked us to continue your membership automatically. We'll renew your membership for the next year on 13th October 2006 using the card you used last time. If we are unable to do this, for example because your card has changed, we'll let you know. If you do not want to continue your membership for another year, please go to Genes Reunited and change your membership type to 'yearly' in 'My details/profile'. If you choose not to continue your membership you won't be able to contact other members to discover new ancestors. You will still be able to browse the site and access your tree.' ----------------------------------------------------- That bit about letting me know if they couldn't renew using the card I used last time? Well they did alert me to the problem by an email they sent at 10.30pm the very night my membership was due. I discovered that email at 11.30 pm when I checked them before going to bed. With only 30 minutes to spare to keep my membership continuous, I paid it electronically immediately so do not see how it could have lapsed. I shall query it with my bank but think it is really not the bank's problem. So chaps, any ideas on this one? I still think the whole thing stinks! Tracey

Tracey, Just going back to a previous post of yours. Unfortunately a supermarket can put £2 on an item in error and quite legally insist on you paying the correct price of £3 at the till. The price on the item is only 'an ofer to treat' in law. But I am not clear about if they say that £x will be deducted from your c card and then they deduct £y. Credit cards are different to supermarkets. Ann Glos

hiya Tracey I notified them on the 14th oct, I recieved My email yesterday I think it was, i posted it on here, (been to bed since then LOL) I would query it with the bank, and then get back to GR and have another moan about it, seems odd that they can refund one person, but someone else who has same problem gets ignored, failing that to email the head honcho at ITV, and have a good old rant about it there i'm just sorry i cant be of more help Julie

Thanks Julie. I think the bank will pass the buck back to GR where it belongs, but I'll try anyway. I think I've worked out the logic behind the different renewal rates. Far from giving us a discount, it is actually in GR's interests to offer continual memberships. If everyone opted to let their memberships expire and to only renew when they wanted to email another member through the site, then I dare say many semi-active members would then go months at a time between actioning a renewal. Reading another thread about what you can do without being a fully paid-up member, I am heartily regretting having been so conscientious in ensuring my renewal did not lapse. I'll know better next time! The £7.50 continuous renewal rate quoted (though not honoured in many cases), in effect guaranteed a steady predictable income to GR. It is a bit like all those folk who have gym memberships but who have long given up visiting the gym. They forget to cancel their direct debits so they continue to pay for something they no longer use. Oh, and before I forget - Somewhere on the renewal bumpf it mentioned that GR take cheques!! I'd love to see them cross out a cheque written out for £7.50 and overwrite it with £9.95 - which is basically what they've been doing to our credit cards. I'm off to see what horrors the new tree viewer has wrought on my tree. May be gone some time...

Just to remind you all of my threads of the 4th and 5th October. I agree that it is good value for money. The argument is first that it is the card holders responsiblilty to be aware of the fees being charged to their card. If you leave it open they could take vast amounts and you certainly would not get the support from your card company. Secondly, originally GR were fair and welcomed a cheque which is the arrangement that I use. We must press ITV to be transparent. Overall what bug's me is the number of people who use the site without paying anything at all. Not sure how they do it but people say to me why pay? I just email joe bloggs........ When I first used the site without paying I could view but not add to the message boards or email anyone. I then paid my £7.50 to be a full member and got all the facilities that GR are now telling me I have selected to upgrade to.

The expiry date on my card had altered and they didn't inform me initally but said that they would reimburse the difference upon renewal which they failed to do - Mick in his final year - It's the principle not the price that counts

For people who may not know, when you pay for something by credit card (but not debit card), if the amount taken isn't what you expected, you can contact your card company and request a CHARGEBACK. Make sure you call it this when you follow it up. If loads of people did this, GR might feel differently about being sneaky with people's cards. BECAUSE what happens is your card company gets some details off you, then approaches the company you bought from and requires them to fill in detailed forms (takes ages), and, if they're found to have done anything wrong, they have to refund some/all of the money, PLUS they pay a £15 or so fee each time, AND they might get blacklisted if it keeps happening. If customers of the same company keep complaining, the company might have their commission rate increased, to help cover the costs of all this chasing up. Hit them where it hurts! By the way, I know the system for cards because I own a small business, and chargebacks are something all business owners fear, because they are time-consuming and annoying even when you haven't done anything wrong, but very expensive if you have. Janet

I was a member for a year and then my membership lapsed. That was just over a year ago and I just rejoined (paid £9.95). I must say, that with everything I've read on here today and how unhappy everyone is right now, it's unlikely I will renew, I don't think it's really worth it for what I use it for. GR need to have a team that are in touch with their customers and involved on the forums so that you know they're taking note when people are disatisfied, the lack of that presence shows me that they don't really care about customer satisfaction. ---- (Quote) Tracey, Just going back to a previous post of yours. Unfortunately a supermarket can put £2 on an item in error and quite legally insist on you paying the correct price of £3 at the till. The price on the item is only 'an ofer to treat' in law. But I am not clear about if they say that £x will be deducted from your c card and then they deduct £y. Credit cards are different to supermarkets. Ann Glos (end quote) --- Just an FYI as an aside: Retail law states that you have to sell an item for the price it is marked at. if £2 is put on a £3 item, you have to sell it at the £2, unless you can prove the price tally was tampered with. Also, if it's marked as buy one get one free etc in error the same applies. At least that's the retail law I was taught when I was working in a chain because they drummed it into us how careful we had to be when pricing things up. Where credit or debit card is concerned, the agreement for amount to be taken is like a mini-contract, taking more than that is a breach of contract because you have not agreed to that amount. This is why, when paying buy card in a shop etc you're usually asked to check the amount before you sign/enter PIN. Liz

I've taken on board people's suggestions and paid a visit to my bank today. They provided me with a direct line to the credit card company who will now looking into this for me. They have asked for a covering letter and copies of my screenprints showing the £7.50 renewal and the £9.95 deduction - both of which I am relieved I had the foresight to save at the time. To be honest, I didn't think the credit card company would be too keen to follow up my complaint as GR has been so intractable about it.. I was pleasantly surprised by the credit card man's willing attitude. Proper customer service at last - whoopee!

whoooo hooooo Tracey!!! way to go! well done have you had a good look around the 'other' site yet?? which I told you about? Julie

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

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

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

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!

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.