RootsChat.Com
Census Lookups General Lookups => Census and Resource Discussion => Topic started by: Romilly on Friday 28 June 13 16:34 BST (UK)
-
Has anyone on here had any success in cancelling a subscription to the 'Find my Past' Site?
I took out a years sub to that Site last January, but have become increasingly dissatisfied with it. Often records that I know to exist return a NIL result to searches, and the search facility itself seems cumbersome and non-user friendly.
I tried to cancel my sub by email today, but had a reply saying that this cannot be done. I've had no problem cancelling subs to Ancestry, and had no idea that you couldn't cancell a sub that you weren't happy with on FindMyPast.
Has anyone on here ever managed to cancell a sub to FindMyPast?
Romilly ???
-
looking at their Terms & Conditions......it doesnt say you cant cancel only thing it says is it wont refund if you have looked at records.................have a read through them see if they help
sandie
-
Hi sandiep,
Yes, - I've re-read it & there's nothing I can do. I'm just annoyed that I took it out in the first place now, - I certainly won't again.
Romilly.
-
Don't forget what it says under terms and conditions " When you take out a subscription, it is on a continuous membership basis, meaning that your subscription will automatically renew unless you cancel it" You need to make sure that you have turned it off by going into your account.
I suppose it depends what you are looking for as I really like FindMyPast and often find things there that I can't in Ancestry.
-
must admit I find their search engine often finds things sooner than other sites..........but I think we do all find different ways of searching after a few years......I use either first or last names sometimes
and wildcards ......you have to get crafty ;D
-
must admit I find their search engine often finds things sooner than other sites..........but I think we do all find different ways of searching after a few years......I use either first or last names sometimes
and wildcards ......you have to get crafty ;D
Totally agree, as one who has always preferred this site to An*****y, other than possibly Marriages etc in London area, can you give any examples of possible bad transcriptions of an ancestor?
Keyboard86
-
I tried to cancel as I was unhappy with continual "time-outs" and no results, also with them saying they were too busy and I should come back later! I asked for refund of remaining six months and was told as I had used the site there was no refund.
I submitted an alternate to them and it was refused as it was totally different from the written copy, I knew I was right as he was a close relative appearing on other Census years too. Ancestry were pleased to accept my version.
rayard.
-
I can understand them refusing a refund after you have used the site for a few months, otherwise they would have everybody doing the same. Before I join any new site I always take out a trial subscription or buy a few credits to make sure that it does what I need.
I tried to cancel as I was unhappy with continual "time-outs" and no results, also with them saying they were too busy and I should come back later!
I think you must have been very unlucky rayard, as I have never had this happen in all the years I have been using it. When you say the alternative that you submitted was totally different to the written copy, do you mean the transcription or the image? If it is the image they wont change it. I've submitted several alternatives to transcriptions and had them accepted.
-
Has anyone on here had any success in cancelling a subscription to the 'Find my Past' Site?
I took out a years sub to that Site last January, but have become increasingly dissatisfied with it. Often records that I know to exist return a NIL result to searches, and the search facility itself seems cumbersome and non-user friendly.
I tried to cancel my sub by email today, but had a reply saying that this cannot be done. I've had no problem cancelling subs to Ancestry, and had no idea that you couldn't cancell a sub that you weren't happy with on FindMyPast.
Has anyone on here ever managed to cancell a sub to FindMyPast?
Romilly ???
Hi,
yes .
I don't know if it's all changed now, but last year I had a 6 month sub with them and found it very easy to cancel and get the remaining months back. It was under my account - there's a button there somewhere , which you can cancel and they will refund to your credit card ( unless it's all changed). I found FindMyPast a joy to cancel - simple, unlike ancestry (who I've been with for years). It was one thing which I found refreshing - FindMyPast was easy to cancel
kind regards
-
[quote author=Cell link=topic=652042.msg4985507#msg4985507
Hi,
yes .
I don't know if it's all changed now, but last year I had a 6 month sub with them and found it very easy to cancel and get the remaining months back. It was under my account - there's a button there somewhere , which you can cancel and they will refund to your credit card ( unless it's all changed). I found FindMyPast a joy to cancel - simple, unlike ancestry (who I've been with for years). It was one thing which I found refreshing - FindMyPast was easy to cancel
kind regards
[/quote]
It must have changed since last year, Cell.
I've just been onto the 'My account' page, and there's no button or link that allows you to cancell. There still is on the Ancestry Site of course.
Romilly.
-
Romilly,
Go into FindMyPast click on My account (last button) then My subscription,and you will see the second line down says cancel continous membership.
I find them very useful for a lot of different records to Ancestry.
The only time I find they go offline is when new records are being added,or amendments being made,but at least they tell you,and they always update their facebook page if there's a problem.
Carol
-
Thanks Carol,
I will try & find this. Carol, - I've looked & I can't find this facility. When I click on 'Suscribe' I just get to 'My Account' page & I can't see any option to vary Subscription.
Romilly ::)
-
You don't click on "Subscribe". "My Account" is on the same line as "Search Records"
Stan
-
OK, - this is the right page I think, -perhaps I'm being dense, but I can't see the 'cancel continous membership' bit:
'Already registered? Sign in
Username or email address
Password (case sensitive)
Forgotten password?
Remember me [?]
(Do not tick this if you are using a shared computer)
Login with Facebook
Not a user yet? Register now
* Required fields
* First name
* Last name
* Country
* Email address
* Password (must be 6 characters or more) [?]
Would you like our helpful emails (you can unsubscribe at any time)?
Yes, please send me updates, tips and offers
No, don't contact me
Our Privacy Policy explains how we protect your privacy'.
Romilly.
-
You have to sign in with your email address and password to access your account. You then get this screen
-
Many thanks Stan, - I have now cancelled my continuous subscription!
By being permanently 'signed in' I was missing that page. I've now ammended so that I sign in each time.
Cheers, Romilly.
-
Even if you are permanently signed in, for some reason you have to sign in again to access your account.
Stan
-
Even if you are permanently signed in, for some reason you have to sign in again to access your account.
Stan
Possibly for security reasons, as if you are permanently signed in anyone who uses your computer could get into your account and change it.
-
Groom, the name the enumerator wrote wasn't the correct spelling and therefore the transcription was totally wrong. My correction bore no relation to the enumerator's version and they said they had to reflect what he had written and not the name I knew to be true!! Ancestry accepted my explanation and they give it as an alternative.
rayard.
-
FreeBMD apply the same rule i.e. If the error is in the Index, we will NOT be able to apply your correction. It is NOT possible to change an entry to be the same as data from Census, IGI, Certificate, Family Bible, etc. This is because entries are recorded as they appear in the GRO Index.
Stan
-
Groom, the name the enumerator wrote wasn't the correct spelling and therefore the transcription was totally wrong.
rayard.
On the contrary, if the transcription reflected what the enumerator had written then the transcription was totally correct. Or have I completely misunderstood?
Imber
-
Groom, the name the enumerator wrote wasn't the correct spelling and therefore the transcription was totally wrong.
rayard.
On the contrary, if the transcription reflected what the enumerator had written then the transcription was totally correct. Or have I completely misunderstood?
Imber
Hi,
Imber you are correct.
Having transcribed myself for various sites, as many, many of us do and have on here.
The transcription should be word for word , exact spelling to what is written on the original. When you transcribe anything, you should transcribe it exactly as to what is written on that document that you are transcribing from - not what you know .
Free BMD is usually very quick to change the entry when you inform of them of the transcription error
ancestry - you don't change their wrong or right transcription, it's an alternative spelling (even if you use the transcription error tab, and not alternative) , which will come up in a search. Recent years the alternative names on Ancestry you have all sorts where a submitter has put their married name on a spinster or bachelor , or what they think their name should be - it's not a transcription
kind Regards :)
-
Often records that I know to exist return a NIL result to searches, and the search facility itself seems cumbersome and non-user friendly.
Could you elaborate on that?
I've had a similar problem with their Welsh records, whereby they say they have them for a certain year range, but there will be sporadic transcription within those date, even though they have the images of the parish registers.
However, working in this realm I would point out that with millions of entries in documents that are generally in very bad condition there will be many mistranscriptions and omission. For example, FindMyPast have transcriptions of the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society (MGS), who are in my expirience the most through of all transcribers. However, the new Welsh records at FindMyPast duplicate most of their work and have numerous entries that are not included by the MGS.
-
Often records that I know to exist return a NIL result to searches, and the search facility itself seems cumbersome and non-user friendly.
Sometimes, FindMyPast returns zero when it has been overwhelmed by the number of results. It is worth narrowing down the results. Often, just limiting the search to "England" is enough to fix this.
We all have to learn how to use search facilities to their best. FindMyPast's search responds differently to Ancestry's. I still find Ancestry's "new" search returns poor results, apparently ignoring search terms, while their "old" search works well. Neither of Ancestry's searches times out except at times of extremely heavy demand. FindMyPast searches time out quite easily, with additional search terms actually reducing the chances of the search completing before the timeout deadline. When it times out, sometimes just resubmitting will work, because the data is now in the server's cache and can be processed quicker.
When submitting corrections, you should ALWAYS put down what appears on the original image, even when you know what it SHOULD say. Names DO change, no matter what people assume. One of the reasons I like the software I use is because it allows me to record the name as it appeared at various times.
-
Hi,
I have fallen for this program and have tried to unsubscribe.
They keep updating me.
I am going to cancel my bank payments
John
-
There is always more than one way to skin a cat.
Go to your bank / credit card provider / whoever you pay through, and cancel the payment authority.
At renewal time, they will try to claim payment, and it will be refused.
They will send you a huffy e-mail saying that as your payment has failed they will cancel your membership.
Job done.
HOWEVER - I am still happy with FindMyPast, despite their move to the abominable "fuzzy logic" which ruins my carefully thought-out searching strategies. Your results that may be there not showing up on searhces may be due to an anomaly which I have identified. The data set which they call "England Births & Baptisms 1538 - 1975", and its counterparts for marriages and burials, does NOT appear to have had the location metadata properly entered. This has the result that if you specify a location in the relevant search field, ALL results from this data set are screened out. Once you are back into the seventeenth century, this is often the ONLY data set with the entry you are looking for. Result ... you have to do a search of the entire country and then sift the hits manually. It can be tedious ... but still not as tedious as wading through loads of microfiches of parish registers when you do not know which is the relevant parish ...
-
Tried to cancel subscription to FindMyPast only to find out that they will discontinue the automatic renewal but WILL NOT cancel the subscription myself - so.....I'm stuck with paying a year's membership fee for a site that provides no information. Lots of hype about all the "new" information they have and when you search the search comes up with zero finds. Have a feeling they will not be in business for very long. Be smart and absolutely don't subscribe to the FindMyPast website - total waste of money and insult to my intelligence.
-
Try phoning them to cancel, - it worked for me.
Romilly.
-
Tried to cancel subscription to FindMyPast only to find out that they will discontinue the automatic renewal but WILL NOT cancel the subscription myself - so.....I'm stuck with paying a year's membership fee for a site that provides no information. Lots of hype about all the "new" information they have and when you search the search comes up with zero finds. Have a feeling they will not be in business for very long. Be smart and absolutely don't subscribe to the FindMyPast website - total waste of money and insult to my intelligence.
Are you trying to cancel the subscription when you’ve used the site, expecting them to return your money? If so, that obviously won’t happen, and is probably in their small print.
The site has been running for years and is one of the well respected ones. I’ve used FindMyPast for a long time and have never had any problems finding information. It takes time to get used to, so as they won’t refund your money, why not use the time to explore it properly, look at all their records by going into A-Z of records.
-
For what it's worth, I agree with groom: FindMyPast is a good site and I have always found it more user-friendly than Ancestry. But I am perservering with Ancestry and getting to know its querks, and therefore getting more good results. All the sites are different. The Gene also has its peculiarities but again you have to get used to it and 'manipulate' it to get what you want.
Melbell
-
I agree with Groom & Malbell. FindmyPast is a good respectable site.
I find with most sites the problem with getting no results is more often than not I have added too much information to the search.
I use the minimum amount of information first (perhaps just a name) then add more as required to reduce the number of returns.
Cheers
Guy
-
Lots of hype about all the "new" information they have and when you search the search comes up with zero finds. Have a feeling they will not be in business for very long.
They've been in business as FindMyPast for at least 10 years to my knowledge, and I believe they started some years before that but with a different name. (Nothing sinister about that, by the way. Whole countries have changed their names in recent years, as have I.)
It's impossible to respond to your complaint of 'zero finds' without having some clue as to what you expected to find. Were you looking for English records, or Welsh, Scottish, Manx, Egyptian, Peruvian, Fijian, ............................................ ???
Carol
-
Thanks = I'll try that.
-
I have just had a quick look at this... and am.. to say the least 'shocked'
I use this site DAILY every day ---- and find new information EVERYDAY
baptisms - marriages - deaths - wonderful wills - census - 1939 - etc etc and then there are the Newspapers... which are so exciting..
so are we looking at the same site.
xin
-
FindmyPast is a good site and used to be called 1837 online in 2001 but as records became more diverse they changed to FindMyPast they have problems sometimes as with all sites but at least they do respect their subscribers by giving them loyalty discounts.
-
I would just cancel the bank order
-
I would just cancel the bank order
What good would that do if Stupid has paid for a year’s membership? They can cancel the automatic renewal so they aren’t charged next year by going to the subscription part of the site.