General Chat

My membership of GR expires shortly and I have just received an email offering me 20 % discount "as a loyal member."

Considering I have been a member since January 2003 and the fees doubled over one year, I don't think much of 20 %.

Well if they offer me 20% discount I will be accepting it

Membership down to £7.96 seems good value despite the problems currently on this site

Look at it another way... that £7.96 is just over the price of two family history magazines....and for it you have the wealth of experience and advice of some great researchers plus a place to chat :-)

Mine was up on 6 Jan but I do not recall a discount and been a member since Dec 2003. Think it was £9 something.

Ahh, but my annual membership has been double yours for a couple of years because I don't renew by card automatically. So what they are offering is £1.67 per month for 12 months or £1.66 per month for 6 months, taken as a lump sum, so around £20 per year, and remember that is the discounted rate.

Once upon a time, before several takeovers, the annual rate was the same for everyone.

Helen, I pay the same rate as you because I didn't renew in August... I renewed in November for several reasons which seemed totally valid to me.

I just feel ripped off, Rose, when others get exactly the same for much cheaper.

I see it as a bit like when you know someone got something in a sale after Christmas that you paid twice as much for lol...would you still have been happy to have the item at the price you paid.

I pay £9.95 for 6 months and renewed last night I got 20% discount this time last year so nothing this year. After the way GR treated me a couple of weeks ago I was in two minds whether to renew or not, but was in the middle of helping someone...so gave in

In the end I compared it to a packet of fags and a vodka and coke :-D

I would'nt mind 25% or even 20% off world wid A*** which I know some people have got...thats worth having

jax

Ah but Barry, it is also a site where LMA marriage certs and baptisms can be seen thus saving (me at least) something in the region of £150? :-D

I renewed in December, and was charged full price.

So for GR to reduce by 20percent in January is a bit rich, especially with all the problems on the site.

Lost out again.

I think that was very good of you, jax, especially considering you are still owed an immense apology from genes reunited.

I love ancestry, and find my past, and free BMD and free CEN and free REG and rootsweb mailing lists etc ;-)

"Good Morning, Joy."
- good afternoon, Barry :)

woo hoo Palace are winning (at the moment) :)

The question you have to ask yourself is whether GR is worth £1.67 a month or 83p a month (depending which option you're on).

I was dithering (I'm on the old plan bu the way which renews in February) as I haven't used the site for a while or to it's full advantage, however, it's worth it for me at the moment to keep in touch with you lovely folks.

Laughing my sox off at come of your replies!

The point is, Secret Red Squirrel, G.R. WANTS you to consider it's cheap, or to compare it to vodka or cigarettes or whatever. Of course it's not much money compared to lots of things. But why should I pay twice as much as some other people? That's what i object to. And I won't.

I don't ever compare it to cigarettes or vodka lol

I don't necessarily think it's cheap either, there are free websites out there where i can chat to friends and where I can host my tree. I actually put off joining GR for a while all those years ago as I thought why pay £5 to join a family history site when I've been using several ones for free which were excellent at the time i.e. genforum.

The point I was trying to make is that whether its right or wrong, it's down to individuals whether they think it's worth it and only you can make that decision whether you want to renew or not.

What will probably happen, if people kick up enough fuss about the two tier system is that the older members will end up paying more if they decide to stay (the newer members probably won't get a better deal either in the long run).

SRS, thanks for your reply, although I'm not sure I really understand what you mean.

I used to pay the cheaper rate because my membership was renewed automatically. One year I was dithering about paying and I was cross that I was automatically renewed without being asked so I changed my style of membership so that they couldn't take my money again without asking me first. Fast forward through several new owners and my membership cost has been doubled.

I absolutely object to paying double what other people do, no matter how cheap £1.67 a month may be. Why should I pay double?? If I don't pay my phone bill by direct debit I only have to pay 5 - 10% more (which I also object to) so why should I pay 100% more to GR?

The long and the short of it is it's not good enough. I can get heaps more from Ancestry - and before you ask I haven't renewed yet with them either.
If we all agree to pay because £1.67 isn't much money, why can't we pay 83p like everyone else?

I will be speaking to them but I fear it's a losing battle on their part: in 1983 I had family to find and I had lots of helpers. I really needed them. There was nobody else and I am grateful, you know who you are. Now I am stuck and don't use any helpers. I take part in a couple of groups and that's all. I belong to several other free websites where I can chat and ask for assistance. The very fact this quetion has arisen proves how the present owners of GR do not have their finger on the pulse.

But good luck to you all the same.

Good luck with your search Helen wherever it may be.

Don't give up either. Sometimes you think you're at a dead end and suddenly you find a connection. More and more records are coming online which may help :-D

Helen


I'm not sure what you mean by saying that you pay more because you don't pay automatically


I NEVER have paid automatically .................. I'm never sure which card I will be using, or whether I will even have the same card as last year.

So, I've always made sure that my membership is showing as Single and not as Continuous ......... and I've done that since 2004.


I thus get an email telling me my sub is due, and I make sure I pay before the due date ..... although you do have a 4 week grace period in which to pay after the due date, without it affecting your membership


The sub I pay is the same as I was paying in 2007 ................£9.25, although I was offered a 20% discount last year, and the year before.


I have been assured by GR that this same system will still operate this year, despite the apparent confusion that was showing when I tried to change to Single Membership before Christmas.


Are you sure that you didn't delay paying one year to beyond the 4 week grace period?




sylvia

I don't know, Sylvia, as it happens GR haven't given me an exact date yet, only a discount offer. They haven't offered me a discount before. But, two or three years back, my subscription changed from £9.95 for a year to £9.95 for 6 months. There have been many threads on similar subjects previously.