Geni

Ruth - click on your name at upper right, go to Account Settings, I believe - for choice to close Account. Tho you might wait a minute, in case they make things better.

I want to send a birthday "gift" but every time I click on it, I get an advertisemenet to upgrade my service. When I say No Thanks,Continue, I have to start all over and never get the option to send the birthday gift. Please fix your website.

Sending gifts is a premium user (Pro and Plus) feature only now and gift credits are no longer available for purchase.

I have asked Geni to reconsider the last change so that free users can send gifts too.

Anyhow: Just put a happy birthday message in the guestbook of the person.

Private User i think the get better ship has sailed and isn't comming back

I'm pretty sure we'll be reinstating birthday and anniversary greetings (but the "virtual gift" icons may remain exclusive for Pro/Premium users).

Here's a thought, though -- a Plus subscription is about the same price as a single greeting card these days. Why not support the site that gives you so much, for the cost of what it would take to send your relative a card in the mail for his/her birthday or anniversary?

Mike at Geni

Mike some misunderstandings - I want the option to buy and use gift credits back for free users.

When gifts was introduced it was not a free option either, - but everyone got 5 free gift credits and an option to buy more. Even I purchased gift credits several times and would get angry if I had to buy the full package if sending virtual gifts was my only need.

Bjørn I've passed on your feedback to the team.

٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶

Mike, the concept of supporting Geni given it's the same price as a greeting card, is one argument for those who are into genealogy, but for those invited into the tree and whose only interaction is at the birthday level, it doesn't hold water. I suspect you didn't get much traction with purchased gift credits, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. A birthday cake or anniversary balloons (the free options) is a great way to keep people coming back. Chalk it up to marketing costs.

Mike Stangel

I don't usually tag people - but I think you should look at the comment from ellen ruby at http://help.geni.com/entries/20449397-impossible-to-send-a-birthday... if you haven't already.

If I understood correctly, this user has already paid for gifts, and now cannot use them without upgrading.

That doesn't seem right to me - but I can understand logically how that scenario might come about. Perhaps an unintended consequence of recent changes. I suggest you look into it.

David thanks for making sure we're aware of that problem. It certainly is an unintended consequence -- we discovered a similar case over the weekend and Customer Service is working to address it by crediting Plus status for some duration in proportion to the number of gift credits purchased.

Mike - I am glad you are aware. I am not convinced that a short-term Plus status credit is the solution. It would seem that there may be a market segment (don't know how big it is) of Geni users who are prepared to spend $ for credits but do not necessarily want to spend $ to upgrade to Plus or Pro.

Bjørn can speak for himself, but I understood that he expressed a similar sentiment above.

I assume that Geni.com is by now in direct contact with the user who raised this issue at http://help.geni.com/entries/20449397-impossible-to-send-a-birthday...

It might be useful for you or one of your colleagues also to comment appropriately in that "bug report" thread.

Mike - There is now also a comment in that bug report thread that seems to suggest that the option to keep a greeting a "surprise" till the event occurs has also disappeared or is not functioning correctly. If that is the case, I think the previous functionality that allowed holding back a greeting till the event should be reinstated.

It's an interesting discussion, because it's now clear to me that Geni wants to have its cake and eat it. Geni was fine in the beginning, it became worse when Geni Pro was introduced although I understand that Geni needs money to maintain its website. A certain number of users don't mind paying for extra services, but if Geni makes it impossible to use basic features like sending a simple happy birthday or anniversary message, a very large number of users will turn their back to the site. I'm personally thinking about deleting all possible information that I've added in the previous years, if Geni is going to persevere in this.

Thanks,

Mark
@Mark Franciscus van de Steeg

Besides the comment above at http://www.geni.com/discussions/99441?msg=738968

where Mike said: "I'm pretty sure we'll be reinstating birthday and anniversary greetings"

There's also a Geni Twitter message

http://twitter.com/#!/geni/status/114752739145285632

dated 17 Sep from Geni.com which says:

"gifts are now a paid feature. But we're working on improving the gift page so everyone can send a greeting. stay tuned."

It would be good to get an implementation date from Geni.com

Private User The option to keep a gift a surprise is still an option unless the recipient doesn't have an upcoming birthday or anniversary.
The update to the gift page will most likely be rolled out to some users on Thursday.

Thanks Michelle.

The comment re surprise not being an option or not working was from someone else and only relayed by me here. I also noticed some greetings on the pages of others before their due date. Of course I don't know if that means they chose not to make it a surprise. I was unable to verify the functionality because I am not currently privileged to send Geni greetings.

There is also a relevant bug report at http://help.geni.com/entries/20430538-bug-report-private-gifts-are-... which I think is still outstanding.

When you say: "The update to the gift page will most likely be rolled out to some users on Thursday" - do you mean all Geni Basic users?

Hello again! I have been notified of my cousin's birthday today! I cannot send a birthday greeting or use the gifts I have already paid for. Your option of "No Thanks--Continue" for Geni Pro does not work. It is taking me back to my cousins profile and from there, clicking on "send a birthday greeting and gift" brings me back to your upgrade ad. This is not working!..
If I am given an option NOT to purchase Geni Pro,then it should work correctly and take me to the old place whefre i can send a greeting and use my gift credits.
Please clarify this mess to me as I am very sad. This website has helped me so much to find my family for whom I was searching! Now I cannot use it!
Thank you.
Ellen
ellenpruby@aol.com

ellen price (preiss) ruby we are aware of the issue with gifts and are working on a solution. Until then you can go to your cousins Guestbook and post a message there.

Hello Charles Edmonds,
Yes that is what I did...I just missed being able to add the cute little gifts!
Ellen Ruby

Hello to Geni--You have been very kind in putting my gift credits towards a subscription to Geni Pro. I think if I had been approached differently, like this from Mike Strangel, "..Here's a thought, though -- a Plus subscription is about the same price as a single greeting card these days. Why not support the site that gives you so much, for the cost of what it would take to send your relative a card in the mail for his/her birthday or anniversary?

Mike at Geni"

I might have been much more likely to sign up on my own because you are right! It is just that messing us up and sending us around in circles was not the best PR.
Anyway i shall carry on with Geni and find out what Geni Pro is all about. and hope you can find a better sales approach!
Ellen Ruby
.

not gemni pro--geni plus...I am so confused...I will try it out.
Ellen Ruby

Even though Geni got back to making it possible to send happy birthday wishes, it decided recently to make it impossible again for people without a pro-account. It's super clear and I said it before: Geni wants to have its cake and eat it.

I repeat: Geni was fine in the beginning, it became worse when Geni Pro was introduced although I understand that Geni needs money to maintain its website. A certain number of users don't mind paying for extra services, but if Geni makes it impossible to use basic features like sending a simple happy birthday or anniversary message, a very large number of users will turn their back to the site.

And I don't understand it either: doesn't Geni want the largest possible number of users? Why is it impossible to add more family members than 100? Why limit your own website? Just one example: Google doesn't limit its users doesn't make it obligatory to pay for its services. Still it's very, very popular and it's making huge amounts of money.

If Geni is going to persevere in this, and I guess it will, as this is the second time within months, I'm personally going to delete all possible information that I've added in the previous years.

Thanks,

Mark

@ellen ruby...I gave up last year...I cannot make sense out of what Geni is doing. The only thing I liked was to be able to find my lost relatives and for that, Geni was and is wonderful. And to send special occasion greetings is wonderful. The cost is minimal and could have been presented in a easy to understand, clear manner, but it was not. Anyway I will carry on and enjoy sending those cute little bears, or flowers or rainbows! Thanks. Ellen Ruby

We made some enhancements to our basic membership.

Please read our blog for more info: http://www.geni.com/blog/enhancements-for-geni-basic-members-373014...

""All users can now add 100 profiles to their tree without upgrading to a premium subscription. This means that every relative you invite to your tree can add up to a 100 new people with a basic (free) membership.""

Amanda I cannot express my joy that this is the new policy. You don't know how much the past policy was so inhibiting.

Great move.

This is Great News as I have been having problems sending greetings.

Great news? I'm sorry, I don't think so.

"A few months ago, we added profile limits to our membership tiers. Users in large trees had to upgrade to a premium subscription before adding new people to their tree."
That was indeed a strict limitation to the previous possibilities. Now all users can suddenly add 100 people to their tree, and if they want to add more, they have to pay money. It used to be unlimited. And I don't understand. Geni wants to grow big and doesn't allow us to make it bigger. Geni, you don't understand: don't make it difficult or expensive to add information: you'll be the loser in the end. I used to be enthusiastic, I'm not any more and I know many people in my tree who have already turned their backs to you. They don't bother about Geni any more, they never visit the website any more. Google for instance has never limited adding information or made it more expensive than free, Google is growing and Google is making lots of money. And lots of people like Google. This is just one example of a web based company that understands what's it all about.

I also read: "Thank you for being passionate about Geni." Well, I'm not any more and as I wrote, many people I know aren't either. I used to be, but I've lost my enthusiasm and many people with me. Geni, do something to earn back that passion, because you're on a very slippery slope right now.