Really disappointed not to have a email reminder as of some form of warning as regards payments coming out of my account with re subscriptions.
Whilst on the whole i've been quite happy with Stockopedia i was planning on having a break and giving Sharepad a go.
Anyone else been caught out like this?
It's a Silly Thing to do. My Way would give no Problems and leave No Feelings of ill-will.
So C'mon Everybody at Stockopedia, let's try Something Else instead. We all have enough Problems already, and having £245 disappear without warning is No Fun.
Yes, I experienced exactly the same problem as you, ie, no advance notice from Stockopedia that it was taking the whole of my annual membership fee in one tranche directly from my credit card. I knew my membership was due around September so I was expecting the charge to appear on my credit card at some point. However, I only found out the money/membership had been charged to my credit card when my monthly card statement arrived in the post some weeks later.
I had the same problem with Amazon Prime every spring whereby the membership fee would appear on my credit card statement each year without any pre-warning. Fortunately, looking around the various menus within my Amazon account I found that you could tick a box requesting that Amazon send you an email three days before your membership renewal was due. Not exactly much notice but at least it was better than finding out a few weeks later when the credit card bill arrived on the doormat.
I believe Stockopedia should give subscribers the option of ticking a box so that Stockopedia will send them an email two weeks in advance of their subscription expiring, or even better still, a renewal email reminder should be sent automatically and Stockopedia should give subscribers the choice of opting out of the automatic email reminder if they so desire.
Even though Stockopedia gave me no advance notice of the membership fee being taken from my credit card, I still would have renewed my membership anyway because of the excellent service and content which it provides.
David.
jonny - I too will be leaving Stocko soon, I did realise in advance of my annual subscription renewal and converted my membership to monthly.
However, do be reassured that as I understand it, even if you have been charged for an annual subscription then if you cancel you will I believe be reimbursed for any unused months of you sub.
jonny - I too will be leaving Stocko soon, I did realise in advance of my annual subscription renewal and converted my membership to monthly.
Hi Gromley,
Like many others (I guess) I'm sorry to hear you're leaving. Do you mind sharing the reason? I have been extremely disappointed with the website upgrades and considered leaving last year because of them. However, in the end I decided the renew in December because the real value in the site, for me at least, has nothing to do with the data pages (I can always subscribe to Sharepad too) and more the ability to share opinions with people like yourself.
I agree with others though. The lack of warning of taking the annual subscription renewal payment is very poor form on behalf of Stockopedia, especially when they are increasing it as well.
All the best, Si
Agree with the other comments Gromley, will be a big loss when you leave.
This site has some incredibly clued up investors on it and I would put you in the top 10% of that elite bracket.
Also you are very generous with your time when helping others hopefully you will reconsider at some point but best of luck either way.
Andy
Hi Si,
Thanks (and likewise to clarea).
Not to make a big thing of it, but for me the data is the primary reason for my subscription and like you I don't think the upgrades and "app" come close to matching my needs; plus they have been a distraction from other items (such as data validation) that could have added value for me personally.
From a point of view of timing, the cliff edge nature of financial reporting with respect to covid lockdown periods currently render the StockRanks as pretty random in a lot of cases until the lockdown periods wash through the numbers. So if there was ever a time to try to do without the Ranks and see what else is out there I believe it is now.
I don't rule out coming back in the future and I certainly will miss the exchanges with likeminded (and otherwise) people on the boards, some of whom I have 'know' virtually for a couple of decades now! It is not quite the same thing, but I think I will join the Twitterati and perhaps for other opportunities for regular interaction.
I have some admin stuff to sort out in the meantime, so I'll still be around until probably early March.
Spot on Gromley et al. I am generally a lurker on these boards (though in the real world I have been known to have the odd beer in the investing community - so hello there!) but looking at the proposed product routemap, we have the delights of;
1. Refer a friend - in development
2. Folio performance reporting - coming next (not sure if that means before or after "in development"?
Nothing to set the pulse racing unless there is a rabbit hidden in a "data" hat.
The world moves on....
Mail on Sunday is on the case against continuous payment authorities generally https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/...
Will miss Gromley's helpful insights. Like others, I too have felt many SR figures had become unreliable with so many 'old' forward looking estimates still lurking after companies had withdrawn guidance.
I'm not planning to leave Stockopedia soon, because I like the discussion forums and some of its features, although I'm not keen on the new site. However, I do think Stockopedia should send emails warning subscribers before annual subscriptions are taken from their accounts.
This article prompted me to look at Sharepad's website to find out what it offers. I discovered that it provides information on funds, which Stockopedia doesn't. This means that if a Stockopedia subscriber has a portfolio containing both stocks and funds, a Stockopedia folio can't provide a full valuation of that portfolio.
Also Sharepad provides information on the discounts to Net Asset Values of investment trusts, which is something Stockopedia has been promising for several years but never happens. Come on Stockopedia, if Sharepad can provide this basic information for investment trusts, why don't you?
I suggest everyone cancel as soon as you pay. That way you will still have access and get a reminder when it is about to expire.
I had the same issue. Didn't notice it until it appeared on my bank statement. Cancelled immediately although I apparently still have another 2 years access. I am not putting up with this.
jht76 wrote:
"I suggest everyone cancel as soon as you pay. That way you will still have access and get a reminder when it is about to expire."
That's not a bad idea. I've just looked at my subscription details on this site. I discovered that Stockopedia took my annual subscription on 11th January from my credit card. It had gone up from £225 last year to £245 this year without an email warning me. Had I not done this, I probably would not have noticed, when I eventually get my credit card statement in the post, that the fee had gone up by 9% from last year. Come on Stockopedia, you should be behaving better than this with your subscribers, otherwise they might not stay loyal!
Come on Stockopedia, you should be behaving better than this with your subscribers, otherwise they might not stay loyal!
What's probably worse about this matter, is that I don't necessarily expect them to comment on this issue. If we're lucky they may just silently fix it. I realise it's probably just my perception over the past few years, but it seems to me they don't seem to take honest criticism very well, and most often they choose not respond to it.
All the best, Si
I also complained to them when the first I knew of my sub being due was seeing it on my card statement. As if I can remember when it's due after signing for 3 years in 2017?
A 3 year sub is a chunk of money and could cause problems if it's not expected.
I'm paid up till the end of 2023 and if I last that long may not last much longer but in the course of time will be reconsidering so rest easy Stocko.
That is not what stockpedia terms and conditions say
Yes indeed, my apologies. The Ts &Cs do say that there is not refund for unused subscription period. However, I thought I had read somewhere else that actually there was a refund available - I cannot find that again now, but that may be because I moved to a monthly subscription anyway.
When I contacted Stocko I did refer to the fact that I didn't want to prepay and be reimbursed and they did not contradict me suggesting that was an option.
So in short I cannot confirm or deny that you can get a refund on any unused subscription term; so as ever the key is
Thing is, it doesn't seem a hugely profitable enterprise so far. Maybe they've had an influx of new subscribers during the WFH epidemic, but I imagine it's harder to get the word around when there are no physical investor shows. Growing the subscriber base would seem key to future enhancements.
Let's not turn this into something it isn't. OK the automated subs is somewhat annoying but TBH plenty do it in both the online and printed world. I'm sure the Stocko team are reading this and I'm equally sure they'll implement a subs notification email off the back of it.
In respect to data, I have been a sharepad subscriber in the past and let me say their data is no better than Stocko's and can often be "gappy" once you drift into smaller caps or offshore. It is true that Sharepad has far better screening and has a much richer data offering for their standard subs, however Stocko provides other things. Also forecast data is derived from brokers and consolidated by data providers, so if the forecasts don't seem current that's because brokers haven't updated their views not Stocko.
There are things not quite right on the Stocko site and personally I'd like those fixed before adding new functionality, plus a richer news feed for US stocks and far better charting. But I'm sure others will have different priorities.
Well said Mike,
Whilst personally I am looking elsewhere because Stocko doesn't quite meet what I want and I'm not at all enthused by the direction of travel I don't want to underplay what a fantastic resource it actually is.
We each have our own needs and ways of working and mine and Stocko's are just not very well aligned as things stand. Nevertheless I do consider it a (mostly) excellent platform and will probably continue to recommend it to others. I certainly don't regret having signed up in the first place, both the data layer and the discussion boards have been of great value to me but things move on.
With regards the (lack of) renewal reminders I agree it is pretty much standard practise (by coincidence I yesterday received notification from my mobile phone provider that my minimum contract term is about to expire and from a quick search I realise I can now halve my monthly bill and get a larger data allowance - they did not tell me this out of the goodness of their heart!) It never ceases to amuse (and annoy) me that the "consumer's champion" Which continue to quite aggressively push their free no obligation trial subscriptions if you want to read their content. So I don't feel overly critical of Stocko's position.
