Should I cancel my National Trust membership?

iscamaid

Just had my family membership renewal from the National Trust for £88.50. I have renewed consistently for 4 years but am now wondering if I should cancel. I was at a show at the weekend and was approached at a NT stand and told if I took out new membership it would be £66. I must admit I was peeved, I am paying an extra £22pa for being a loyal member. At present cash is very tight and I am dithering about cancelling. Has anyone cancelled, waited a few months and them taken out their discounted new members rates?. Though I see it as a way of preserving the countryside I do feel they should be looking after existing members rather than giving special offers to non-members. I also wondered about cancelling and taking out Scottish Membership?

Anyone done this?

apt

There is nothing to stop you cancelling and rejoining with the 3 months free offer. You can also save another 30% by joining via a cashback site like topcashback.

olgadapolga

apt wrote: »

There is nothing to stop you cancelling and rejoining with the 3 months free offer. You can also save another 30% by joining via a cashback site like topcashback.

We do this! The NT have never said a word about it. We usually "rejoin" just after expiry (when it best suits us) as you then get an instant membership card to use whilst waiting for the new membership pack to be sent out.

lucyhart

I bought National Trust membership last year, after cancelling, for £36 with 10.91 cashback (30% cashback through quidco). Therefore costing me £25.09. It would have cost almost £50 to renew!
It's definitely worth being a member, but I would recommend cancelling and rejoining when you're visiting a property. Six months could easily pass without visiting anywhere. You can also join online on the day you are visiting a property and they will email you a temporary card.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Is the £66 price not the direct debit price whereas the £88 is the single annual payment price?

eslick

they are getting wise to cancelling and starting again as a new user, we tried it again a couple of months ago and got a letter saying we couldnt because we had been customers. So just moved to National Trust of Scotland, at the time they had an 18mth for price of 12 offer. They also allow you to pay monthly.

link for 18mths is still active

http://www.nts.org.uk/instant

tuftyclub

Sorry to hijack here -but you seem like the people that might know :-)

Like many, I joined under quidco -direct debit and only used it for a few visits (usefully car parking in walking spots). I cancel the DD when I knew I wouldn't renew. I got a renewal pack sent to me - which I ignored as I didn't want to renew -then they sent me a new membership card and a bill! (no parking sticker!) which went in the bin as I hadn't chosen to renew..... (and obs never used - went straight in the bin) and today I recive a letter telling me my card was issued and I owe then 50 quid!

Are they trying it on? It feels a bit like spam mail -and if I call them they know I exist, but I cancelled the DD and ignored the renwal so I don't know what's going on.

Am I liable for anything? - generally I would ignore this - but I am thinking of applying for a mortgage in a year or so and am worried this unpaid bill may affect my credit rating.

Thanks for any advice that you can give.

hcb42

I have done this before, to my knowledge never been a credit issue, although I couldnt guarantee that, could be I never actually needed any..

iscamaid

Many thanks for the replies. I will be cancelling my membership, waiting until Spring to renew via Quidco and keeping my fingers crossed that they let me. If not I will go to Scottish National Trust. Such a shame that the National Trust is doing far more to woo in new people than retain its existing customers.

mondello

Won't they offer you a cheaper price if you give them call and say money is tight or something similar?

ceebeeby

Am I missing something here ....

The National Trust exists as a charity to preserve places for our future - not just properties, but beaches, countryside, mountains etc.

The way I read it, they're offering lower 'starter' memberships to encourage people to join - I don't think they're scamming existing members. They're charging a fairly modest fee for an annual subscription to reflect their costs and the OP is absolutely right, in so far as if you were a LOYAL member then you would pay the annual subscription.

I totally get that people want to save money (I do myself) but I don't get the ethics of the equivallent of card sharking with something like NT Membership.

IMHO