Genealogy Chat

I don't think I will be renewing. Purely because they overcharged me last year and promised to refund the difference. Only about £2 which is nothing, but it is annoying.

Ive been a member for a couple of years and compared to the member prices of ancestry etc it's cheap BUT then you have to buy credits...which i did but didnt use all in time... WHAT A DILEMA - I just came on the chat boards to try and get advice on what is the best subscription to buy...... I just really want to find any living relatives but have to locate less than 10 ancestors...one of which went to America so am assuming Ancestry is the way to go. I'm procrastinating about joining because I dont think that a 1mth sub should be automatically renewed. I dont think ANY membrshp should be renewed automatically.

I think that GR run a lottery as to who they reply to and who they dont! Way back in the beginning I had problems with the Family Tree and emailed the previous owners and to date never received a reply, resulting in me being treeless on this website. When the fees changed fairly recently, I emailed GR, once, twice and in total five times, still not reply, so Looby Lou you have done well to get a reply and as regards Andrew receiving one years free membership, good luck to you! If a shop was ripping people off then Trading Standards would soon get things resolved. Everyone must do what they have to do.

What new services??? NEW family tree format-that I now find totally un-useable~ so have to keep reloading the old tree format so I can navigate around it. NEW Records??......which I then have to buy credits for. Hotmatches???......hundreds of matching names- forget that the DOB & place of birth arent even close. Id prefer a half subscription so I have the same access as I had when the site first started & I joined................so I can keep in touch with all the brilliant people who use GR too.................and thats why I keep on renewing!

Reg, Why on earth would I feel obliged to pay? One of the reasons I got the refund is due to not being able to upload an unchanged large gedcom file that previously uploaded fine. It started to not upload when some changes to the GR site were made. This file (slightly larger now but unchanged in format) still does not upload today. Are you suggesting that I disregard this rather essential feature of the site and cough up for the 'privilege' of being able to post a few messages here (something which is free on most other genealogy sites)? Some people are (and have) probably doing very nicely with all the paying customers but personally I prefer to only pay up if the quality of the service on offer is up to scratch. Of course, individually each of us is a dispensable customer...I guess that's GR's advantage could be of having 1000s or maybe 10000s of people each give them almost a tenner where not one customer can bully them into improving their service by threatening to go elsewhere. Regards Andy

Hi All, Just thought I'd give you an update on my recent complaint about the price increase and this is the response I received from Genes 'We tested various prices through a survey of our customers via the website and the feedback showed that an annual subscription of £9.95 was still a very fair price considering the many new services that have been added to the site' Now I don't know about any of you but I certainly never read or saw anything to do with any kind of survey. Just the kind of explanation I expected with no real answer to the question posed in the first place. Lou

Well, each to his own, but if I'd had a free year, I'd feel morally obliged to pay for a year's membership.......... Reg

Last year after renewing, I found parts of the site not functioning correctly. I complained and received a complete refund of my renewal fee, and was kindly left as a full member. So the last 12 months was free of charge. Everyone would have been entitled to the refund on the basis that I received it because what I paid for was not working properly. Hopefully, they've fixed it. Regards. Andy

Hi All, I too am considering whether to renew or not. As previously mentioned back in 2003 the fee was £5 now doubled. I don't know how they can justify this outstanding increase when the rate of inflation is below 3%. I've written to Genes regarding the increase and am waiting for their reply, which should be interesting reading. Lou

Have to say without this site i wouldnt have contacted with others who are distantly related thro different branches of my tree. One gets so caught up in 'MY tree that you forget that siblings of ancesters went on to create 'their ' trees too. ITs great to make contact with others and know where the family branches went. I have just been contacted by someone in Canada whos grt grt grandad and my paternal mums grt grandad were bros.born in the 1840.s Its a big old world out there and families do scatter. shirley

I am going to renew in May as I still think the site is good value, roughly equivalent to buying one certificate. However I am not actively building my tree on here just correcting any mistakes I find as I can't get on with the new tree builder programme. I belong to rootschat and family tree forum which both offer a free place to discuss family history research and keep in touch with friends. The BBC history site also has a free family history discussion board. I also have my tree on tribal pages. Family tree forum and the BBC site do not accept advertising and tribal pages and rootschat only have a small amount for family history related products. Anne

Its unfortunate but this site seems to going the same way as friends reunited in that they are pricing themselves out. I havent renewed my 'friends' subs cos its now not worth the money. However theres so many nice people on here that I,m sticking around for the time being.I,m not much of a poster but have had loads of help from others on here. so much that i took the plunge and joined Ancestry cos i felt i could help others too. I have been to several meets and the folks met at these are lovely. Each to his own tho .as they say. If you feel you have got all you want from the site(like I did on Friends) then it aint worth renewing Shirley

I too have , up to now, been a reader more than a poster - but what I have read in terms of tips and advice from other members has more than made up for the fee. I don't use this site for searching at all (instead use ancestry as I consider it better value) but I think the wealth of experience on this site is an amazing source to tap into. However, as has been said it's a personal choice, but I'd like to thank everyone here for their help & wish all a very happy new year. Anne

Individual choice Andrew. I renewed in November for a fourth time. I wish you luck with your research. Jean x.

If you didn't make full use of the site, then it makes sense not to renew........ Reg

well andrew good luck for 2007 and i hope any brick walls you come across soon come tumbling down love linda x x

Of course it is up to each individual to make their own mind up.All as I can say I have been a member now for three years now,and I have often heard of people leaving in great numbers,from time to time,I have also seen the same people returning,time after time. Regards William Russell Jones Cefn Mawr Wrexham.

hiya have pm'd you Julie

Renew or not, it always seems to be an active debate here. My renewal is due in 2 days time but this time around I've decide to skip it (at a fiver it seemed fairer value). So, for the time being this is my last post (not that I'll be missed, I was more of a reader than a poster). Best Wishes for 2007! Andy. www.familytreediscovery.net