Well Done Scotlands People

[mitchell]

I'm already a big fan of the SP site but I just have to give praise to the staff for their efficiency and helpfulness in dealing with problems when you contact them.

The image and index data did not match for an ancestor that I'd viewed...I contacted SP on Tuesday and by this afternoon I had an apology and a promise to rectify the problem (which might take a while) and in the meantime the required image had been attached to the email.

Fantastic 

Elaine

[UglyDuckling]

I have to second that Elaine.

When I couldn't make out a date on a birth record, I got a very quick reply from someone at Scotlandspeople who tried to decipher it herself, but also sent me photocopies from the original, and refunded my credits for the original download.

You can't get better service than that

Gary

[Alastair Chisholm]

Yep I'm with you.
There's a lot of criticism of SP regarding their charges and suggestions that their indexing shortcomings are a deliberate ploy to extract money.
My view, as someone who has used SP extensively (and spent a fair amount of £££s!), is that they offer a unique service which can be quite productive if you are careful about how you construct your searches. That's up to you to learn and there are plenty of people ready to give advice! 
Of course you will get irrelevant results which you have to pay for - but that is what comes with the privilege of being able to conduct your research from your PC instead of journeying to distant libraries, museums, record repositories etc.
There are some difficulties with their indexing but in my experience they are always ready to correct errors and refund credits where due, and opinions/ complaints can always be aired through the user group.
I give Scotlandspeople the the thumbs up - the cynics among us don't seem to know when they're onto a good thing!
Alastair

[liverpool lass]

I'm also pleased that I can now buy vouchers to view records which is much easier for me.

[runner]

Hi Elaine

Glad that you have good things to say about Scotlandspeople.
For me it has been the best source of factual info with very, very few indexing problems. (two, I think, in 3 years)
With a tree which is now over 2,200 strong we have certificates from SP for all the main ancestors running to 8 large lever arch files.

It has cost hard cash but it would have cost a great deal more to travel to Edinburgh to view the originals. Think how useful it is to researchers overseas.

Even the OPR entries have been informative. Some more than others and when an image has been too poor to read they always respond promptly, pleasantly and provide a paper copy as a replacement almost by return of post.
The only problems now are posed by the oldest (OPR) entries being in Secretary Hand.
Talk about learning a new language. My problem is learning an old one.

Russell

[mitchell]

I too have folders full of certificates and count myself very fortunate to have so many main ancestors who didn't leave Scotland because the information is there at such a reasonable cost from SP.

To have your results always available when you log in is a godsend also...you don't have to worry about losing it all if your pc crashes and you haven't saved anything (as mine did once)

Working full time leaves little time for my research and therefore at the moment I have to do most of mine online...I certainly couldn't access the information so easily and quickly if I had to actually go to the archives etc to get it.

The fact that SP listen to their users impresses me too...the site has had so many improvements since I started using it 3 years ago that in my opinion it just keeps getting better and better.

It is a unique service...the cynics will always have a problem but the majority of us do recognise when we are on to a good thing

Elaine

[DotBrennan]

I have had nothing but positive results from SP - even when there have been problems with the images.

I have reported 2 census pages that I was unable to read and within an hour I had an email reply apologising and refund of credits.  Hard copies of the images arrived in the mail with a letter, once again apologising for the inconvenience.

The same if the index didn't match the image - a refund was given immediately.
Just this week I advised a slight spelling discrepancy (e instead of an a) in the wills index.  I received a thank you email within an hour.

Certainly much better than Ancestry.......
I have contacted them about problems and never heard back.

I wouldn't have been able to make such progress with my Scottish roots without SP.

Bren.

[mclachlan]

As someone who lives in Australia, I can only say that I wouldn't have anywhere near the amount of information, certificates etc if it weren't for Scotlands People.  Those of you who live near Edinburgh or Glasgow and can access these resource centres are privileged! For people like myself who live on the other side of the world, we can only rely on the internet as the main source of obtaining info! I am hoping to get back to Scotland later this year but my research is going to be so much easier because of everything I have been able to find online.  Because this is my main interest at this stage in my life, I don't mind spending money on credits.  I can think of a lot more things I'd rather NOT waste my money on!