Big Problem - signing in to Ancestry free access sites

[trish251]

I am a subscriber and will continue to be one. In comparison to such things as
1) price of certificates
2) price of index CDs in Australia
3) Price of CDs from many Gen societies in the UK
4) money spent at many "pay to view" sites including ScotlandsPeople
5) Cost of information from the National Archives

I find a sub to ancestryUK the cheapest genealogy item I have ever bought. (although the CDs bought from the LDS run a close second).

I have never stored anything in their "shoebox" When I access a census or BDM image I download it to my computer - thus when I no longer have a subscription the images will still be available to me.

The LDS remain the most wonderful source of Free genealogy information. Sadly there are not too many of these left - our world  has certainly become a money making emporium!

Trish

[MarieC]

I agree with Trish re the virtues of the LDS.  Of course one used to be able to access Ancestry there, but sadly that is no longer possible    However, they still deliver a wonderful service!

I don't think the cost of Ancestry is too high, given what is on there.  My main beef is with the poor quality of some of their transcriptions!  I am not a subscriber mainly because I don't have an awful lot to look up on there any more, and what I do have would not justify the cost of a subscription.

SimonG, what are the good things about FamilyRelatives.com?

MarieC

[jc26red]

Does Ancestry actually have someone other than Mona working in "member solutions"?  She's replied to every e-mail so far!   It explains a lot about their company if they only have one person in customer services...

Hi Simon,
Customer services - especially complaints departments often give a "name"  - one name - when in fact there will be several if not 10-20 people handling queries. Companies think it adds a "personal" touch, trouble is if you make regular queries/complaints it becomes obvious. Now it can become annoying but it does safeguard the real Mona's of this world from abuse and stalkers.  I think who ever thought up "Mona" had a wicked sense of humour and devilment to use the name. 
Genes also did the same after it was sold, they carried on using the original name. I happened to make a comment on another forum about it, in a tongue in cheek sort of way, and got the message pulled and immediately after that Genes changed the name for the complaints dept... 
jc

[Simon G.]

SimonG, what are the good things about FamilyRelatives.com?

I've recently been using them for the overseas returns of the UK BMD index (which they have available free), and was quite impressed.  It did take a little getting used too, but after a few searches I found it quite a useful little place.
They also offers the 19th Century census returns (excluding 1881, and they also don't have 1901), as well as the complete BMD index to 2005 (which they also claim to be fully indexed for certain dates), the Great War dead, a number of military records (I'm not at all sure what these include...they just mention WW1 army & navy as well as WW2 navy, army & RAF), and a number of parish registers (they appear to be the Phillimore transcripts you sometimes get free with Family Tree Magazine).
The most attractive thing is they're currently running an special offer giving a price of only £37.50 for the year...half the cost of a year's subscription to Ancestry UK.  For the average user, what they offer on FamilyRelatives seems to be quite reasonable...certainly for anyone just wanting census and BMD material, they are far more cost effective.

[trish251]

Hi Simon

That sounds interesting - I will go and have a browse

Trish

[MarieC]

Thanks, Simon,

Good to hear your experiences with FamilyRelatives!  I've read a range of opinions on RC, so it's good to know yours.

That certainly sounds a good deal.  Wonder if their transcriptions are more accurate than those of Ancestry?   

MarieC

[JAP]

Hi MarieC,

Surely there is no way any transcriptions could be less accurate than Ancestry's 

JAP

[BassinghamTerrier]

Well, that's ME stuffed too! 

I used to spend hours on a Sunday and in the hols (I'm a teacher) trawling through the marriages and deaths looking to tie up loose ends.

I can still get into the partial records, but they're no use to me now.

Might have to make more requests on the board because of this ... sorry in advance!

[madpants]

Ah but surely Ancestry's answer to this dilemma is.......just spend a lot of your hard earned on a subscription!  Ancestry should have their philosophy at the top of every page

We are here to help you, with our accurate transcriptions and our focus on what you the mug..ahem consumer needs, and sod anyone who cannot afford it.