GR - it gets worse

[Mum44]

Oh Gadget - aren't you trusting!   Please let us know whether your problem really is solved !

[XPhile2868]

GR is ok, I suppose. I have found some fairly close cousins from Australia (second cousins) and I've also been able to help others with people who are on my tree but are closer to that person than i am. For example, I've traced a lot of the Gillgrass familly of Preston because its a rare name (I think there were less than 100 in England and Wales in 1881) and a Gillgrass married my great grandmother's brother. I've also found a few people who are descended from the Maynard and Hulks families, including the Australian cousins.

The hot matches can be annoying, especially if its either obvious that they aren't a mtahc or when it could possibly be, but you don't get a reply.


Stephen

[Mum44]

Yes - Stephen - the later is VERY annoying - and it is usually someone who might be in your missing file who doesn't reply!

[crystalight]

  I have been reading all the comments about GR 

I have been a member for about three years and initially made some really good contacts    I never use their search facility and I do not like their forums so I cannot comment on that 

I have recently made another couple of really good contacts BUT I have unfortunately learnt to ask a lot of questions to eliminate time wasters and to see if the contact responds before giving lots of information.

I personally think to get much out of the matches you need your full tree on there (after all you don't have to open it against your wishes, so no one will actually see it unless you want them to) - if it is only a skeleton you may never get a response from a third or forth cousin 

Two of my best contacts have been quite far removed but had a lot of information about my branch of the family    If I had only put my immediate, direct blood line on there I would have never heard from them    I would still be searching certain little branches instead of looking further back in time 

I do agree with others here that there should be some way of knowing whether a person is still contactable because it's really annoying to get 6 or 7 definite hot matches and then not to get a reply from the contact 

I also dislike their matching of census and other trees as you enter information because it is often completely wrong, like after the ancestors death or before they were born etc.

So to sum up I think for a fairly small expense it is still a reasonable source for information, if you are still looking for an answer to brick walls you never know where that will come from 

Everyone has their own way of researching and I know at times I have been fuming at a response from there BUT I don't think I can afford to dismiss it completely because you just never know.......

Crystal 

[Nadine Moore]

Sleepybarb

You can do it so it doen't take money continuously. Go into My Account and click on My Membership & Payment details. There are then two tick boxes - continuous membership or single membership. Click single membership and they then can't just take the money. This is how I renew.

Like many on here I too have had a few good matches - all quite distant relations but it's just good to have some-one else to share the frustrations of particular lines with. I've also had many obscure matches that I only glance at the Hot Matches occasionally now.

Another thing I find is the time it takes to navigate around the site, trying to find the buttons or links is just frustrating so I don't bother going on thre a lot nowadays.

My membership is up in March and i'll have to think about if I rejoin (it'll also depend how much they want for their pockets too!!)

dinie

[Garethboxing]

It's ironic that I should come across this thread today - I was  contacted a few hours ago via GR by a grand-daughter of my grandfather's eldest sister, a lady who had vanished from my view after the 1891 Census. I now know she married, had two children and died in 1897. It's opened up a whole line of cousins I was unaware of 
  So while I too find the site extremely irritating, not to mention the chore of deleting scores of Tepid Matches each month, it occasionally comes up trumps. And for a tenner a year that seems a worthwhile gamble
   Gareth

[downside]

I've just done a search on GR for the Surname BRAWN and Birthplace Sussex and these are the results:-

Eric 1921 Walsall, Staffordshire, England No Jennifer Send Message
Denis 1913 Mill Road, Shelfield, Brownhills, Staffordshire No Jennifer Send Message
Albert 1911 BRIGHTON East Sussex England No James Send Message
Albert 1911 SEVENOAKS Kent England Yes David Send Message
Albert 1911 BRIGHTON East Sussex England No Brian Send Message
Edith 1908 SEVENOAKS Kent England Yes David Send Message
Alice 1904 SEVENOAKS Kent England Yes David Send Message
William 1895 SEVENOAKS Kent England Yes David Send Message

So how come I have Staffordshire and Kent in the results?

[perth tiger]

My GR subs ran out yesterday and today I've had an email saying would I like any help as I have tried to access something today that only paid up members can see.
I have not been on there today   perhaps they are getting worried by lack of renewals?

Wendy

i got the same email as you, but my subs dont run out for another week

perth

[Blondie1]

Certainly not me someone pinched all my tree and put it on theirs I wont be renewing either.



Val