I only paid my subscription to GC after I had found 3 or 4 names which tied up with "my" names, dates and places. I have succeeded in making contact with 5 "new" cousins, one of whom we recently visited when we were on holiday in the UK. So it does have its positive side.
On the other hand, what I cannot get my head around, is people who have posted their trees, and then do not bother to follow up contacts. In the last 4 weeks or so I have contacted several people with possible connections. Most of them turn out to be blind alleys, but that is to be expected with names like Williams and Jones in Wales.
However, 2 have responded positively, i.e. that there would appear to be a connection, but its left at that. No attempt at confirming the link at all. No further response to messages.
Why do they bother in the first place?