Genealogy Chat

If anyone is thinking of paying for the extra subscription for passenger lists, I would advise them not to bother. I paid at the beginning of Oct and am still waiting to access an original record relating to a passenger on The Titanic. The image does not load. I have contacted genes numerous times and given them every opportunity to provide the information I have paid for. I have requested, quite fairly, I think, bearing the amount of time that has passed, a refund. This request appears to fall on deaf ears. I am either ignored or e-mailed on an e-mail address that doesn't allow me to respond to them. Couple this together with the lack of hotmatches that they advertise they send through every two weeks, I don't see any value for money. I renewed my subscription back in September (from memory) and I have set up trees for 3 friends in Sep & Oct. Not one of us has had any hot matches through ... "Genes searches for hot matches every 2 weeks" ... I don't think so. Not value for money and I won't be renewing my subscription again. Yours very disappointed, Julie McCormack

Julie, how very disappointing for you. I know people often have trouble accessing records via Genes from what has been posted on here. The general view from most people is to have only basic membership on here for advice, support and lookups from others. I would think carefully about abandoning your membership altogether.
I have basic Genes plus basic Ancestry and 1911 sub, for example. On the odd occasion I have needed a record I don't have access to another kind person looks it up for me, and I do the same for others.
With all these problems I wonder if Genes is liable under the Trades Description Act!
Jan

I agree with Jan, the basic sub is better and then you can sub to other sites or get help by posting a question on here

Dont know if this helps but heres a site that lists all the passengers and crew of The Titanic. It lists name/age occupations and how much they paid for their ticket

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/

Click on their name and it gives you more details about where they lived and if they survived or not.

The only real value on GR is the advice and help given freely by other paying members.

Having anything other than a basic sub is, frankly, a waste of money

As for not getting 'hot matches'...........well, the best way to find links on GR is to use the search trees function..............

It may be, of course, that no other GR member has any of your family's names in a GR tree, in which case, there couldn't be any 'hot matches'..............or even cold ones.

Julia, sadly you have found out the pitfalls of taking anything other than the basic membership on this site. And you only find out about these once you have paid your money.

The hot matches has become a bit of a hot topic.

The have changed the criteria for hot matches due to pressure from members on here.

Now the criteria is far tighter than is used to be. They now match Year of Birth and Place of Birth, so unless you have exactly the same place & year or birth for your ancestor as another member you will never get that match.

IE I have family in Liverpool, but some people only put in a district such as West Derby, so my Liverpool will not match with West Derby. Or my Battersea family will not match with those who just put in Surrey.

As said before you would have a better chance of success by using the search trees facility for yourself and then you can decide what criteria you wish to match.

Julie, you could also try using the GR FB page to gain their attention - they do seem to respond quite quickly on there for some reason. Cx

Many thanks for all your responses. Genes have offered me an extra 3 months free subscription but judging by the above comments, I probably won't renew again after this subscription expires. I wasn't aware of the changes regarding hot matches and it sounds like if info doesn't match exactly then there is little chance of getting a match unless I do the search myself. Regarding the Titanic info, I do actually have the information I want regarding my passenger, my disappointment lies in the fact that having paid the extra £10+ subscription, I was hoping to see the original document to see if my passenger was travelling with anyone else as he was only 16, I do know that he didn't survive. Many thanks to you all, kind regards, Julie McCormack

Wouldnt the ships transcript have gone down with the ship?

After your PM I checked the passenger list and there was no one else with the same surname travelling on the Titanic

Ive just checked the image that GR are saying they have and the original is unavailable

This is what the transcript give you which is listed on that sire I posted earlier....for free

Name Patrick Lane
Departure Date 11 Apr 1912
Departure Port Queenstown
Passenger Destination New York, Usa
Did Not Board
Notes Patrick Lane. Born 1895 In Limerick, Ireland. 3Rd Class British Passenger. Perished.
Crossed Out
Birth Date 1895 (calculated from age)
Birth Country
Age 17
Marital Status
Sex Male
Occupation Agricultural Labourer
UK Address
Last Residence Country
Intended Residence Country
Passenger Recorded on Page 2 of 7
Voyage Information
Ship Name Ss Titanic
Official Number 131428
Master's Name E J Smith
Shipping Line White Star Line
Where Bound New York, Usa
Square Feet 26992
Registered Tonnage 46328/21831
Passengers on Voyage 922
Length of Voyage (in days) 17

There would have been several 'lists' of passengers

Several types kept on ship a Full list of staff & passengers & probably several others made up from this list.

The White Star Offices would have also held similar lists.