Genealogy Chat

Just feeling very ripped off. Spent £11 and have just got one census to show for it. Have a very bad taste in my mouth and it's not the curry I've just had! I expect to have to pay for my research and,as you all know, it really is addictive and I don't mind the cost. The fact is though, with SP you have to gamble all the time that you have found the right person and it can cost you loadsamoney. They really should give more information so that you can decide whether you have found the right record. I doubt there is any other organisation that could get away with it. Bah humbug!! Chris

Yes Joan, I have lost credits in the past. I have just had another look at the site and there is a question in the FAQs which says specifically there isn't enough info in the Wills & Testaments to make a choice. The answer is, more or less, sorry, but tough. I just don't think it is good enough. You might buy something without seeing it, but not without even knowing if it's what you want.....bah humbug again!!!!

Chris & Joan, Totally agrea with you both. Brilliant site with lots to offer!! But a complete rip off!! Why are we paying for public information, the real reason for this site is for the benifit of Americans, Canadians, Australians, Newzealanders etc as the will/ have to pay the price. I'm a Scot living in England so it's very hard for me to access any information for my ancestors. I got alot of help from GR members like Mhairi QoS and Susan from AUSTRALIA for free!!!! Makes you want to throw up. Dreekie

Hi Dreekie, I guess I've been spoilt by Ancestry...about £65 for a whole year and hundreds of records. I don't mind paying, but not for something I don't want. Ah well I think I'll have another G&T!! Chris

Well I have to disagree I think SP is a great site....many times in the past I have spent many £7 on certificates that are wrong because English and Welsh BMD indexes give far far less information to make a decision on.

Oh and if I want to look at pre civil registration parish records I have to actually get off my bum and go the record office in question...

Yes, I disagree too -got loads of info when I started doing my tree and like to print off the info. I probably spent quite a bit but what hobby is cheap. You could always ask on here if anyone can help as we all have extra info from the certificates. Happy hunting, Ros

...can't find the time to go to record offices at the moment, too busy working. And Scotland is a long way from home. Isn't Skating on Ice good!

Sorry, Willow if I've offended you....just a bit miffed that's all. It is a fantastic site, but just a bit of a rip off. Been working hard this week to earn my wages...

Hear hear!! Now go and have a lie down Joan!! I think Willow has got the hump with us

I understand what you are saying but think of it this way scotlandspeople has the certificates on line up to certain dates on the other sites you have to get codes and send for the certificates which I have done only to find they are the wrong ones which I have then wasted money but at least on scotlandspeople you can look and see then you can save to computer or print it off there and then but if you happen to lose it it is still there for nothing the next time instead of sending for another one What I usually do is get the deaths and work back from there but remember the ages or birth dates might be out by 1yr on them

Alastair Take your point. It's not so easy though when you have a common name to deal with and lots of them from the same area. Agree though, that when you hit on the right one , it's good value. But you have to find it first. Regards, Chris

While not perfect, SP is the best site on the web for Scottish searches. I only wish there were an equivalent for English searches. Ancestry is OK but search results are quirky - don't bother to tick an 'exact' box as that will result in zero results, and why when I don't request results outside the UK do I get all these USA and Canadian returns, or if I specify a particular county and parish do I still get every possible result in the world? Familysearch/LDS is unreliable and incomplete. The use of wildcards is essential in using SP, even on common first names e.g. I always use S*r* for Sarah/Sara/Sarrah or even J*n* for John/Jn/Johnne/Johne. One of my families is Mundell which I have found as Mundel/Mundal/Mundle/Munnel/......by using M*n*l*. Yes it can be expensive, but with experience you can usually get an actual image for around UKP2.00 (5 searches plus image). That's a lot better than having to send away to GRO and pay UKP7.00 and wait 2 weeks. You can also do a lot of preparatory searching without paying e.g. finding how many of a particular name were born in a particular parish over a period of, say 50 years. I think you need to learn how to do computer searching properly, then you will find this an invaluable site.

Val and Joan, yes agree. It's just a shame when people get the hump. It's only an opinion. Worse things happen at sea. I think Joan and I are right though, but that doesn't mean we ARE right, it's just our take on things. I can't afford to travel all over the place and, as a single parent, I haven't got the time. There are probably a lot of OAPs who are having fun doing their research and they may not be able to travel and can't afford......oh whart amm I going on about...it was only an observation

Joan, It's probably all to do with the Java whatsit on your computer...perhaps someone on here will have an idea

Joan, it would be nice if SP were at least to offer some help, especially as they are earning money hand over fist. Computers are very annoying sometimes. Chris

Must turn in for the night....regards to all!

i am beging to agree its a rip off as i found nothin and it annoys me grately

I think it's a great site & have always found the staff really helpful when I have emailed them, it worked out expensive at first until I found my way around. I have even had an A3 copy of a certificate sent to me free when an image was hard to read. The only thing I wish is that they had a yearly subscription like Ancestry. Georgina.

Looking at the costs of things i wouldnt say we are being ripped off by Scotlandspeople,i do believe however that there should be more search perameters eg mothers maiden name for births, wifes name on male death certs ect. I have common names in Scotland, i do know the problems there are in searching for them on SP. When you look on a whole though you arent spending as much, well i dont think you are. It costs £6 to get 30 credits. Even if you only gain one cert from this result, it has still cost you less then ordering an english one from the GRO. If you pull up one wrong cert on SP you've lost 5 credits (£1 or £1.20 including the one credit used to search) while if you send for the wrong cert from the GRO its either £7 or £3. On the time problem. I know that a few people have 'lost' credits this way as they have let their time run out but personally my credits never last me more than a day. This has been extended though perhaps it might be better for SP to look into non expiring credits or those that expire after a long period of inactivity. Census searches are a problem on Scotlandspeople but can be solved by searching for two people you know (hope) are together and matching ref numbers. With any luck ancestry will have up more scottish indexs which will help with census searching. Events 1875 and before, their searches are helped by info from the IGI. We are lucky to have this site, a few years ago we didnt have it. What did people do before that? A trip to Edinburgh? (or other places that have BMD) Think of the cost for that. Travel there and back, accomodation ect or hire a researcher or enquire directly to the GRO (who'll only search in a five year radius for something like £13 for one search) In a way i am lucky that i live in Edinburgh. I have access to the NAS, the Central Library (OPR's, Trade Directories, ect) and Registry House. It still costs £17 to spend a day searching (not to mention bus there and back, £2) in Registry House Edinburgh and although it is great for looking for those hard to find rellies or those common names i still use Scotlandspeople to print out my certs, suppose it helps as i now know where to find them. Those with English/Welsh ancestors are a little spoilt with ancestry, if you where researching 10 or more years ago though you wont have it or any of these other sites and you'd be forking out a tonne of money looking for your ancestors and i'm going to bet it would be a lot more than what your paying today. Mhairi p.s apologies if any of the above is confusing, spelt wrong, doesnt make any sense at all...had a tipple or two or...