Genealogy Chat

I was in the process of signing up this afternoon and got to the final part of the sign-up having given all my details including card details and then clicked on submit, only to be informed that the final amount AFTER tax was £82.00. This annoyed me as their banner clearly states that a years subscription is £69.00. I just want to ask the opinion Ancestry members here if they think the site is worth the money they paid. Your feedback would be appreciated..............Pam

Hi Pam That does seem a lot! I signed up for three months and have been very pleased. Having access to the 1891 census has meant I can go so much further on with my London based family. Oh., it was £30 for three months.

i signed up for ancestry last week and it has well been worth the money.i have found out so much info regarding my tree. ive also been helping other GCmembers to find theirs which i find very rewarding.i love helping others susie

I signed up for 3 months about 4 weeks ago and the cost was £35 with the tax added on. It also said that if you signed up before December that you got 2 months free, so it will be interesting to see when it runs out! I have found the 1891 census to be really useful and also enjoy doing look-ups for other people. I have had 2 free trials already, but paying for it saves staying up all night to get the information before my trial runs out!! Maggy, West Yorkshire

Hi Pam, I know exactly what your talking about on this, I was too shocked to discover Ancestry's final price PLUS TAX £82.00, It is clearly misleading not to mention about any tax to be added..... I thought americans paid tax on goods and services where as we pay VAT... so are we paying something we shouldnt be ?

I personally do not think that this is value for money. In my researches of my family tree I have noticed that quite a few of the people who are of a like mind, are, like myself perhaps no longer young. If I was still earning a salary, instead of being dependant on Retirement Pension, I would not perhaps find the charges so excessive. If you know that your ancestors came from within your own area, then my advice is to go along to your local library, where no doubt you will be able to access ALL the census returns up to 1901 for free.

If you want any look-ups for 1891, please get in touch Marjorie and I will do them for you. Maggy, West Yorkshire

Pamela I took out a subscription in July and paid £69 95 for yearly subscription and paid no tax, don't know when that started. I do find it useful and there are other things on there that are helpful too. I am also willing to do look ups for anybody that needs them. Lynda

just wondered if it makes a difference in cost if you subscribe to ancestry.co.uk or ancestry.com

I paid £30 for a quarterly subscription back in May and I renewed it when my 3 months were up as I use this site a lot for my own research as well as helping out a friend of mine and using it by performing look-ups for other people. I feel I'm getting my money's worth and like Susie, I love being able to help others and get the same amount of enjoyment from doing so. I cannot comment with regards those people paying £82, because I only know what I paid when I originally took out a subscription. Andy.

Hi, yes I think its worth the money. I found that I was spending loads on the 1901 census, usually 5 - 10 pounds at a time., now being a member of ancestry for a year, in the long run works out cheaper.....I had to convert from English pounds to Aussie dollars & pay another fee too, but felt it was all worth it. Im helping my cousin on her research too, so this membership is being put to very good use. Regards Dawn

It certainly doesn't seem fair that they state £69.95 then take £82.19! OK so it's tax but they could tell us! It's not as if they send us a VAT invoice or that we could claim it back. Anyway if they are American why are we paying their tax anyway? The 1891 census data is very useful plus there is other info which would be difficult, but not impossible, to trace elsewhere. Probably worth the money. If your ancestors were all over the place and you can't get to the records office easily you could make a lot of progress during a 3 month or one year subscription. Janet

Thank you to all for your replies. I am going to subscribe for 3 months initially and see how I get on....................Pam

Just got this from Ancestry.co.uk.............. To answer your question concerning the tax towards different subscriptions at Ancestry, some subscribers may pay a tax on their subscription purchases. Due to recent European Union(EU) taxing regulations, the EU tax rate of 17.5% is now charged with online subscriptons purchased by anyone from a participating EU country. Before submitting an order on any Ancestry sites, a red message at the top of the screen will be displayed stating that the total includes tax. A chart showing the tax at the bottom of the screen is also given. Since everyone who purchases an account at Ancestry( whether purchased at our UK or US sites) is not required to pay the tax, due to where they live, the taxes are not displayed with the original price shown. These notices are given after the information for placing the order is filled in each required box, but before the order is placed. This is the case for each order placed for online subscriptions on any Ancestry website. Each renewing account for those living within the EU will also include this tax rate. If there is anything else we can assdist you with, please let us know. Joshua Customer Solutions MyFamily/Ancestry.com Are you with them so far?

I joined last week and so far have found it not very good. I have found no family as yet. Not even in 1891!!!!! INot even the one's I know are there. I am very disappointed at the moment. John

Yes. Jan

Susan Yes, it has Wales as well as the Channel Islands. I have signed up for the 3 months, and personally think it is BRILLIANT and well worth the money. Viv

John, When you use the search on the 1891 census, try putting less information in. Sometimes only putting a surname and a place of birth will turn up the people you are looking for. Failing that you can e-mail some of them to me and I will have a look for you. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes works wonders! Maggy, West Yorkshire

I couldnt find any of my ancestors on Ancestry 1891 at first and I was dissapointed. What I did find that the indexing is quite poor, not as bad as 1901 census, but had expected it to better. Some people just didnt show up at all, some did but with wrong surnames. Finally I looked at the actual images of the area I knew they were living and found them all there with correctly spelt names..... So your missing acestors are probably in there somewhere, but just not being picked up by Ancestrys indexing.

I have quite a few areas of 1891 Census on CD-ROm but still keep being tempted to sign up with ancestry.co.uk because I am sure there are people on the census that I have not been ablt to find without an index. I wonder if anyone knows what there plans are for other census years. I like the idea of being able to search the whole country on one index. Martin