General Chat

Hi all,

Just wanted to add my feelings on this subject!

I've been a free member for a while and have just renewed. I was going to renew as a Gold member to get access to 1911; but on finding out they'd invented Platinum just to make us pay through the nose to see it I've gone for Standard membership instead!

I emailed them to tell them that they were losing money on this and got this rather silly reply;

"Dear Susan

Thanks for your email.

We are delighted to be able to offer the 1911 census on the site now. We have
taken a competitive overview and we feel that the cost of viewing the records,
either using Pay-Per-View credits or as a Platinum member still offers extremely
good value for money.

I hope you enjoy using the site.

Best regards,


Nia
Genes Support Team"

It does annoy me when they don't even read your emails!

They got a rather more strongly worded reply ending with "GOT IT NOW?"

Needless to say they didn't get back to me again!

Beware! GR only allows you to see transcripts of 1911 cenus, not original documents

Notice how my comments were deleted, well I think I finally hit a nerve but I will no longer post on the topic.

Truth hurts and I have been ripped off. No point fighting a battle that people are not bothered about fighting.

I will vote with my feet when my renewal is due

spongebob


Yu can try ....... but I doubt you will get anywhere


The paragraph that Rose posted is considered legally binding for any site, business or whatever


...... and lets GR off the hook whenever it changes its T&C


Anyway, why are you griping?


FMP subscribers have to pay extra if they want to access the 1911


I have no doubt that ancestry will in some way increase its subscription rates for anyone who wants to access the 1911 when they get the rights to carry it.


Its known as BUSINESS ....... profits and all that.


you don't have to pay the money on here.


In fact as that paragraph states, by the mere fact of posting ONCE on here, you have accepted their T&C's, even after they have changed them



and like Rose, I am also extremely tired of all these threads complaining about Platinum and Gold memberships.



sylvia

Hi everyone Ive just been reading all the posts on this subject, I upgraded to Platinum about a week ago, and wish I hadnt bothered. Most of my research is done in the Channel Islands, I havent been able to access any 1911 Channel Island census. I sent the support group an email, and thought it would be just a minor hiccup. They replied and asked who I was looking for and they would find them.

Well they came back with other persons of the same surname but not the one I was looking for. I actually have a 1911 census of this person which I obtained from FMP last year.

So I then put these other persons that they had found into the 1911
census and still no luck, I have actually sent them 4 emails today they haven-t bothered to reply to the last two. They say that they have the Channel Island 1911 census as it would be with the England returns. So why am I not getting it!!

I feel really frustrated there is no telephone number to contact them and now they are not answering my emails. I can-t afford to waste money. So what do I do now.








census

I think you will find Bob that the T & Cs as you state "apply to all records" refers to records HELD by GR as of that date...therefore you signed for the records they held, NOT those they might hold in the future.

EDIT But give it a try if you want to... I am just heartily sick of seeing more and more threads on the same subject pushing more interesting topics off the board

See my other post. There original T&C stated "FULL" access to "ALL" records for Gold members. They cannot change the goal posts

"
We reserve the right to change these Terms in our sole discretion from time to time by posting the amended Terms on the homepages of the Websites. Your continued use of the Genes Reunited Service after changes are posted indicates your acceptance of those changes. If you do not wish to be legally bound by any future amended Terms then do not continue to use or access the Genes Reunited Service".

Dont let this company get away with ripping you off, complain to Trading Standards, Watchdog, your MP, the taxi driver who will not shut up.

They are in breach of contract, have changed the T&C without prior consent again a breach of contract.

Access for Gold members should be free until membership is due for renewal.

findmypast
Save a massive £29.95 on a Full subscription: until June 6th
Your promotional code for 20% off any subscription:<<<<<<<

This offer is only valid until midnight UK time on Sunday June 6, 2010 so don't delay!

Don't all rush at once.

National Archives staff advised that, once FMP had had the full census online for six months, then others, such as ancestry, could apply to transcribe the census.

Hi there Kiwibird from another Kiwi bird.

Huia.

Just to let you know that FMP have Pay as you Go credits which gives you access to everything on their site including 1911 census 6 Pounds will buy you 60 credits and you have 90 days to use them. Also 24.95 pounds will buy you 280 credits with 365 days to use them.

As the majority of my family had already migrated to the colonies prior to 1911 I have only needed to look for a few, so have found these credits perfect for what I want and for an extra 4 or 5 NZ$ depending on the exchange rate I can get a far better deal than GR'S one where I can only buy 50 credits for 7 days use. Also the census records in general on FMP are much better than Genes.
And are you aware that GR are charging for viewing not only the original transcripts but also the copied transcripts which are available for free viewing on FMP and the LDS SITE.

Hi Keith


my understanding was that the government agreed to have the census transcribed, and that it did cost them money, but you are quite correct in that it was FMP that paid for everything. Thank you for correcting me.


Looking at the 1911 Census site www.fmpbsol.1911census.co.uk/, this is what it says:-


The National Archives and the 1911 census

The National Archives has entered into a licensing agreement with brightsolid (formerly Scotland Online) to provide online access to the 1911 Census records. The following series are included under this heading:

RG14 - 1911 Census Schedules RG78 - 1911 Enumerators Summary Books

Digitisation of the filmed records was undertaken onsite at Kew by contractors working for brightsolid and it is envisaged that the entire indexed series of records will be available online during 2009

Associates like brightsolid are providing a value added service making our records easily searchable and more widely available to our readers in their own homes worldwide, and so are permitted to charge a reasonable amount for the service

The Associate is required to fund investment in digitisation, cataloguing, indexing, hosting, delivery, technical support and marketing of Online Services of National Archives-held records. The National Archives does not pay for any part of the development of the service, but receives a royalty based on a percentage of net invoiced revenue from the Online Service. This is retained by the Archives and used to fund other projects

The costs involved in implementing and maintaining online services are not inconsequential and this approach fits in with our e-Business Strategy, in response to the government's target to enable citizens to have electronic access to government services. Online access to digitised images of our documents over the Internet is a very important element of this commitment

The reality is that digitising these documents and making them available on the Internet has always been a task beyond the resources of The National Archives because of the vast size of the archive. We therefore sought Licensed Internet Associates to help us achieve this vision by participating in the commercial digitisation of genealogical and other records

Our agreement with brightsolid builds on the success of existing Licensed Internet Associateship deals with Ancestry, GenesReunited and findmypast.co.uk and will allow these popular records to be made accessible to the general public for the first time





so, in summary ........... it seems brightsolid controls access to the 1911 census for the foreseeable future, probably around 2012, when presumably ancestry will pay them an amount to use the information OR undertake their own transcription.



the question is debatable (or academic!!) as to what constitutes charging a "reasonable amount" for access.



sylvia

Sylvia, I am afraid it was not the government that had the 1911 census transcribed, it was FMP, that is why only they (Britesolid) have the right to charge so much, they have to recoup their money.

After 1912, the other companies (Ancestry and co) will have the images made available to them, but they to transcribe them themselves.

Sylvia, I do understand why these things cost so much, I was just wistfully thinking it would be nice if I had the money so I could see everything I want to see, but I have other priorities for my money at present.

Huia.

Angela


I fail to see how it is an imposition to expect people to pay out more money to view one census


The 1911 census was not supposed to be released for transcription until 2011 because of the 100 year rule. That meant it would have been at least 2012 or even 2013 before it would have been available for use.


The British government gave into pressure from genealogists and agreed to release most of the information early


The British government paid a lot of money to have the records transcribed


Previous censuses were transcribed by private companies ............... and everyone has had to pay extra to see those. Private companies have to make a profit.


The government also now wants to recover at least some of the money spent so far. Not least because there are a very large numbr of people who would fail to understand why multi millions of pounds were spent on something for a relatively small number of people.


You're actually very lucky to be able to see the census 2 years ahead of time!



Anyway, please do remember that GR does not carry its own records or official documents .... they just transfer you to other sites that GR has paid to access ............and GR has to recoup those costs!


In my opinion, paying the extra for Gold (let alone Platinum) on GR is the most expensive and least successful way to do your research.


Looking for a bmd ... sends you to the Index of b, m or d. Then you have to search that index. It doesn't tell you the spouse for example in the marriage Index.

Using the free www.freebmd.org.uk sends you to the registration details, gives you the names of possible spouses which you can then identify with some certainty via the next census ....... or by buying the certificate

Using bmd on ancestry.co.uk sends you to the same type of information as freebmd, and as recently as 2005


Looking at a census on GR only allows you to look at one page. What happens if the person you have entered is either at the very top of the page or the very bottom?? How do you find out if there are any other family members?

On ancestry or FMP you can move back and forwards.


Looking at the neighbours can also help your research.




sylvia

I did mention this before but in case no one noticed, if you do the free search on here, it gives you slightly more than on the 1911 site, for example my gt grandfather...on 1911 just has his place of residence as Fulham (free search) ...on here the free search throws up that he lived Fulham, but also has his place of birth, Cahirciveen , Kerry, Ireland...

worth checking here too then.

And my first question was going to be...... how much?
Ah well.
Deanna X

As a new member,I was very disappointed to find I would now have to pay extra to view the 1911 census..I would say it is an imposition to expect people to shell out that amount for just one census.Never mind though..I shall keep plodding on without upgrading.
Wendy