MyFamily.com & Ancestry.com a rip-off, nothing for the money *REBUTTAL ..They are not a rip-off!

I don't know who owns Ancestry...whether or not it's owned by LDS means nothing to me. And while LDS members might have their own theological reasons for holding genealogical records it's NOT for voodoo... How laughable!! LDS people might have a desire to convert, but they do not bother with any evangelical attempts toward researchers.
Go to a Family History Center, and you'll receive nothing but a concerted effort to assist you, with no mention of LDS religion at all.

Ancestry has been very helpful to me if for no reason than the ability to access US Census records online in the comfort of my own home, rather than travelling miles to an Archive Branch.

By the way, I've NEVER heard of the National Archives (or ANY of the 12 Branches for that matter), referring someone to Ancestry.com for Census Records. They DO HAVE ALL of the Census records from first one taken in 1790 forward.
1790-1930 is public record.

To the individual who was unable to locate anything on his/her family: Ancestry is still in the process of adding and indexing online records, if you were looking at census, birth records, etc, there IS a possibility that there are no records or your family avoided being counted in the census',
what kind of search are you doing? Perhaps you need to do a more advanced search. Have you provided locations, dates? Have you done a literal search or Soundex?

Ancestry's online searches are done a bit differently than one would do at a library or at an Archives Branch, which will point you do a drawer, a roll of fiche, a page number and line... where one has to use those old hand cranked fiche machines.
There are tutorials online. You have to learn to use them.

I don't know who owns Ancestry...whether or not it's owned by LDS means nothing to me. And while LDS members might have their own theological reasons for holding genealogical records it's NOT for voodoo... How laughable!! LDS people might have a desire to convert, but they do not bother with any evangelical attempts toward researchers.
Go to a Family History Center, and you'll receive nothing but a concerted effort to assist you, with no mention of LDS religion at all.

Ancestry has been very helpful to me if for no reason than the ability to access US Census records online in the comfort of my own home, rather than travelling miles to an Archive Branch.

By the way, I've NEVER heard of the National Archives (or ANY of the 12 Branches for that matter), referring someone to Ancestry.com for Census Records. They DO HAVE ALL of the Census records from first one taken in 1790 forward.
1790-1930 is public record.

To the individual who was unable to locate anything on his/her family: Ancestry is still in the process of adding and indexing online records, if you were looking at census, birth records, etc, there IS a possibility that there are no records or your family avoided being counted in the census',
what kind of search are you doing? Perhaps you need to do a more advanced search. Have you provided locations, dates? Have you done a literal search or Soundex?

Ancestry's online searches are done a bit differently than one would do at a library or at an Archives Branch, which will point you do a drawer, a roll of fiche, a page number and line... where one has to use those old hand cranked fiche machines.
There are tutorials online. You have to learn to use them.

I don't know who owns Ancestry...whether or not it's owned by LDS means nothing to me. And while LDS members might have their own theological reasons for holding genealogical records it's NOT for voodoo... How laughable!! LDS people might have a desire to convert, but they do not bother with any evangelical attempts toward researchers.
Go to a Family History Center, and you'll receive nothing but a concerted effort to assist you, with no mention of LDS religion at all.

Ancestry has been very helpful to me if for no reason than the ability to access US Census records online in the comfort of my own home, rather than travelling miles to an Archive Branch.

By the way, I've NEVER heard of the National Archives (or ANY of the 12 Branches for that matter), referring someone to Ancestry.com for Census Records. They DO HAVE ALL of the Census records from first one taken in 1790 forward.
1790-1930 is public record.

To the individual who was unable to locate anything on his/her family: Ancestry is still in the process of adding and indexing online records, if you were looking at census, birth records, etc, there IS a possibility that there are no records or your family avoided being counted in the census',
what kind of search are you doing? Perhaps you need to do a more advanced search. Have you provided locations, dates? Have you done a literal search or Soundex?

Ancestry's online searches are done a bit differently than one would do at a library or at an Archives Branch, which will point you do a drawer, a roll of fiche, a page number and line... where one has to use those old hand cranked fiche machines.
There are tutorials online. You have to learn to use them.

I don't know who owns Ancestry...whether or not it's owned by LDS means nothing to me. And while LDS members might have their own theological reasons for holding genealogical records it's NOT for voodoo... How laughable!! LDS people might have a desire to convert, but they do not bother with any evangelical attempts toward researchers.
Go to a Family History Center, and you'll receive nothing but a concerted effort to assist you, with no mention of LDS religion at all.

Ancestry has been very helpful to me if for no reason than the ability to access US Census records online in the comfort of my own home, rather than travelling miles to an Archive Branch.

By the way, I've NEVER heard of the National Archives (or ANY of the 12 Branches for that matter), referring someone to Ancestry.com for Census Records. They DO HAVE ALL of the Census records from first one taken in 1790 forward.
1790-1930 is public record.

To the individual who was unable to locate anything on his/her family: Ancestry is still in the process of adding and indexing online records, if you were looking at census, birth records, etc, there IS a possibility that there are no records or your family avoided being counted in the census',
what kind of search are you doing? Perhaps you need to do a more advanced search. Have you provided locations, dates? Have you done a literal search or Soundex?

Ancestry's online searches are done a bit differently than one would do at a library or at an Archives Branch, which will point you do a drawer, a roll of fiche, a page number and line... where one has to use those old hand cranked fiche machines.
There are tutorials online. You have to learn to use them.

Ancestry.com is not affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). Ancestry.com is a privately owned company. The LDS family history website is free, does not disclose information on living people, and is located at familysearch.org, not ancestry.com. Just to clear things up a bit.

First, Mormons did not create a monopoly in researching family history, but they are the singularly most active group to do so. It is because Mormons believe in the eternal nature of the family and that it is their responsibility to research their ancestors.

The rest of the world benefits from the millions and millions of dollars that the Mormons have spent going all over the world and microfilming records, then making them available to you and everyone who has an interest in their ancestors.

Second, it is very easy to get in touch with Ancestry.com. All you have to do is go to the bottom of their home page and click on corporate info and then click on 'contact us' and the following information (copied directly from their site) is shown:

MyFamily.com, Inc. Corporate
360 West 4800 North
Provo, UT 84604
Phone: 801-705-7000
FAX: 801-705-7001
pr@myfamilyinc.com


Now, instead of criticizing someone for their entrepreneurial forsight to create a pay site to help people with their geneaology, how about realizing that they have done a ton of work and deserve to be remunerated for it.
No, I don't work for them. Yes, I do use them. Yes, I am a Mormon. Yes, I do help other people research their ancestors.

And, if you want a search site that is absolutely free (of course, there is a catch, it is sponsored by the Mormon Church) then to to www.familysearch.org. It is free, they do ask you to register, but will NEVER contact you without your permission.

That said,

Make it a GREAT day !

First, Mormons did not create a monopoly in researching family history, but they are the singularly most active group to do so. It is because Mormons believe in the eternal nature of the family and that it is their responsibility to research their ancestors.

The rest of the world benefits from the millions and millions of dollars that the Mormons have spent going all over the world and microfilming records, then making them available to you and everyone who has an interest in their ancestors.

Second, it is very easy to get in touch with Ancestry.com. All you have to do is go to the bottom of their home page and click on corporate info and then click on 'contact us' and the following information (copied directly from their site) is shown:

MyFamily.com, Inc. Corporate
360 West 4800 North
Provo, UT 84604
Phone: 801-705-7000
FAX: 801-705-7001
pr@myfamilyinc.com


Now, instead of criticizing someone for their entrepreneurial forsight to create a pay site to help people with their geneaology, how about realizing that they have done a ton of work and deserve to be remunerated for it.
No, I don't work for them. Yes, I do use them. Yes, I am a Mormon. Yes, I do help other people research their ancestors.

And, if you want a search site that is absolutely free (of course, there is a catch, it is sponsored by the Mormon Church) then to to www.familysearch.org. It is free, they do ask you to register, but will NEVER contact you without your permission.

That said,

Make it a GREAT day !

First, Mormons did not create a monopoly in researching family history, but they are the singularly most active group to do so. It is because Mormons believe in the eternal nature of the family and that it is their responsibility to research their ancestors.

The rest of the world benefits from the millions and millions of dollars that the Mormons have spent going all over the world and microfilming records, then making them available to you and everyone who has an interest in their ancestors.

Second, it is very easy to get in touch with Ancestry.com. All you have to do is go to the bottom of their home page and click on corporate info and then click on 'contact us' and the following information (copied directly from their site) is shown:

MyFamily.com, Inc. Corporate
360 West 4800 North
Provo, UT 84604
Phone: 801-705-7000
FAX: 801-705-7001
pr@myfamilyinc.com


Now, instead of criticizing someone for their entrepreneurial forsight to create a pay site to help people with their geneaology, how about realizing that they have done a ton of work and deserve to be remunerated for it.
No, I don't work for them. Yes, I do use them. Yes, I am a Mormon. Yes, I do help other people research their ancestors.

And, if you want a search site that is absolutely free (of course, there is a catch, it is sponsored by the Mormon Church) then to to www.familysearch.org. It is free, they do ask you to register, but will NEVER contact you without your permission.

That said,

Make it a GREAT day !

I was a member of ancestry way before they charged a fee, then they started charging a fee and I went along with it for awhile. I sent emails and everything telling them I did not want to renew. Didn't work--so when I called my bank,I explained to them how hard it was to get in touch with ancestry, they had them on the line in one minute.My money was refunded in a week.Ancestry is deceptive. Here's why--they tell you for the $199 annual fee you have complete access to records. This isn't true. There are additional fees for finding records in the UK. Hello--where did most of our ancestors first immigrate from?The newspaper database also sucks. They do not have access to many papers. I put in my grandfathers name,advanced searched and so forth, the database gave fragments of other words and names, but nothing at all with His name.I also believe the obituaries have to be submitted, because I could not find any for the people I was looking for. I DO know they have obituaries and even had to go to Ohio to get one!Also and finally, even the National Archives does not have all the census records, because they refer you to ancestry. How can a place like the National Archives sell out like that?All these so called FREE databases refer you right back to Ancestry.com.If there are any free databases, let me know--I am talking about the ones that do not refer you back to Ancestry.com They have cornered the market. LDS does provide alot of useful information, however, their census records refer back to--you guessed it--ancestry.com

I, too, have had a major problem trying to find out how to contact them by phone.

However, in order to learn to deal with this company you must learn what they are and what they can contribute to your genealogical quest.

This company is just like a very large online library. They have some very good "books" (information) and some that are simply figments of someone's imagination.

They CANNOT do your genealogical research for you; and just because you found it there doesn't mean that it's true. This site is a fount of information like birth, baptism and marriage records. By reason of their religion LDS members are not as interested in death records as are those of us who are researching for our own reasons.

Besides those vital records which are abstracted directly from state, county and town and church records, there are things that people have sent to the the LDS Library in Salt Lake City themselves, many of which are not proven at all. I found one the other night and corrected it right there - it stated that the man had died on a specific date at a certain place in New York State. I happen to have sent to the State of Michigan where he REALLY died and got a copy of his death certificate. There was a case of someone not having done any research at all on his own, just making up the place of death without further research. He died at the home of his daughter. I even found that someone had sent in my own grandparents' marriage (I am the only surviving grandchild of thses grandparents and someone else not even related had no business sending in the marriage of my grandparents which the person said took place in Rome, Oneida Co., NY). I sent the original of the marriage record from the church in Rhode Island where they had REALLY been married and the LDS Library refused to remove the faulty information. I guess it's their library and they have a right to do as they please with it.

In conclusion, if you are going to be a successful genealogist and get valid information, you have to try to prove for yourself everything that you find on the 'net. This is a very satisfying and rewarding pursuit when you find the truth. Ancestry.com is just a receptacle of information and you should learn how to sort what's there to weed out the things that are completely impossible (like John Smith, b. Jan 10, 1585, Boston, MA) Use some judgement and recognize that there were no birth records filed in Boston in 1585 because there wasn't an English-speaking community at that time.

Good luck on finding your forefathers and remember always to check out want you find!

From an addicted genealogist of many years.

dear kristy from tacoma washington usa, I am sorry to disapoint you but you can find people that have not passed on yet uesing ancestry.com and as a matter of fact you can also find info on you self as well.

i know that becouse i went on just for fun to see what i can find about my self and i found alot of instring things. and a*s you can see i am very much alive and well. or i would not be able to type this. not only that i have a very close friend that just found her family with ancestry.com. and all of the them are alive and well also.

so you can find people that are liveing with ancestry. and to the lady from orem utah that did not find her family i am sorry to hear that but try again. trust me you will find some thing on them. just do what me frined did and go to your local leibery and go to ancestry.com from there computers. it is free that way.i knwo you will find what you are looking for. good luck.!!!!!!!!!!

Abigail-
Where in the world do you get your information? The gentleman that founded Myfamily.com isn't even LDS (Mormon). Most of the people I speak with on the phone are not mormon, it's crazy to think that mormons are the only ones interested in family history.

I could have chosen to work for any one of many companies in Utah Valley but I am here because they are such a great company. I can't believe that anyone would consider them a rip-off.

As far as the voodoo goes, Abigail, I'm not sure how to respond to that. I have been a member of the LDS church all my life and have yet to see any voodoo going on. What in the world were you thinking?

Abigail,

I don't know anything about "Voodoo" ,
but the LDS have certainly created a Monopoly
out of the Family History Business.

To the other poster:
""Ancestry.com and Myfamily.com have nothing to do with the Mormon church"""

Please check the population of LDS in Orem Utah before you make such a statement.


Myfamily & Ancestry are good site's despite this,
but one must always be a careful consumer!

First of all, Ancestry.com has nothing to do with the Mormon church and you are crazy to think the Mormon church has something to do with any voodoo or occult practices. Maybe you should research a religion before you start bashing them. Where are you getting this information anyway? If you actually do the research on Mormons you will see that they have nothing to do with any voodoo crap in Jamaica or whatever you are talking about. Ancestry.com is located in Utah but is in no way connected with the Mormon church. Learn to make sure your accusations are correct before you start ripping on something you know nothing about.

Ancestry.com is a front for the Mormons. They will take your information and then contact you to tell you how to get in touch with the dead.

The Mormons have been using "missionary" work in Jamaica as a front for researching certain esoteric occult rites indigenous to the Caribbean, i.e. voodoo. It is only a matter of time before they perfect this work and create an army of zombies.

You mentioned that you couldn't find your own info on the site. That would be obvious, since the site will only find people who are dead. That is why it is called Ancestry.com, so you can find your ancestors. And thet don't claim to have every record on the site either, so if you can't find your family you could try other search methods or another site. It doesn't mean your family does not exist, it may possibly mean that their records aren't on that site. That is why they give you a 30 day money back guarantee.

I too deal with Ancestry.com. I haven't had any disagreements with them. When I can not find a family member what I would do is search the internet for the newspapers of the cities and states in which they reside in. I only pay a minimum fee each month. I figure that I can search the web. I also will seek out the cemeteries in which my people are buried in. I hope this might be able to help you in your search for your family.
Thanks

They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:



Their email: dqstance@attbi.com

Their name: Diane



Their relationship to the company: Consumer Suggestion



Rebuttal:

I am sorry to hear that you are displeased with Ancestry.com. The reason why your family is probably not found is this: Someone needs to submit it to the World Family Tree.



They are not a rip-off! I support them fully.



Just remember this also, myfamily.com is a site where you invite friends and other family members and you create your own family website and upload your family data (gedcoms) and share your family ideas, photos, etc.