FindMyPast - Rip-Off

[Conniff]

I have been doing genealogy and a great and enjoyable experience it has been as well.

Amongst the few genealogy sites I use, Find my Past have been advertising 1939 records and claim;

 

In this, the richest record set ever released by Findmypast, you will find:

 

"Interactive maps showing how your neighbourhood has changed over the past 130 years

 

Photographs documenting life in 1930s and 1940s England and Wales, all of which have never before been available online

 

Handwritten Register - View the original register document and see who lived in the surrounding houses in 1939"

 

So I paid £17 and what did I get, my mum and dads name and birthday, a bit of a blurry OS map and a picture of 1942 nothing.

 

Was I disappointed. I emailed them and they said 'Thank you for the feedback"

 

What a bloody waste of £6, I already knew my parents birthdays and what use is a 1942 picture, it doesn't even refer to the year in question.

 

So be cautious that you might not find what is claimed and what you were hoping for.

Edited November 16, 2015 by Conniff
amended cost

[honeybee13]

I do family history research and agree with you about Findmypast, Conniff. They don't show you much of the record in question and when you pay to get through to it, the information is frequently disappointing. There are better sites and at least one gives you a free trial for a couple of weeks.

 

HB

[neil6534]

i found the best site was ancestry for a paid service...but there are free sites out these too such as http://www.free-genealogy.co.uk/ -we also went to the national archives in kew where you can search some of the paid for services for free , this site has a whole list of free sites to use http://familyhistorydaily.com/genealogy-resources/50-free-genealogy-sites/

[Conniff]

I use a few sites, I find the free ones are lacking somewhat and not really worth the time spent looking.

 

In general FindMyPast has been ok for normal searching, but it was just this '1939, the last complete list before the war, everyone is on it, get maps, pictures etc etc' and all I got was my parents birthdays.

The most annoying part was the 1942 picture which had nothing whatsoever to do with our family or even our part of the country, but 1942 is not 1939 so even a nothing pic of that date wouldn't have been so bad.

 

freegenealogy.co.uk isn't free, it's the drag you in site of ancestory.co.uk which is a paid for search site.

[strongy]

its worth noting that in most libraries you can access ancestry and findmypast for free if you use their computers.