I need more than help. smiley, smiley. Re; Ancestry search.

Not technically on topic, but hopefully my personal qualification as an antique will qualify

I typed a full 8 x 11 page on word to transfer with my request. Decided too long and highlighted last two paragraphs, hit enter and erased entire page. No backup.

Came here and typed about 4 paragraphs, noticed misspelled word in title. Ant, should be AN. Highlighted T and hit enter. Erased entire post.

So, bear with an old, senile, mentally challenged, nearing the end q12-%(@!$^

I played with several genealogy sites and bingo, found grandparents 1875 marriage certificate. Dummy didn't save it.

After checking out other sites decided to rejoin Ancestry.com after a 15 year hiatus.

They not only do not have what I need, but admitted it after I paid them for a 6 month trial.
And then charged my Amex double what they had quoted.

They have fully admitted it. (Well the first lady answering did).
The second one hinted the same but had to refer it to CORPORATE.
In the meantime almost ALL my saved info is getting very, very muddled and some missing.

Seriously.

Coincidence?

I'm not asking for legal advice. But am looking for a reasonably priced genealogy site with good contents and support.

Shall really appreciate your input with what is a very complicated search for several reasons on both sides of my ancestors.
Includes both side name changes. For logical reasons. Interesting!

BTW, all USA since at least 1840. With one side well documented - with pictures - in the typical 50 pound family bible.

 

Nothing here????....

 

TOG - I posted on your first thread on this subject as a 5+ year member of Ancestry and asked a couple questions. But I see now that what you really want is to be free of Ancestry and to take your family research elsewhere - someplace that costs less and has more documents (as long as the documents as exactly the ones you're looking for.) Am I right?

I will tell you that even a dedicated user of Ancestry cannot and will not rely solely on what they have. They are a huge repository of documentation of all sorts, but the reason they add new files constantly, is because they don't have "everything" and will probably never have "everything." No site will have everything that everyone needs.

I have heard from others here that a site (I've never used) called Mocavo is cheaper. You'll have to check it out for yourself to see how it would work for you. In addition to Ancestry I am a member of familysearch.org, where I have found a few things in my own search that have been very helpful - but are not on Ancestry. I did not bother to set up a tree there but it's FREE, so you could try it without worrying about the cost.

I hope others will chime in.

 

Not sure where you live, but here in our little town in NW Ohio, our library is part of Cleve-Net and OPLIN and we have free access to Ancestry (Library Addition) and Heritage Quest Online. Plus the local geneaological society provides free help at the Hayes Presidential Center. You just might try your local library to see if they provide similar services. Good luck.

 

OK, I see that I have goofed again. My first post disappeared from my screen when I edited the header. Hence this one with a rewritten message. If I could combine them I would. Maybe a moderator will catch it and do so.
Meanwhile I'll try to check both.

One note to correct a wrong impression. I'm not trying to save money. I will let all know the outcome of my dispute concerning the fee quoted vs. the fee charged.

 

I think you will need to send Peter Davis a PM to ask if the 2 threads could combined. I have no idea whether that is possible.

In the meantime, I wish you a good outcome with your dispute about the amount Ancestry charged your acct. I have not experienced such an issue, so I have no way to interpret what you were told or why it should take 30 days to get an answer. That does seem like a lot of time to me.

 

I'm sorry if you thought that was what I meant. As a former librarian, I use the public library as my first form of reference on many searches. The librarians who know the material are often able to facilitate your search.

 

My e-mail is set to eventually discard e-mails. I know I visited more than 2 or 3 but only one still showing is Genealogy Bank.com.
Others did include National Archives but I did not open them because did not recognize a suitable site.

 

I don't care for Ancestry myself, but do use it and find that it has a lot of information. I don't like their search engine in general but am getting used to it. As a long-time librarian I'm accustomed to a lot of online searching and theirs is not as easy as it could be, especially if you are looking for something specific.

Have you used https://familysearch.org/ ? It's the research website of the LDS church (Latter Day Saints, or Mormons). If you don't know about them, they have for many years gathered records from all over the world. Visiting their Family History Library in Salt Lake City is a wonderful experience.

However, their online site has also become a go-to location. They are currently doing a large amount of digitization of records that they have had on microfilm for many years. Of course, they do not have everything, either. And currently they are not charging for the use of their records. I don't know whether they plan to charge in the future or not.

If you use their site, create a personal account first. That will allow you to save links to records that you find, and you can go back to them later and won't lose them. Then when you search there are several ways, available under the Search menu at the top of the page. If you use the Records search that is a direct way to search many records that they have digitized. If you search their Catalog you will find a mixture of print, microfilmed, and digitized items. You have to look at the individual entries to figure out which are which. However, they have now digitized pretty much all of the printed family history books (compiled genealogies) that were in their collections. Through the Catalog search you will find links to those in individual records. They also have a way to search Genealogies, which are submitted by members, I think (haven't used that one much). And they have ways to search Books, which I have not tried yet but will.

 

I did say I would keep you up to date. Here's the situation as of now.

Received Dec. 6
Dispute update: We’ve contacted the merchant


Account Ending: XXXX


We've contacted ANC*ANCESTRY.COM on your behalf, and we're waiting for a reply. Please note that it may take 25-30 days* for us to receive any requested documents.

******************************​

I did visit my library yesterday and gained access to their genealogy site on my home computer which turns out to be LDS. Started with it and then began a live chat with an Elder. After about a half hour he suggested that we disconnect and he would phone me. We spent over two hours on the phone and their site. SOOOOO many choices and not easy to separate but finally satisfied we were on the right track. Unearthed some interesting details. Example; one of my father’s 9 siblings has a middle name Whitelock. Appears that his mother was a lot more ENGLISH than I thought and tagged each child with a family surname in the middle. I will definitely NOT get into those or I shall have no time to eat, sleep or annoy all on Antiquers.com. My main goal should be reached by 2016. Did Grandma spend exactly 100 years on earth and did she really make her fiance change his surname before their betrothal. And maybe I’ll find a few things I’ll wish I left buried.

I MUST COMMENT ON THAT LDS ELDER. I began thanking him and apologizing for all his time I was taking. He laughed at that and said he LOVED helping people. I didn’t ask outright but gathered that he is a volunteer. Really nice finding someone so eager to spend time rather than infer impatience.
************

Then woke up this morning to an e-Mail from Ancestry.com.

We'll be seeing you
We sure hope so anyway. In the meantime, we've canceled your membership, as you requested. As always, you can call us with any questions at 1-800-ANCESTRY(1-800-262-3787)9 a.m. to 11 p.m. ETdaily.​

**********
I phoned them at provided number answered by Alec, a supervisor. He has all history on his computer and is totally confused. His records shows that I first visited Ancestry.com April 2015. Then again in November when I phoned them to join. Confirmation number 142183491 for purchase of a 6 month membership. Charged to my Amex business account. Records show that I phoned in Nov. 29 to question why Amex charge was double quoted fee.. A supervisor verified my membership and “attempted to refund overcharge”
Alec also has copy of e-mail received today. He cannot understand what happened. Offered several apologies for that and other unexplainable issues. He put me on hold for a few minutes.

After 2 minutes call was disconnected. I allowed ten minutes for them to call back and then phoned again. Was connected to Doug. Asked for Alec. Doug said no way to find him without his extension number, but did find this case in his computer. Alec had left an apology for the disconnect along with his solution to the problem. (When I mentioned to Doug that I had waited for a call back he explained that they have no way to make outgoing calls.)

This is the end result. Newest e-mail from them as of right now. All unnecessary erased.

Welcome to the best Ancestry.com yet.

Your Free Trial.

Your trial includes 6 months of free access to all US record indexes and images on Ancestry.Please note that once your trial period ends, your account will be billed. To avoid charges, you'll need to cancel your membership before the end of your trial period.

************
So I now have two sites. And I'm so tech impaired I can barely handle one. ​

 

The volunteers/LDS Elders are very helpful! I have never contacted them except when visiting their library, but I have heard them spend a lot of time with people in the building. Just glad to see a confirmation here of that.