Find A Grave Reviews

(based on 53 reviews)

125 of 236 people found this review helpful

All it takes is one contributor to spoil Find A graves purpose.
With a contributor IIIo 482,718 Memorials Added
o 482,312 Memorials Managed
o 1,713 Memorials/Week
o 1 Photo
o 3 Virtual Flowers
o 1 Fame Rating
Disables their email, refuses transfers and edits....yet.....they are an asset?? They are a hindrance! They are in it for one reason only in my eyes. The TOP 50. I think that should be done away with. I want to add correct info. I research my findings when I add something to my family. I gave document # and page # and still no changes. Can't get it transferred as I do not fall into their GUIDELINES. I feel a family member should be in control of a memorial vs a complete stranger. This contributor adds inscriptions that are NOT there!! They have a person with inscription with wifes name. He was never married! The woman was his niece. I have everything to prove this. They wrote an inscription on my daughters memorial and there is NO inscription! They will not transfer a great aunt of mine because of their guidelines- she had no children and no siblings... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

148 of 326 people found this review helpful

I have been a member for five years, for the first four years everything was pleasant. Last year a local library asked if I would put tombstones, obits, and death certs on memorials. By the way I have a disclaimer from the library that I always added. The library presented me with a list that had been created 30 years ago. All of a sudden I started receiving e-mails asking me if I made up names to put in the cemetery. Requesting me to take off the obits and the death certificates because she says they are wrong, that the information was incorrect on the death certificates and obits, and to also take off my photos of tombstone because hers were better.

She has sent me over a hundred e-mails and after she said she was going to report me to Find a Grave for not doing as she has asked and told me I didn't know what I was doing I decided to never reply. I do look at her e-mails and if the information is correct I put it on.

What would you do?

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

178 of 388 people found this review helpful

Love the ease in posting memorials and in contacting other contributors through suggestion link. Easy to search by name or location or cemetery. Being able to link a memorial to parents and spouse is a great asset for researchers.

Transfer "guidelines" are a bit stringent that some contributors follow, but most of the active contributors are great about transfers. My only complaints would be about the contributors, not the working of the site. Those contributors who list memorials, then no longer respond and eventually become inactive forcing the findagrave staff to handle their memorials; or a few of the contributors who seem to be in it for the numbers then will not easily transfer. Or, unfortunately, those who list incorrect information and/or links. Again, not findagrave's issue, but a contributor issue.

My experience with staff has been great - a few times I've had to go back with a 2nd request for a correction, but not often.

Personally, these listings have been a great asset to my genealogy research. Seeing the photo of the gravestone to be able to confirm information is great! Being able to request... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

183 of 369 people found this review helpful

I have enjoyed being a Find A Grave contributor for over a year - because I don't take the site too seriously or allow myself to become overly involved in it. When I find myself reacting emotionally to anything/anyone there, I back off for awhile. (So far the only members who have really upset me are people who should have been the most supportive, cooperative, & helpful - some genuinely mean-spirited relatives on my father's side of the family.) I cannot see Find A Grave as a true genealogy site because it contains a great deal of erroneous information, much of which is never corrected by obstinate, self-centered, or absent managers of memorials. Many contributors seem to be wonderful people, but too many others want Find A Grave to be nothing more than a place to register grave sites, or they are just too busy or lazy to edit memorials, refusing or neglecting to add more info or to correct their errors.

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

207 of 430 people found this review helpful

1. Findagrave is an company that makes millions of dollars from death memorials created by volunteers and from individuals that are grief stricken or researching family ancestry. They sell adds for each grave submission or sponsor memorials to earn money.

2. Anyone that is registered with the site can create a memorial and add it to the site. Once someone creates the memorial they "own" it. The family members have no way to remove the memorial if it is against their wishes.

3. The creator of a memorial can write a bio for someone who they do not even know. You cannot rely on accuracy. Often the information is gathered from obits in newspapers or from search engines on ancestry sites. A family member has nothing to say about the bio even if it is unflattering or incorrect. Often living family members are listed due to the information supplied from the obit.

4. Findagrave administration uses fake "member names" They use these names to keep track of individuals who create lots of memorials. They can track a members activity on the findagrave site using the members computer's IP address that was available to them when the person registered to use... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

226 of 427 people found this review helpful

Overall my experience with Findagrave has been positive as far as the other contributors go. Most are great people, willing to help, share, or receive information cheerfully. But my experience with the administration has been zero even though I've requested information/clarification about the validity of some memorials and the dubious existence of a whole cemetery. I've just been ignored and gotten no response at all. This takes away from the credibility of the whole site because I count on the information there being as accurate as possible and if it's not, we're all wasting our time.

I've had a couple of contributors refuse to transfer memorials, (aunts), because in their opinion, I wasn't immedicate family. I've read bios where people have stated they will only transfer memorials to immediate family, even though they, themselves are not related at all and it shouldn't matter to them. What gives them the right to make that call? There also seems to be a lot of favoritism toward certain contributors, (such as those with ultra high count). You can complain all you want and it's not going to do you any good. The opposite is true as... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

177 of 389 people found this review helpful

I have always loved Findagrave. One of my main goals when researching friends and family is to know where one is buried. I found a lost Aunt this way because some kind soul on Findagrave, for free, had posted her memorial in a cemetery in Florida.

I can't afford Ancestry.com very often, which is sadly became quite a monopoly. Over and over again, any free sites I use to frequent are ate up by Ancestry.

In fact, I've noted all my work and photos that I have placed on my memorials on Free findagrave are being taken by Ancestry members and placed on their trees there.
What ever.

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

221 of 448 people found this review helpful

Came on this site from another one of those 'best 10 ancestry sites' and it said it was free - it is to join then it costs. OK I did'nt expect much but when the so called reviewing experts claim free then free it should be. I'm off back to my other site where I can get the information I need. Oh yes, it reverts back to US settings every search. Great if you live in the USA. Sorry not good as far as I'm concerned.

In summary, I would not recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

227 of 449 people found this review helpful

I love contributing to Find A Grave. I have found that hanging out in cemeteries and taking pictures of graves is very peaceful and relaxing, and posting them for a relative out there somewhere who might stumble across it is very rewarding. I have gotten so many nice responses from people who have found their close relatives and more distant ancesters alike.

As for the help and informtion that I have gained as far as my own research...I have been equally satisfied. I have gotten some big, unexpected surprises and emails from distant relatives who have been able to share stories and even pictures.

There are alot of seemingly "control freaks" on findagraves, usually contributors who have been doing it for several years and have added thousands of memorials. Mostly it comes from their insistance that "duplicate memorials' be removed. I have seen alot of fights over this-a contributor already had a memorial with a photo posted, and a relative who refuses to take their newer memorial down. Well, READ THE RULES! Duplicate memorials can throw things off and cause alot of problems for others trying to research. Not to mention...against the rules.
This really is... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

217 of 428 people found this review helpful

I've done extensive genealogy research and like this very user friendly site a lot. After Family Tree/Ancestry this is the site I refer to next. I especially appreciate the family links and posted obituaries to find names of children and their spouses, I also appreciate all personal pictures. There are a few instances where I have found incorrect dates, but I just go with my own research. USGENWEB is one alternate site but is very user unfriendly in my opinion - every state designs its own search menu and requires more info that you may have to begin a search. Personally, I give kudos to the person who designed the site and even more to all the volunteers who put in their time and effort to record cemeteries. I've "done" one small cemetery and it was a chore! Thank you

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.