FindMyPast.com Reviews

(based on 42 reviews)

185 of 343 people found this review helpful

Loved, loved, loved FMP. Simple search, user friendly, great data sets and best of all, simple accurate results. Images opened in their own window so you could easily refer back to the transcription page. Search by address? No problems.

Not any more. The site has been 'improved' but it has proved a disaster with a lot of dissatisfied subscribers who are now finding the site counter intuitive and clunky. Endless clicking, several ways to search for a record but each search page asks for different criteria. Sometimes you will see 'date of birth' sometimes you will not and its up to you to find the best search for you. Sometimes you end up with 0 results and sometimes 107,986 or somesuch ridiculous number. The reason for this, FMP's customer service tell us is because we are not searching properly. Thousands of us who have been researching for many years on many formats - we're doing it wrong! The Society of Genealogists had to have an FMP 'expert' go in and give them a tutorial so what chance for you, the lone, home based family history enthusiast? So many people have... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.

156 of 329 people found this review helpful

This once brilliant site had changed beyond belief, it has now removed all important functions , and what is left is pure dross. A site that does not work and worse still a site that ignores its customers request to reinstate some of the important function. To say the management are unhelpful would be a understatement

For a true review of the sense of outrage at these changes . Please visit cant find my past on facebook

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.

177 of 318 people found this review helpful

The Best site. RUINED..... DO NOT BUY THIS DREADFUL RUBBISH.

I have run out of negative terms for this Awful Dog's Dinner. I like many others was a loyal and long term subscriber that received a loyalty discount for renewing my annual subscription 6 weeks ago. I have asked for a pro rata and I do not mind being charged for my weeks on old site but FMP have refused to refund my money. There are better FREE sites out there. THIS SITE IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE. For complaining on Facebook I too, like many others have been blocked from their FB page and cannot comment. I have emailed "Watchdog" and The SoG and await replies. Strange that the Genealogy community is silent. If this were a physical product it would be recalled. More than 95% of all feedback on FMP FB page is NEGATIVE. Their response? Massive deletions of comments and threads, Blocking of vociferous once loyal customers. And turning off their customer support telephone lines. If you look at Facebook, Search for "Can't Find My Past" for comments that cannot be deleted. I am disgusted by this treatment of UK customers by Find My Past. Vote with your... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.

112 of 283 people found this review helpful

This is to draw readers attention to the fact that the true rating of the 'new' FMP setup should be the marking since the start of April when they changed the majority of their membership over to it. That would give the 'Users Rating' as 1.07 Stars, with several of the reviewers stating that they would have scored Zero if that had been an option. I have already posted a review so will not comment further other than to say that there has been little if any improvement since then

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.

526 of 1072 people found this review helpful

In the old version you could search the censuses for a family member by knowing where they were born. In the new version you have to know where they're living in order to find them. Not helpful if your ancester was away from home that night and working in another part of the country. Had to go to UK Census Online to find him

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.

160 of 706 people found this review helpful

As a long time experienced user of Findmypast I feel as if the rug has been pulled from under my feet since the "improved" version was introduced earlier this month. The strengths of the old site were the simplicity of its searches... these have now become cumbersome and laborious and don't deliver the goods. Record sets are difficult to find and are not logically arranged...in fact the whole experience has become so frustrating that my research has been put on "hold". Findmypast has made a disastrous retrograde step here and from being one of the best genealogical websites I would now rate it as one of the worst..... if you are looking for value for money, look elsewhere.

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.

511 of 691 people found this review helpful

After using a free search on find my past I found that there were three 'transcriptions' for baptism records listed under the British India records that concerned my family. After paying for a months subscription I viewed the transciptions only to find that they were just indexes and only contained the SAME information that had been included in the free search. The information on the site regarding transciptions did not give any indication that they were transciptions of indexes.

I contacted 'find my past' and after three emails I got a reply just to tell me that- yes some of their transciptions were just indexes; NO APOLOGY, NO REFUND- a rip off.

I have been a member of 'find my past' previously and found it helpful- but the new site is awkward to use and misleading. I would not recommend it to anyone.

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.

156 of 339 people found this review helpful

The recent so-called 'new, improved' Find My Past is quite simply a disaster. It used to be an excellent site but it is now bug-ridden and very user-unfriendly.

FMP have been inundated with complaints and as a result have turned off their telephones. They are just not listening to people who have years of experience in the field of family history and worse still are indulging in censorship by deleting uncomplimentary comments wherever they can. This shows just how little they care about their paying customers. Keep well away from this site.

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.

193 of 371 people found this review helpful

In the footsteps of Victor Frankenstein, 'Find My Past' has also created a monster which isn't accepted by society!

To anyone thinking of joining the 'Find My Past' website, take advice from a long-term subscriber and steer clear for the time being. Although the genealogy information FMP gives access to is first class, the new format has made it nigh on impossible to actually find it without a lengthy rigmarole of options and key presses, if at all. Newcomers will find it extremely confusing and laboriously slow. It certainly isn't the trusted and highly acclaimed website that we members originally subscribed to and, as it is at the moment, I wouldn't even recommend it to seasoned researchers.

FMP has obviously chosen to ignore the fact that time, tide and dissatisfied customers wait for no-one, but the rapid migration of former FMP subscribers to alternative genealogy sites is a warning it would be unwise to reject.

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.

165 of 341 people found this review helpful

Formerly the best genealogy site by a LONG way, FindMyPast is now a shadow of its former self.
As an experienced researcher, I can no longer use it with any confidence, as so many of the tools and facilities which enabled fast, accurate research are no longer there. Comments on its own feedback forum and on facebook (the ones that haven't been deleted....) tell a sorry story; frustrated subscribers who just want what they paid for but are becoming increasingly resigned to the fact that FMP are merrily bulldozing a loyal fan-base in favour of attracting new customers with bold claims. It's enough to make you cry.

In summary, I would not recommend FindMyPast.com to a friend.