There are many databases that are “broken”. I only use a small percentage of all that is available so I can only imagine how many there are out there are a “broken”.

1. From the day they are added

and

2. After someone does something as with the 1925 IA census.

There are also search forms that are “broken” for the same reasons as stated above for the databases. I’m not talking about the complaints you all are getting on the “new improved” searches. There are ways around that problem. I don’t have that problems since I use a VERY old search form.

There are databses that just disappear never to be seen again.

There is information with the results that was once there but part of that information has now disappeared. An example is the IN marriages. The only time you find these is when you are going back to check something out and what you know was there is not longer there. Who knows how many databases are not showing all the information that is availabe in the records but doesn’t show up in the results.

Quality control and testing the products doesn’t seem part of ancestry’s normal operating procedure.

Reporting broken databases and forms just seems to fall on deaf ears. Some have never been fixed after years of reporting. An example are the Tioga Co., PA WWI card images that we have been reporting over
and over and over again.

End users are paying for a service and expect quality.

Since it seems to be left us to the end user to do the testing and reporting – although reports fall on deaf ears – I would like to see a message board just for reporting REAL problems which I outlined above.

This message board should have the ability for us to upload images which sometimes better show what the problem is.

I would like it to exclude transcription errors, trees and problems with the “new improved” search engines, shoeboxes, hints and all the other window dressings which don’t really have anything to do with real research.

This message board would need to be monitored by the person responsible for the above. And we would like a response from that person regarding the problem and the schedule for fixing it and then an announcement when the problem is fixed.

If ancestry really cares and wants to have a quality product – quality control, testing the product and listening to the end user and correcting problems would be their top priority.

I can give you some examples: Sarah A Fisher Died 8 Jan 1875 the index gives the name of A.P. Fisher – If you look at the record the first name is clearly Sarah A.

Julia A Kell Died 10 Jan 1887 the index gives the name of William Kell – If you look at the record the first name is clearly Julia A.

I could site many more but you probably get what I am saying. Now this does not occur in later years and I am not sure if it occurs in other counties but it needs to be fixed.

This evening 11 Mar in the USA the missing 1925 Iowa State Census images were restored.

This is a remarkable example of how responsive to database trouble TGN can be when it is determined to do so. The process of taking care of this in the past few days is also a model of how TGN *can* honestly admit to and address a problem when someone decides to do so.

So – it is possible! Good things can happen! Stuff can be done right!

The nagging little question remains – it was reported to Customer Support two weeks ago.

Thanks to everyone who made this fix possible.

Thank you very much for the info on the 1925 Iowa State Census! Can you tell us how deleting half of the images occurred?

Now, if we can only get the images for the last 2/3 of the alphabet for World War I Draft Registration Cards for Tioga Co, PA; the images are somewhere, they are indexed, but the images cannot be found by the index links or by browsing. This issue was brought to Ancestry’s attention more than 2-1/2 years ago. No explanation was offered.

Thank you so much,
Jade

I think it’s very sad that not only have the records dwindled, but even with my DSL connection, AOL is painfully slow at peak hours.
I think it got to big and forgot to grow, shame shame

If I had cancelled my subscription at some point and then started again I agree that whatever their policy is at the time would trump previous policies or if they had personally notified me of a change in their policy that would take place at the time of renewal I would be stuck with whatever they chose to do.

With my US Records Colleciton subscription they just starting locking me out of new US records. This was in the middle of my subscription.

As you know, ancestry just bills your account unless you tell them to cancel your subscription. With any other contract, rent, leasing etc. you are notified of changes and you are usually required to be notified a certain number of days before the renewal period.

I have received very few renewal notices and none of them have stated that I would no longer receive the same services as what I originally signed up for and I have never been notified that they are removing one database or another.

IMO, Ancestry is the provider and it is their resposibility to notifiy subscribers in policy changes and that those changes need to be in writing to the individual subscriber.

Since I don’t know the ins and outs of the legalities of any of this – some of this is fact and some is opinion – I could be way out in left field on the opinion part.

This discussion is probably all mute. Ancestry will do what it wants to do – like NEVER doesn’t really mean NEVER.

Since I have cancelled my paid yearly subscription I may take it once in a while for a month if anything interesting shows up but I was without any subscription for about 9 months and I can say that I didn’t miss out on much during that time period.