Does anyone use the MyHeritage website?

[canadianbeth]

Is it worth the cost? I currently am just using the basic (free) part but received an invitation to upgrade to premium at a discount from the usual cost. Ancestry also offered me a discount this week (seems to be the time for discounting genealogical websites) but I do not really want to go back to them. I have pretty much exhausted all the info I can get from them.

My cousin sent me a link to her information on the MyHeritage site, which is how I found it. Most of that info I already had though, being on my mother's side, but I did learn an interesting fact - my great-grandfather had a wife before he married my great-grandmother. They were very young and there were no children; that is probably why no one seemed to know about it.

 

[Tim]

Based on my personal experiences, I wouldn't recommend this site to anyone.

But I'll let Bob comment about his!

 

[Bob Spiers]

Based on my personal experiences, I wouldn't recommend this site to anyone.

But I'll let Bob comment about his!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHH! Thank you Tim. Remember this is a subjective response, others may disagree.

How can I put this Canadian Beth....let My Heritage (MH) well alone. I joined it years ago in my early 'newbie' days - from free up to premium - and stayed with it for some time. Made some interesting contacts who developed into email genealogical friends which stood us in good stead as we all left My Heritage over time. I cannot recall what first caused me concern, but it all centred (not centered) around the MH 'open house' policy of matching Trees regardless of whether they bore any resemblance to one another . Then coming across other Tree owners who were convinced I was a long lost 7th cousin even after clearly demonstrating it was nonsense. (These people exist in Ancestry too but not even remotely as often as they pop up in MH). But I have to take my hat off to those - sadly mainly Americans but a few from down under as well - who boasted they could trace their ancestors to Genghis Khan or the Queen of Sheba (sorry I made up those names but believe me they are not far wide of the mark as you will see if Tim or someone can provide a link to earlier postings on the subject of MH).

One thing that particularly cheesed me off was their policy to retain previous versions of my Tree thinking an update would cancel previous versions. There is a way to remove the earlier version but don't expect MH to explain how. In the end this results in a myriad of 'same ' matches resulting in duplicated messages from other members.

But it is when you try to leave that the problem really starts because MH will use every trick in the book to keep you and what is worse they will continue to use your Tree information until you really put your foot down (as I did).

It was the best thing I ever did to leave MH and I would not wish the organization on anyone. I am sure it began as a marvelous venture to connect like minded genealogical researchers around the world. It just became a behemoth in the process and as far as I am concerned has no scruples. Even today it continues to swallow up data from databases around the world and not always by fair means. Beware of any FH organization that offers transparent or obscure cooperation with MH and either give them a miss or be sure to leave the box unticked that allows your Tree to be shared. MH is best left well alone believe me.

 

[Bob Spiers]

I forgot to mention my all time favourite PC based Family Tree Legends (FTL) -as old as the hills - even had to be put out of the reach of MH when they took them over its parent company. FTL only really performed satisfactorily up to XP but managed to accept Vista. So I now have it on a stand-alone Vista machine that does not connect to the internet. Long after leaving MH I had failed to notice in FTL the famous 'tick-box' (alluded to above in other FH programs) that reminded it would by default (unless I unticked the box) save my data base on line in case I ever lost the information or because of a computer crash.

Would you believe MH were still collecting and using the information all because I had failed to untick a box -and remember in other FH programs it may mean failing to tick a box. It would take far too long to tell you of the steps taken to overcome this, so much, much better just to warn others to stay clear of MH either by not joining or by not sharing data.

 

[SusanEW]

Hello Canadian Beth,

I would just like to endorse everything Bob has said about My Heritage (MH). I started using the software (then under a different trade name and with no online site available, I think) some years ago and eventually signed up for a 'paid' service. This has provided me with a monthly 'back up' service which gives me some security for my data if my pc were to fail. I have also found a few cousins through it, although some of them have not responded to my messages. However, the disadvantages of using it far outweigh any services or data it provides.

1) So called 'Smart Matches' which are far from smart. This system sometimes tell me that I am related to someone merely because my surname begins with the same letter of the alphabet! (OK, I might be exaggerating slightly, but not much).

2) I now get emails informing me of whole households full of individuals who are related (generally on my husband's part of the tree). This information seems to come from other online trees on MH. They are usually very distant connections and I cannot be assured of their accuracy. Like most family historians, I want to add to my tree only people whose details I can verify by researching the publicly available source materials.

3) Like Ancestry and Genes Reunited, there are mistakes and anomalies appearing within family trees which are difficult if not impossible to get corrected. I simply cannot deal with a dozen or more individuals in Australia who are all distantly connected to me but who, due to a missing baptism record in the 18th century, do not realise that their supposed line of descent may be incorrect.

4) It has any number of 'name collectors'. I sometimes get a Smart Match record informing me of a supposed distant cousin. I send a message to that person and get no response. When I check their details I discover that they have a family tree with many thousands of names on it! The most notorious of these individuals now has a total of 91,295 "family members" on his online tree which includes virtually all British and many European royal and aristocratic pedigrees. It's difficult to know whether he is actually related to these people or not.

I had to laugh last week. MH informed me of a 'new discovery'. I was given the individual's full name, year of birth and year of death and told that this person was likely to be related to me and that I might want to go and explore the records further. Yes, I thought - definitely related - it was my Mum!

I am coming up to the end of my current subscription period and I do not intend to continue. Reading Bob's message, I am now concerned about how I can extricate myself and my data from the clutches of MH. I have just started using the Family Historian 6 software package on trial. It looks very good, although I haven't yet had time to learn how to use it (New Year Resolution). I know it will take a bit more effort on my part to maintain my data, but at least I will have complete control. No more online trees for me! If I have information to transmit to a cousin, they will have to be prepared to accept it as a GED.com file.

 

[canadianbeth]

Thank you for your replies. I will not be paying for the upgrade? Do you recommend that I delete what is there already?

 

[Bob Spiers]

I would just like to endorse everything Bob has said about My Heritage (MH).

Thanks Susan for your endorsement and I can tell from reading your post you have indeed been part of the same mad house I once belonged to and goes under the name of MH (and believe me I could fill pages with similar stories). Once you have taken steps to cancel your subscription (and cancel any direct debit -if such exists- at your bank as a precaution) and saved your file as a Gedcom,-and better still imported and reconciled into another FH program of your choice - you must manually remove your Tree at MH. Please DO check there are no others lurking in the shadows as MH retain previous versions despite any update you may have made.

You will, I am sure be contacted by MH via email and be offered every encouragement possible to get you to change your mind, and be particularly careful they do not just offer you a free subscription automatically and by so doing retain your Tree. I have forgotten the fine detail of the subterfuges they used on me, but I do recall in the end spelling out that I wanted no more to do with them, and did not under any circumstance expect to find any trace of my Tree lurking within their database. To be absolutely fair at the 11th hour I did receive a fairly cordial SORRY TO LOSE YOU email and an assurance my Tree was totally removed.

Of course I was yet to discover MH had another trick up their sleeve (see my previous post about them now owning FTL). Unbeknownst to me after acquiring FTL - through Gencircles & Pearl Street Software acquisitions- FTL suddenly included a 'real-time internet backup' option. Now if you have no knowledge of MH (or in my case that they were now the owers of my most cherished program), an automatic online backup may be no bad thing. It is only when I realised MH were behind the whole thing, that I got suspicious. I did not want to stop using FTL but found the best option was to remove the program from MH's internet clutches and not just by declining the back-up as I did not trust them. I once again held forth with MH -although this time as a long time user of FTL - but whether or not I was completely successful I do not know?

So no one should be surprised when I say be careful of any FH program with allegiances, tie-ins or other 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch your's' co-operations with MH because, believe me... now't good will come of it.

 

[Tim]

Thank you for your replies. I will not be paying for the upgrade? Do you recommend that I delete what is there already?

After getting fed up with the constant bad suggestions of matches where the only thing that matched was the initial letter of the surname, it took me a long time to remove my data and completely remove myself from their clutches. Good luck.

If you get stuck in the removal process then post here, between us all we should be able to help.

 

[emjay]

If I have information to transmit to a cousin, they will have to be prepared to accept it as a GED.com file.

That's fair enough.

 

[SusanEW]

Hello Bob,

Thanks very much for the advice regarding removing, deleting etc ALL data from MyHeritage (MH). I have just purchased Family Historian 6 and started the process of transporting my 'projects' into it. I really appreciate the offers of help and will call on you if I get into difficulties. You're such a helpful group.

It all started innocently enough. Some years ago my husband gave me for Christmas a family tree program on a CD-ROM - it was an old version of Family Tree Legends. It was at a bargain price (£4?) and even now he tells people how clever he was to find the ideal present for 'the wife' at such a low cost (cheapskate, don't you think?). Like Bob, I ticked the box for a back up of data and then a year or two later found myself being 'sucked up' into the MH empire. Oh well, live and learn!

 

[Bob Spiers]

Like Bob, I ticked the box for a back up of data and then a year or two later found myself being 'sucked up' into the MH empire. Oh well, live and learn!

How very true but sad it takes a while before we realise we have been 'had' which is what makes this Forum so useful in being able to pass on tips in the hope it will prevent others making the same mistakes.

 

[canadianbeth]

Can someone please give detailed instructions as to how to remove all my information from the site?

Thank you.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Can someone please give detailed instructions as to how to remove all my information from the site? Thank you.

That gives me something of a dilemma because although I went through the process tooth and nail so to speak, it was a fair while ago and there is no way I can refresh my memory as I give MH a wide berth. No doubt someone who has been through the process more recently can give more distinctive advice.

As a help and purely from memory I believe just deleting your current Tree is relatively easy as it is the Tree shown when you open in your account name. You will find the option to delete is shown and you can expect a few 'are you sure' alerts but you continue until you see your current Tree has been deleted. But lurking in the shadows I recall were my older Trees which MH do not override as you apply gedcom updates from your FH Tree or perhaps Ancestry or Genes. I distinguished each with a date suffix taking the form: Spiers, Dec2004, Spiers Mar 2005 and so on and so my current Tree may have been Spiers Nov 2006. After deleting your current Tree you need to resurrect older Trees (they should still be showing) and ensure each is deleted. I only discovered the need to delete older Trees after the event so that is the advice you need to follow. This assumes of course that you have older Trees because if not the whole thing becomes simpler.

Watch MH do not just offer sales tricks entailing SUPER DISCOUNTS which if you decline will lead to a 6 month or year's Premium subscription. You need to ensure it is a final 'NO THANK YOU' break and you will only know this for certain when you receive an email saying they are sorry to lose you - or they may do this with a message as you finally sign out.

The only problem then remaining is to make sure your new FH program has no sinister links back to MH -or are opted out of - which has been discussed at length previously.

 

[Bob Spiers]

I have just remembered I brought matters to a conclusion in the end with an email to their customer support team and making it clear I wanted to close my MH account and be assured all my Tree were removed from their database. After a little two-way exchange that finally bore fruit. I think you can find the Support email address on the MH webpage.