I was using the free version of geni.com to see if I would want an upgrade to pro, but all of a sudden it stopped working, a major disappointment. I cleared my cookies and cache, then tried switching from Safari to Chrome. It still doesn't work! Now I see that it has failed worldwide. MyHeritage has been kept separated from geni.com. Does that mean MyHeritage is fully aware of geni.com's flaws? My condolences to MyHeritage, the lemon owner. To expect anyone to pay $119.40 for something that doesn't work is an insult to their intelligence. Your business model is astounding!
P.S. (added later): Never mind. I just read more of the reviews. It's obvious that the geni lineages are sloppy, inaccurate, poorly curated, and hard to fix. Misinformation in a genealogy renders it a useless waste of effort. Verifying data from the distant past requires dedication, careful documentation, and logical thinking. Splicing together unvetted information invites errors which then propagate. I'll stay with authoritative sources and spend my $119.40 elsewhere.
Geni's new matching system reported to me that my father had died, based on a match of his birth date and first name. It wasn't him. NOT COOL! Of course, I have no way of telling them about the problem without getting a upgrade package at which point I can submit a question.
Shame on them!
I google my name periodically & found that we are deceased as per Geni.com. The only way I could contact this site was to ask for a job since there was no other way to contact them. They claim that they got the info from my cousin which is odd since she knows we are alive. My cousin told me her only genealogy search was on ancestry.com, so it appears that Geni stole info from them & didn't get it right. My brother & I have never used any genealogy sites. Now this incorrect info will probably remain on the internet even though Geni states that they will fix it. I hope family & friends don't get upset by this misinformation. Hopefully my Social Sercurity, Medicare, pension benefits are cut off because they think I'm dead.
I like the ideas of collaboration and merging: everyone's unique: one person has only one profile. I'm using it since 2011 and for me it offers more then the more expensive alternatives.
I appreciate Mike, from Geni customer support who helped me correct the mistake on site, quickly. In his communications with me, he was clear, concise, professional, kind and courteous. I appreciate people who make it happen and do it right and have a positive attitude, like Mike from Geni support team. Way to go Mike. Keep up the good work.
Sam
I have NEVER had anything to do with Geni.com. My tree is PRIVATE on Ancestry.com for a reason. Yet family photos which are definitely mine (the way they have been cropped as thumbnails, or I know I have the only copy) and data have made their way to Geni.com. I discovered this by doing a google search on an ancestors name on google at a friends suggestion. I am more than furious, as all my photos have come up in images which link back to geni.com. Deceased children are listed which no other living person knew about. How did they get access to Ancestry Private trees?!
It is not accurate, found a lot of mistakes. Some people can add or leave things out. Specially if involves other families... some talk about DNA but that's all they know, 0steal information from private places, I can go on and on. I have sent countless proofs and everything else, and just got tired of it... and if your are paying, good luck..
I just joined Geni and found a potential merge with the so-called Master-File for my ancestry line. It's a joke. The correct parts look plagiarized, and from there back -- as much as I looked at -- it's junk. It's wrong. And it's so bad that I doubt it ever can or ever will be corrected. Luckily I found this out before investing any money. Geni is the garbage heap of misinformation on your genealogy. Avoid it like the plague.
I've been trying to contact the current manager of my family tree. I've left numerous messages with them about inaccurate information within our family tree; as well as new info to add to the existing family tree, which by the way, I am not included as being part of, despite my own valid identification and documentation. Does Geni actually care? Of course NOT!
I created the tree and added many relatives. I finally invited a few to join me. Some thought is was a joke and lots of fun to add people they should not. I asked Geni to delete the entire tree so I could start over, but they refused. What nonsense! I started it and should be able to control it! I also cannot delete entries I did not create.
Although I do not subscribe to geni.com I noticed several errors in the data of one of my direct family members. When I contacted the volunteer curator to report the misinformation, I received a caustic, degrading reply in return. He expressed absolutely NO interest in checking into my concerns. If you are serious about obtaining accurate data about your family I would caution you to BEWARE of the information included in the trees on this site.
I've been connecting with many relatives through Geni and am very pleased with my experience. I started with the free version and upgraded to the Pro version after awhile. I also have a data subscription to My Heritage. I began my research with Ancestry but my grandparents all emigrated from Finland, and Ancestry, while good, didn't have as many Finns on the website. There are many on Geni and My Heritage. It's been rewarding for me!
I find Geni to be a fast and easy way to build and share my Family tree with my family. They have tons of privacy setting to let you manage your profile and keep profiles of living and underage family private. By default, they do share deceased profiles with the public unless you mark the profile as private. As a non=paying user I find customer service is great along with the group of curators that are always willing to help you with your own profile, merging trees, or correcting tree info. Geni is a One World Tree as in there goal to connect everyone into one tree alone but as any tree building sites, there are some errors. With the ability to collaborate with others, it is not too hard to fix these errors and create a great tree to share and collaborate with your family.
I am not an employee of Geni, but I really love the program and think it is by far the best tool we have for genealogy. It really pains me to see people who obviously don't know much about Geni, or genealogy, write such negative reviews. If you want to see why Geni is in fact the best program for genealogy, read my blog posts at http://schoenblog.com/?p=712 and http://schoenblog.com/?p=471
I discovered that they said that I was deceased, when I contacted them to complain they denied any responsibility and indicated that all entries were entered by users. I am not a user of their website and never will be. Please check entries carefully to ensure that you are not marked as deceased.
Primrose, that's not at all what happened. I told you that we can't find the profile that you mean, but if you would send us a link we would delete it. You would not even do as much, so you left us unable to help you.
Been using Geni.com for months. Able to access photos no problem. Now it is telling me I have to log in. Log in and all it does is ask me to pay for geni premium site, $140 a year. Can't even access people on search results on new computer. Wants me to pay for premium. Over and over and over. All it will do is ask me to pay for premium site. FREE MY $#*!!
Went back to phone, where I have been using site for nearly a year, and now it is asking me to pay for premium to access photos. So far, I can still access ancestors' profile, but for how long? Keep getting "start free trial" "only $140 a year". Site is useless now. All they want is MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!
USED TO BE A GOOD SOURCE FOR RESEARCHING FAMILY TREE. RECOMMENDED IT TO SEVERAL PEOPLE OVER THE PAST YEAR. NO MORE!
Mike, nothing changed. Photos are still free on Geni. Search has always been a paid feature. If you can't log in, did you try resetting your password?
I tried the free trial to see if I wanted to join and money was taken from my account. It's been a month and the money has not been refunded. They keep closing my ticket as "solved".
Lilith, as was explained to you by our Customer Service associate, when you started a free trial on Geni your credit card was authorized (not charged) US$1.00 to verify that the card was valid. The authorization never becomes a charge and takes no money from your account. You cancelled the trial before it ended, so you were never charged anything by Geni. You can contact your bank to verify this.
If you want to build a tree and keep it to yourself, Geni is not a good fit. If you want to create records and are open to corrections from others - or correcting what others have recorded - Geni is great. Different paradigm. Like lego kits vs freestyle.
Geni doesn't protect its users' privacy - it will broadcast your family on Google - I created a family tree on Geni thinking it would be neat to share with my family, but Geni published it online. Now it shows my entire family tree on Google, and there is no way to turn it off or delete it.
Geni is trying to make money off your family information and they do not respect your privacy. Don't let them do it.
I thought I came from a very small family. Have no family members to ask, but since I've joined I now have a family of over 30,000 people I'm connected to. I have messaged with distant cousins from all over the world.
Overview
Geni has a rating of 1.5 stars from 78 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with Geni most frequently mention family tree, free trial and customer service. Geni ranks 50th among Genealogy sites.
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Hi Bill, once a tree has multiple users contributing to it, we can't simply delete it all. If someone is vandalizing the tree by adding nonsensical profiles, email misconduct@geni.com with specific links and we'll handle it.