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I had a large tree and now I can't?

Julia Victoria Bauer

November 29, 2011 23:25

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I had a large tree before you put limits on the number of people. Now all the work i did to include those people is worth nothing? I can only limit myself to 100 people unless i pay you way too much money for MY research? That is not fair. I think I will take my tree down and use a different program that doesn't come along and uproot my trees because they are large If you don't reassess previous users' needs. Basically you are saying big families or long histories are people to pick on. People you don't respect. People you assume have the money for the storage of a large tree. I know a single disc could easily hold the information if you would let me print out or download my own tree entire without limitation. In short, you made me mad. that I can't have the work I put in unless you get more money. Sounds like blackmail to me.

all I was told was this:

We’ve moved from a relationship-based limit to a simple number limit. Here is the tree limit breakdown for each membership type:

Basic (free) - add up to 100 profiles

Plus - add up to 1,000 profiles

Pro - add unlimited profiles

The tree limit is based blood relatives and their spouses. So a basic user can build a blood tree up to 100 profiles or add 100 profiles to the site, and the limit is reached when either count reaches 100. 

If a you are invited to a tree and your blood relatives count has already reached the 100 profile limit, then you may upgrade to a Plus or Pro account to continue building your tree.

9 comments

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  Fuat Emin Celik December 01, 2011 17:41

  I agree with your comments.  I have added hundreds of profiles of my relatives to Geni, and now I am being told that I must pay to add more.  Geni.com is a website driven by user-contributed content, and so should not limit the amount of content that free users can add.  I have also invited dozens of users (customers) to your website, and every time I log in another feature I used to use is now considered a Pro feature.  This is very frustrating.  How will I convince new users to join and collaborate on the tree if they must all pay for that privilege before gaining any familiarity with the site?

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  Permanently deleted user December 01, 2011 19:00

  Geni has made changes to our site but we welcome all user to try a pro or plus membership by subscribing to the 14 day free trial we offer. This will allow you to see the benefits that are offered as a pro or plus user. As a side note, if your account is over 100 profile and you invite someone to your family tree they have the ability to add 5 additional profiles. 

  Your information will be stored on our site and you have the ability to export your information using a gedcom software.

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  Evgeny Brusilovsky January 05, 2012 01:52

  I agree. For example - if Person A, created a family of 101, but by some reason did not include his sister. He goes on a paid plan 5$ a month to be able to create more profiles. Then, he invites his sister to join. So, his sister joins and is only able to add 5 more profiles (!!!). Then, his sister would have to switch to a paid plan be able to add more profiles. Now, Person A and his sister are paying 5$ a month for pretty much same people in their now common tree. In other words GENI, you're asking people to pay twice for the shared relatives. No fun...this is a sort of a social network with crowd-sourcing and you're asking to pay????  You'd need to revise you strategy....otherwise people will leave...

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  andrew dixon Goode January 20, 2012 13:33

  It is simply bad business to allow a user, over the course of a year and more,  to input a large tree - with no comment along the way about a maximum size - and then make changes in your site that force that user to take out a PRO membership.  It is also bad business to create a site that includes no reasonable way to contact anyone of consequence.

  What a shame.  I was so enjoying my experience with geni and it was such a shock to treated this way upon my return.

  Ah, well.  Therein lies the amoral conscience of the internet.  All that I can do is share the bad news of your deeds.

  andrewgoode47@hotmail.com

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  Ray Akrawi January 23, 2012 18:06

  I just found out about this limitation and am very disappointed with Geni.com.  I began using it because it was free for the basic version that would suit my needs.  As has been mentioned, it's not right that they change the rules of the game after we've invested so much time & energy into creating our tree.  How does Geni expect to become a "World Family Tree" if they are charging for this service.   Many other social Web sites don't charge fees and are successful.  I think that if Geni allowed free tree mergers, it would grow even faster.  Please let me know if anyone discovers a valid free alternative.

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  Linda Schreiber February 11, 2012 00:15

  I just signed up.  I was hoping to find another place to get my trees out there, and hopefully make other research contacts.  Way too much data for the smaller plans, but $8 a month isn't too bad.  Spent some time reading 'community help' issues, ranging from tech issues, to minimal response from admins, to trees morphed out of control, to inability to correct errors, and then to this thread.  I was particularly struck by all the "me toos" for each and every one....  Including the "how can I delete my account" one.  I think I will be leaving now.  I don't need the headaches.

  And for Ray Akrawi, if you're still here, I also use WeRelate (more emphasis on serious research) and WikiTree (more user friendly than the first).  Both are active, and both are free. 

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  מאיר וייצמן July 29, 2012 17:27

  I have the same problem like Julia Bauer (above), and

  Fuat Emin Celik

   i think you are doing a big  mistake when you are limiting us  and forcing us to pay i belive that the market forces will win your methods to blackmaile people .

  like me that doesn't have money to pay every month , i agree to pay Symbolic sum one time for ever .

  please let me know what should i do

  thanks

  meir weizman

   

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  Kim Alison Tinsley September 01, 2012 03:22

  I have been using this site since 2009.  My efforts on researching come and go, depending on how busy my life is.  I have spent money on similar websites only to have it wasted because I had no time to do research.  I enjoyed Geni cause of the way it was set up, easy of use and the fact that it was FREE.  

  I have been a loyal user on other sites (BlueMountian e-cards, for example) when they switched from free to paid.  Even though I was a contributor, I dropped BlueMountain like a hot rock.  My first thought when I returned to this site after a long spell was...Oh no, not them too!  Now I'll have to find another family tree source or just buy a program that won't keep changing the rules.

   Wouldn't it be a nice gesture to offer your loyal, long time users a discounted or sliding scale for a period of time instead of making us feel like hostages--pay up or too bad?  Let the new arrivals pay a little more, save us a few bucks and in turn keep your customer base. 

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  Edwin Fine April 10, 2013 11:34

  Bait and switch, pure and simple.