Find A Grave = extortion
After spending 10 years contributing memorials and gravestone pictures for hundreds of cemeteries I went on the forum to ask some questions about a "top contributor" that was leaving nasty messages on my profile. Later that same afternoon I could not get into my profile.
I was banned without warning without explanation. I spent thousands of dollars over the past 10 years to drive to cemeteries, for batteries for the camera etc.. spending well over 20 thousand dollars. Find a grave did not delete the 41 thousand memorials I made nor the over 100 thousand pictures of gravestones.
At 5 dollars per memorial for sponsorship that is 205 thousand dollars. With a total loss to me of over 20 thousand and profit to Find a grave of over 200 thousand dollars.
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wow, That has happened to a friend of mine too....Just because he wrote to a "Top contributor" about duplications and somehow got him banned as well, specifically for "angry words" toward the "top contributor" who he only told him to stop duplicating memorials....(So much for enforcing their FAQ Rules...) This "Top Contributor" breaks so many of the rules that my friend got angry with him when he wouldn't transfer a close family member to my friend...
patzee, who forced you to go to the cemeteries, take photos, and genrally participate on the site? No one.
You did it voluntarily. F.A.G. has rules.
If you were banned, that tells me that you broke the rules and refused to mend your ways.
Have you read either the FAQs or the Terms of Use?
First of all, I don't think you know what extortion means.
Second, I do not believe that all 41 thousand memorials you have posted have had someone sponsor them.
Third, at $5 to sponsor forever you are getting a bargain. They could make a lot more over time selling standard ads on the memorials instead of removing them forever for $5.
Why are you calling someone out on the public forum instead of handling it with an administrator? I've never been on any site where it is okay to air your grievances with another member on the forums.
Additionally, counting your contributions all as paid sponsorships is just awful accounting.
They will never all be sponsored. You contributed so that the information would be available to the families and recorded for history's sake, not your own personal glorification, so whether your name is attached to them or not doesn't determine whether the contribution was worth $20K or totally worthless, does it?
Jim Tipton stands to profit at 5 dollars a pop for 41 thousand memorials that's over 200 thousand dollars. Not to mention the cost of gas, batteries wear and tear on auto and camera and time they probably are out just as much as Tipton will profit from 41 thousand memorials.
If they are going to ban a member then delete all of the memorials they contributed. That is only fair!
But a typical mormonmoran is too greedy.
At $5 a pop they stand to LOSE money. If every memorial was sponsored they would lose all the ad revenue from the site.
You don't understand basic business.
You chose to spend your money on the gas, batteries, etc. Now you complain because something didn't go your way.
Also, most bans on Find A Grave are temporary.
Also, the forum is separate from the main site and two separate accounts are required to access both of them. If they banned you one place it is unlikely they banned you in both, unless your comments on the forum were over the top.
I don't know if it will be different now that Ancestry.com has acquired it. My experiences have all been positive so far, except some are pretty slow answering.
I've asked that dates be changed, spelling corrections, etc. and people have been accommodating.
I do not pay the $5 to sponsor any of them, however. I would pursue it if I were you.