Pearl Street Software, Family Tree Legends and GenCircles Up For Sale

Are you looking for a genealogy business opportunity? If so, read on.

The founders of Pearl Street Software have mostly moved on to a new project and are opening up bidding for their company to interested parties. Cliff, Chris, and Ryan still very much believe in the company they've built but think it would best be left to another party to bring it to the next level. Therefore, Pearl Street Software and its products are now for sale.

The major assets of the company as noted by the founders are as follows:

Family Tree Legends Software Line

• #1-Rated Genealogy Software and the number two position at retail as well as number two in worldwide units sold.
• Major US publishing agreement with Individual Software: http://www.individualsoftware.com/new/consumer/details/fl5_details.htm
• Major UK publishing agreement with Focus MM: http://www.focusmm.co.uk/store/productpages/productinfo/ess605.html

FTL Records Collection

• 400 million records. One of the largest online repositories for the US. This includes Search technology that can scale to much larger record sets.

GenCircles

• 10 million page views per month.
• 135 million ancestors, making it the #2 GEDCOM/family tree site.
• 300,000 monthly users.
• 160,000 registered users.
• No current advertising. Untapped ad revenues.

Technology

• SmartMatching: Most widely regarded matching technology. Built into FTL and GenCircles with auto-matching and merging process.
• Internet Synching Technology: Enables FTL to synch entire dataset to servers to backup users' files, publish them to GenCircles.
• FTL Source Code: Significant competitive technologies such as Real-Time Internet Backup & Publishing, SmartMatch merging, GenGrams, charting, etc.

Interested parties should inquire at offers@pearlstreetsoftware.com.

Comments

[Trishymouse]

I'm not sure what to think. I use Family Tree Legends, GenCircles, and LOVE the SmartMatch feature. I find it an amazing genealogy software package and can see it has a lot of potential for more. I hope someone not only buys it, but continues developing it as well as it has been...

[Pauline Wade]

I notice your article regarding Pearl Street Software. I would like to state that this company never replies to any of my emails regarding my purchase of Family Tree Legends online when the connection was broken after I had entered my bank account details and personal information. As soon as I clicked on to download the software my computer screen came up with "Family Tree Legends has encountered a problem and has had to close etc.."

Do you think they will return my money as I have been trying to get a reply to numerous emails since the 21st March 2006.

All I can say is what terrible customer service they provide and my computer will allow then to send a reply as I have cleared them access.

Perhaps you would like to advise other customers what to expect.

Thanking you.

Pauline Wade

[Rod Dav4is]

Well, they moved on without leaving an attendant, and GenCircles is now well and truly broken. I have been trying to contact them for a week about one of my files being "stuck" in processing, to no avail. Just finding an email address to contract them is a challenge.

Other folks are complaining of similar problems and I just got a "disk full" failure trying to update a different file.

It won't be long before it totally falls over, is my guess. Maybe then they will notice something's wrong.

[Sad n'Angry]

Looks like GenCircles and Family Tree legends has died.

For several days last week the web site was offline. Could not see my file and the forum was down so could not pass along the problem.

I really loved GenCircles and Family Tree Legends. I really liked having a site that competed with Ancestry. It caused them to work a little harder! Ancestry's version of smartmatching is a debacle and it shows the Cliff and team were very special. I usually got pretty good support from Cliff and team. I found that the FTL program provided much more capabilities than most people could learn to use and I believe that caused some of the complaints.

As with most entrepreneur inventors, they don't really want to take on the role of service and support to become and big business! So they decided to sell and move on to another invention...

I guess the sale is not going well....

[Kristin Kuhlman]

YAY Gencircles is back up !!!

[Dusti]

I opened my bank statement last week to find that Pearl Street Software had charged my account for $29.95 - but I don't know what for since I purchased the software from an individual. I've made many, many attempts to contact the company with no success.
No one answers their support emails, even though it says someone will within 24 hours, their phones are answered by an automated person who connects you to either sales or tech support - neither of which are manned. Another recording tells you to leave your name and number and someone will call you back. NOT.
My next stop is the Better Business Bureau and whatever consumer groups I can find to help me because I'm out of options.

[Jason Presley]

Yes, when it's working, and the support team are actual in the office, GenCircles is a great site and FTL is a perfectly adequate genealogy program. However, support is only available once in a blue moon. I sincerely hope someone with deep enough pockets and good enough programmers can buy and revive the product. As it is, the asking price must be dropping by the day as the site and program stagnate unattended.

[David Duncan]

GenCircles/FTL is an excellent, user-friendly product
and provides advanced and unique advantages not found
in other similar products. I sincerely hope that someone will pick up this program and continue the good work that has been started.

Sure, there have been snags. Response has seemingly been lacking...yet, on second thought, what level of
support does one get from other programs?

This is too good a thing to allow to just die. If you want accuracy, smartmatching beats One World Tree going away. Ancestry has it's advantages..but no more than GenCircles and FTL. Each compliment the other..but only if they maintain their identity.

GenCircles/FTL is one of a kind...someone pick it up and run with it!!

[Wilmer L. Kerns]

I just subscribed to the premium service ($30). It will not allow me to log in for this service; I am shut out. I tried to find an email address to talk with someone, but apparently there is no way to reach anyone. I am filing a compaint with the Better Business Bureau and notifying my credit card company that this appears to be fraud.

[Ron Hallberg]

Service at GenCircles seems to have reached a new low. Although I can still use the search engine, the program will not allow me to log in to update my files. Requests for log in assistance have gone unanswered for more than 24 hours.

[aggravated]

Well, GENCIRCLES and PEARL SOFTWARE seem to be CON-ARTISTS, based on the following info THEY THEMSELVES have put into the WHOIS REGISTRY for their domain, FAMILYTREELEGENDS.COM:
(They have BOGUS PHONE NUMBERS and their DOMAIN SERVERS are named CYBERCON !!!)

Check for yourself by visiting the Whois Lookup at domainwhitepages.com and enter Familytreelegends.com .

This is truly aggravating, as some reports claim their software really is "good," but how can it be, when the developers appear to be out-and-out CON ARTISTS??

If anyone has used their software, please post here:
Does it really work right?
Can it import FTW files directly and not screw them up?
Can it create PDF files and export them in a printable format and not screw up that?
If it works so well, WHY have these people "disappeared" and why is everything about them so SUSPECT??

-------------------
Registrant:
Pearl Street Software
1630A 30th Street
#106
Boulder, Colorado 80301
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: FAMILYTREELEGENDS.COM
Created on: 03-Jun-02
Expires on: 03-Jun-08
Last Updated on: 09-Aug-05

Administrative Contact:
network@pearlstreetsoftware.com
Pearl Street Software
Pearl Street Software Boulder Colorado,80301 Fax. +00.0000000
United States
1630A 30th St, #106 Fax -- Tel. +1.3035551212

Technical Contact:
network@pearlstreetsoftware.com
Pearl Street Software
Boulder Colorado,80301 Fax. +00.0000000
United States
1630A 30th St, #106 Fax -- Tel. +1.3035551212

Domain servers in listed order:
NS2.CYBERCON.COM
NS1.CYBERCON.COM

[stillaggravated]

More damning news at amazon.com (see URL below) about Family Tree Legends & Pearl Software. Somebody should contact the Colorado Attorney General and find out what the &*&#&*$# is going on with these guys and their product!?

There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for such B.S. online or offline! These guys are clearly cons! Predict a lot of LAWSUITS over their irresponsible & probably criminal behavior--not to mention what they're doing with all that DATA they are allowing people to upload, against the knowledge, wishes, or permission of many LIVING individuals--in these days of ID theft & privacy violation!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002Z45FY/ref=olp_product_details/104-2256947-1834344?v=glance&s=software

[Notso Fast]

Heh Ron: try going to http://cybercon.com/ and you will see that they are a real hosting service.
You are obviously so angry about something that you can't read the manual to understand how to use the software. It works great for me. Of course I hope a good buyer will pick them up and add more features.

[Wonders Never Cease]

Heh Aggravated - The answers to all of your questions are yes. The FTL software works great and I can do everything that you asked about. It is highly functional and some what complex so you have spend some effort learning how to use it. The Pearl Street gang is like most start up businesses, they have reached a point that they want to reap some rewards for their work and move on to other new opportunities. Hopefully a new owner will make things even better!!!

[Steve Herman]

I've owned FTL Ver5+. It is a great program, price was good, and many useful tools which do work but do have problems. What support remains does their best. GenCircles is great as is Smartmatching. Customer Support is especially bad with the company being sold. I'll keep plugging along with the hope that it will be purchased. If not, I will move to another program. To all my cousins out there, I'll find you soon. The Cap't

[Howard Smith]

Hi Steve
I totally agree with you. FTL is a great program and I look forward to a new owner that will make the investments that will take it to the next step. The majority of problems that people have complained about are resolved with a little time in the extensive manual or on-line FAQs.
Good luck with your cousins!!
HLS

[Lee Jacobs]

Hi All

Until a few months ago, I had no problem with Gencircles. However, now my file has got stuck. I've been mailing Gencircles constantly to resolve the issue for the past two weeks, but nothing has changed. They are just not interested. If this is their attitude to people's data, then I'll remove my file for good (if it ever gets fixed)

For those of you, who need help with your Gencircles files, try support@gencircles.com. If your lucky enough to receive a reply, don't reply to the supportdesk@gencircles.com address, as your email is more than likely to bounce

For those of you thinking of using Gencircles and FTL, don’t bother. Use Family Tree Maker and post your GEDCOM’s to Rootsweb (even though both are controlled by Ancestry.com)

R.I.P Gencircles

[A. Moore]

Rest In Peace - Pearl Street Software, Family Tree Legends and GenCircles /// A sad day...my "first love" for software and the beautiful automatic up-load feature. FTL seems to be in its last gulps for breath. Will someone call 911 for them, please?

I am noting now that the auto-upload feature is no longer functioning. Last up-load for me was in early November....... No contact info any longer on the web sites... So much for "Premium Member" status... Bye, Bye FTL --- it is a sad, sad passing. RIP :( :(

[Carol]

Does anybody know how to contact GenCircles? I want to update my info there but I don't remember my password. When I try to retrieve my password, they send it to my OLD e-mail address. When I try to update my e-mail addy from Old to new, they want username and password! Its a vicious circle!

Their Help section is NO help!

[Jason Presley]

Basically, post to the support forum at their website and pray.

[Ralph Link]

It is extreamly unfortunate that such a company is now providing absolutuely no support. It definately was a great product.

If there were going to cut support to a minimum, the least they could do it alert the current users and warn people considering buying the product.

Ralph Link
genealogyPro Professional Genealogy Services
Web Site Development, Hosting and Promotions
http://genealogyPro.com

[Donna T. Carwile]

I just learned of the upcoming sale or not of GenCircles. I have used GenCircles and it's features for several years and loved the fact that it was not run or owned by Ancestry. I honestly would not have objected to paying a fee to allow me to place my research on line as long as the search remained free and I recommended hundreds of people to this site over the years. It was extremely easy to use and the Smartmatching has brought me together with many family members. It will be a sad day for researchers if this site goes down, as I truly believe it was a great asset to genealogy research. I also believe with a little tender-loving care it could be turned into a profitable site.

[Adele Borg from Australia]

I have been aware of the sale for some time now and have been hoping that FTL and Gencircles remains, it seems that things are starting to go down hill with backup's and smart matches not happening, I've been a member since Feb 2004 and found the program fantastic also Gencircles has linked me with several relatives that I didn't even know existed, please someone buy this fantastic program, i've tried several other free and paid sites and programs and nothing has been as great as these,

[larryls]

Total disgust with GenCircles/FTL where I had been a subscriber since 2002. Whoever developed and supposedly operated this program owes it's subscribers an explanation. On Dec 22, 2006 access to my FTL program on my PC was blocked and I have been denied access since then. There seems to be no avenue of appeal or explanation that I have found. Finally I sent a letter to their postal address asking for help or explanation. No response. Apparently they have abandoned the program. Hopefully I can retreive my data via GEDCOM to other repositories such as FTM and Rootsweb. Disgusted!!

[Lorelee]

I'm also stuggling trying to get ahold of anyone from gencircles. I took my gedcom off a few years ago and because I have new surnames decided to put the gedcom back on. BAD IDEA! It is stuck trying to upload and now I have no way to take it off of the site. I have looked everywhere to try to get ahold of them to no avail. Thank goodness I did not give them any money. What a bunch of crooks.

[Joni Fortier]

I have been a member of GenCircles since 2002 and I think it is absolutely disgusting the way they've just ignored their customers pleadings for support, can't be bothered with technical assistance AT ALL, won't update the site nor allow users to update, delete or otherwise attend to their GEDCOM files - yet can still manage to send out emails soliciting MONEY for new services.

Sick - completely SICK!

[aggravatedalso]

Wish I had read all this before I just purchased an upgrade for $14.95, then had $30.00 charged to my credit card, then found out that I can't do anything with what I was supposed to have purchased. Several emails to several "hiding" addresses, and no responses and no refund as guaranteed within 30 days. I opted out several years ago because of difficulties, and have just now discovered that things are worse!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Adele Borg Australia]

We FTL users are fed up and need support even the forums are filled will unwanted messages , young and old do not want to see them with unwanted links on each comment, we are there to do our family tree searches and get help from either other users or if when available help from FTL which is not happening, come on guys fix up this wonderful site, your going to lose people if you don't do something now.

Also Smart Matches does not work again - Uploaded my file again and nearly a week nothing,

[Barb in BC]

Ad my alarm and disgust to the other comments here about Gencircles. Ignored my upload preferences and posted names of living. People everywhere angry and alarmed because of my posting. No contact numbers, can't even remove my database because it is stuck "in processing" Seem plenty eager to collect money to provide the matching that used to be free! What am I to do?

[nathan middleton]

contacting Pearl Street Software
ryan@pearlstreetsoftware.com
he is ryan spohn customer relations specialist at Pearl Street Software.
hope this will answer the many requests for this information
Nathan

[Meri Arnett-Kremian]

I've had the same disappointment in trying to get help from customer support. I'm wondering if anyone has contacted Better Business Bureau? Has anyone contacted the Colorado attorney general's office (consumer protection division)? What results have those brought?

[Meri Arnett-Kremian]

Here is the web address for filing a complaint with the consumer protection people at the Colorado State Attorney General's office. http://www.ago.state.co.us/consline/consline.cfm. This will take you to their "filing a complaint" page. Down at the bottom, there is a place to obtain a form to fill out with your complaint.

Since Pearl Street Software/Family Tree Legends/GenCircles has done business throughout the U.S. (and world), complaints should also be made to the equivalent office in the Federal Trade Commission (Office of Consumer Protection).

If they're investigated by consumer protection agencies, perhaps their "customer service" will reappear.

[Meri Arnett-Kremian]

https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

This is the address for the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection division's complaint form. It can be filled out online with little effort.

I have sent an email to Ryan Spohn at the email address listed by Nathan Middleton on April 27, 2007. I cc'd Cliff Shaw, although I just guessed at his email address. I explained that I was only one of many who found their customer service deplorable and that I had been in contact with Colorado's AG office and was going to find out how to file a complaint with FTC, as well. I further stated that I would be posting information about how to file complaints online so that others with experiences similar to mine could likewise file a complaint. I hate to do this (because I thought the software was great and generally reliable....... but when it was unreliable, the results were usually pretty bad) but I don't know of any other way to get their attention. I'm sure many of you feel the same way.

[Meri Arnett-Kremian]

Further update --- The Colorado AG site form is a Better Business Bureau complaint form. I called the Denver/Boulder BBB and talked to a representative. There have been a dozen or more complaints in the last 36 months, with three in the last year. Of those, I think he said 4 dealt with customer service issues. Pearl Street Software/Family Tree Legends is not a BBB member. He said to file a complaint, with all information available, and that if they receive a volume of complaints, they will open an investigation. He did say that all the complaints they had received were closed and that they had been resolved by the company.

He did give me a different phone number...... (303) 859-1788. So I called it. And (surprise, surprise) it was another Verizon cell phone number which had been changed or disconnected.

[Meri Arnett-Kremian]

Here is the text of my complaint and desired resolution with the BBB in Denver/Boulder:
Thank you for using the Better Business Bureau's Online Complaint System.
Your complaint has been assigned case # 75022659.
Correspondence regarding this complaint will be emailed to : Meri@familytreeclimber.com
Please print a copy of this for your records.

Filed on : May 16 2007

Filed by :
Meri Arnett-Kremian
12919 53rd Avenue N.W.
Gig HarborGig Harbor WA 98332

Filed against :
Pearl Street Software, LLC
1630A 30th Street
Boulder CO 80301

Complaint Description:
I upgraded to Family Tree Legends 5.0 in June 2005 from earlier versions. The Order ID # 24051985 and the upgrade cost was $19.95. The software functioned well for the most part and customer service was fine historically. However, on May 12, the software stopped functioning and I lost my ability to access my genealogy database, a file containing information on over 22,000 people. I went to the websites (www.familytreelegends.com and the software company site www.pearlstreetsoftware.com) to determine how to contact customer support. All telephone contact information had been removed from the sites. I emailed customer support using the online form several times between Saturday May 12 and Monday, May 14. There was no response to my requests for assistance. In the first email, I described the nature of the malfunction. After I tried the self-help instructions outlined in the sites FAQs (which was to uninstall the program, manually go into the directory and delete files, empty trash, reboot, go to the site and redownload the software and reinstall) five or six times, I emailed them to tell them that following their instructions hadn't solved the problem. The remainder were emails asking them why they weren't responding. On Tuesday, May 15, I began researching online to find out if my situation was unique. To my dismay, I found that this problem seems to be widespread in the genealogy community. This is extremely unfortunate, as Family Tree Legends is one of the most popular genealogy software programs available. In the past, customer service was prompt and helpful. Apparently, however, the founders (Cliff Shaw, CEO; Ryan Spohn; and others) have put this company on the market and have moved on to found ProtectMyPhotos. Apparently, no successful sale of Family Tree Legends/Pearl Street Software has been negotiated. The old phone number I had was a Verizon wireless number that had been disconnected. Your BBB rep gave me a "current" number (303) 859-1788. It, too, had been disconnected. The corporation, originally incorporated in Colorado, has moved its state of incorporation to Delaware. This was most likely done for tax and corporate law purposes, not to evade responsibility for failure to provide services. The corporation does business in Colorado and throughout the United States. There are potentially thousands of customers who will experience the same lack of product support as I have in the event their software becomes unstable and malfunctions. Online research has convinced me that many customers have already run into this problem. See, e.g., Dick Eastman's online genealogy blog(http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2006/03/pearl_street_so.html#comment-69682212) where bloggers have reported their experiences and lack of satisfactory resolution. Your representative tells me that only a few complaints have been filed with BBB in the past 36 months and that they have all been closed after resolution. I am hoping that you can work magic in this instance, as well. However, the only communications they seem to be interested in handling are offers to purchase their software empire. Interested parties are invited to inquire at offers@pearlstreetsoftware.com.

Your Desired Resolution:
I want the company to provide me with the customer support necessary to get the program to function on my current computer (which is the computer on which the upgrade was originally installed); to assist me in obtaining the data from the online backup file; and to provide excellent customer service to the entire class of people who have purchased and installed Family Tree Legends software on their computers, as promised in their invitations to purchase their product.

---------------------------------------------------
I hope others experiencing the same customer service issues will choose to address them by using these consumer protection mechanisms (to the extent that efforts to remedy the problems directly with Pearl Street Software/Family Tree Legends has brought no satisfaction).

[Lena Dukes]

Same problem as everyone else the site is no longer working it just holds files in processing you can't delete them and the site has no contact e-mail at all. DO NOT give them money for any reason!

[Alain Ducatel]

Thank you so much Meri Arnett-Kremian, for exposing this fly by night operation.
I joined FTL/Gencircles, over two years ago.
They never responded to fundamental issues.
My latest uploads to Gencircle bombed.
This oufit needs to be put out of business, before more individuals get abused (1)
Alain Ducatel - Calgary
(1): Tax shelters are no longer safe heavens these days!

[Alain Ducatel]

Dear All,
It is hard to tell if the above vitriolic message helped.
But my last upload to Gencircle just got processed ... after six days!
Nevertheless, FTL/Gencircles have shattered my comfidence for too long.
I shall switch to Heredis, or to any other reputed program.
As for Internet exposure, Geneanet helps way more than Gencircles.
It will be easy, for i have only captured ~ 650 family members.
(some among you, have trusted FTL to capture thousands, or dozens of thousands)
Best Regards
Alain Ducatel

[Steve Herman]

FTL is in my rearview mirror. Moved on RootsMagic and extremely happy. I do miss gencircles and smartmatching, however I've also used geneanet.com for 3 years. It's a French site, but they have English instructions. Some are truly "pigs" English but you can decipher the intent of the translation. It's free, it's supported, I get frequent emails of improvements for the free portion and the added fee portion also. FTL was a good ride for my 4 years, but they are a sway-backed horse.

To all my cousins, I'm looking for ya, send up some smoke, The Cap't

[Tony Langham]

I would just like to add my name to the ever growing band of people that feel this company should be shut down. I have put a lifetimes work up on FTL only to find I cannot restore my files because nobody appears to be home at Pearl Street. I have sent numerous emails to FTL and Gencircles but I get NO response.
To anybody who reads this posting DO NOT GO NEAR FAMILY TREE LEGENDS or GENCIRCLES.
I will be posting to all the Genealogy societies that I belong to advising against contact with either of the above

[Allen Prunty]

Genecircles has been moved to a new server and it appears to be working well.

Another thing to note is that family tree legends is now completely FREE

Allen

[Jason Presley]

Fascinating that after all this time, not only is GenCircles free again, but Pearl Street Software is now giving away their software as well. All that, and still nary a peep from the company. Nice that the SmartMatching service is working, though.

[Jason Presley]

Well, for all those who are subscribed to GenCircles' newsletter, it was announced yesterday that they have merged with MyHeritage.com. MyHeritage now incorporated the GenCircles SmartMatching technology and have released their own free family tree software that incorporates many of the features of Family Tree Legends.

http://www.myheritage.com

[Meri Arnett-Kremian]

Maybe I missed the follow-up message I posted a few months ago, but after I posted the info about filing a complaint, the one customer service guy who was left at FTL emailed me after about 48 hours, apologized for not contacting me sooner and said he'd been sick (which meant there was no one doing customer service). He was able to solve the problem with my program and get me back up and running.

I'm happy to hear someone adopted this orphan. When the software works (my problems started when I tried to alter the font face), it's great.

[Aaron Foxworthy]

Seems I read that MyHeritage.com took over the helm and has me listed as the webmaster for the website. This was all done back in March of 2007. I do not remember receiving notice about this but it seems that I will be charged some 14.95 a year. The site also seems to be out of Israel and has a genealogy tree that can be downloaded, which I did, but after working the product for a week, I have found that one can not delete duplicate names but after reading the "book", in a roundabout way, one can delete an input. Not worth the trouble to mess with.

[Richard]

I can no longer make contact with the GenCircles web site, even to view the data.

Can anyone tell me what GenCircles' owners are doing with all those family history records they promised never to take and claim as their own property?

Are they living up to that long-standing and absolute commitment to ethical behavior?

[Patricia]

I cannot make any contact with FTL or GenCircles or Pearl Street Software. When I try to open a file, it goes into permanent pause. I tried to open a file and it won't even open. Does anyone have any info?

[rhodyvisitor]

I had JUST found 'gencircles' on june 15, 2008.
it was great and found info on some ancestors that I hadn't found on ancestry with hours of searching!
I got on last week about june 26th no problem, did some more searching. However I 'Just' tried to get on today....and all I get is web page cant be displayed, or navigation cancled..... I typed the address in the broser, I tried cliking on a link for them from searching with google....still nothing...
did they shut down and I didnt know and wasnt informed????
does anyone know what happened to this site? or am i doing something wrong???

[Aletta]

has the gencircles website been taken down permanently?

[Jason Presley]

GenCircles, Family Tree Legends, and probably all that was Pearl Street Software were acquired by MyHeritage.com. Seek your answers there.

[Patti Wetterman]

Does any one know if the merge between GenCircles and MyHeritage acquired all the records that were on GenCircles. The GenCircles site is no longer. I can access MyHeritage; but it seems like not all my information was moved.

[Jason Presley]

My guess would be that the data wasn't moved and is probably offline. I had two file on GenCircles, and while they DID set my account up on MyHeritage.com for me, my data wasn't moved, I had to upload it separately using their new Family Tree software which incorporates the SmartMatching feature FTL had.

MyHeritage's contact information can be found here:

http://www.myheritage.com/contact-myheritage

[Richard]

GenCircles is back online after being unavailable for a week or more.

A GenCircles user told me it had been offline due to upgrades to the GenCircles servers.

GenCircles.com being back and seemingly working well is a hopeful sign.

If faith can move mountains, perhaps our faith in GenCircles can restore it to its former glory.

[Carole Bardsley]

MyHeritage are no better. I took up a free trial and was charged for a month's subscription. The software is terrible - designed by geeks for geeks. I uploaded a file with approx 2,000 records but my hompage says I have three members and I am continually told to enter more people to enhance the possibility of matches.
I gave up with them and tried to canacel my membership. This has proved impossible. My first reply said I had entered the wrong password. I asked for a reminder and surprise surprise, I had NOT entered the wrong password. I have tried e-mailing every e-mail address I can find on the site but everything gets returned with a message saying that my e-mail address is not recognised. I have spoken to my credit card provider who have said that they will wait to see if any money is deducted next month and then they (MASTERCARD) will take this up with them.
DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS COMPANY. IT APPEARS TO BE JUST ONE BIG SCAM.

[Ron]

Updated my family information more than a month ago on GenCircles. Smartmatching still not completed. Anyone having any better success?

[Sue F]

Gencircles has been down for 3 days, so has Family Tree Legends--anybody know what is goin on??

[Fred Holmes]

Does anyone know the status of Gen Circles?
Has all the data been lost?
I have used Gen Circles for years and do enjoy it, but this is the
second time that it has went off line and I can not find anyone in the
company to contact.
Sure would like to know the current status.

[Fred Holmes]

Does anyone know the status of Gen Circles?
Has all the data been lost?
I have used Gen Circles for years and do enjoy it, but this is the
second time that it has went off line and I can not find anyone in the
company to contact.
Sure would like to know the current status.

[Dick Eastman]

Pearl Street Software (including their GenCircles and Family Tree Legends products) was acquired by MyHeritage.com. The new owners apparently are not answering e-mail and are no longer supporting those products.

[Sharon Workman]

Two and one half years later, GenCircles is still dead in the water. There continues to be a statement that smart matches are automatic within 48 hours, but I've waited six months. The site is a waste of time.