Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you as a concerned family historian and member of the Victorian Goldfields Mailing List (Rootsweb.com). The Bendigo Cemeteries Trust website has become a main point of discussion over the past couple of weeks on the Goldfields list after one of our members had trouble accessing same. It turned out to be a java problem, but it raised a question about searching in general. Quite a number of us have searched the BCT site for information on our ancestors, only to find there isn't really much to find! When I searched my maiden name of "Bynon" I find quite a few entries, but other than names, there's nothing else to identify them. While I'm quite happy to pay money on something that will be of use to me, I'm not happy to spend money on something that may well turn out to be useless and not related to my ancestors at all! :( Another list member stated that he "searched for John McMahon and it displayed 9 entries, 1 of which I could safely disgard. That left me with 8 entries, and therefore an outlay of up to $96.00 depending on which one of the 8 was the one I required." This situation is far from satisfactory, particularly as it would only cost us $12 if you gave us more detail in search results. I have the microfiche for Bendigo Cemetery but my fiche reader doesn't work, otherwise I wouldn't have to pay a cent! What we would all like to know is, are you prepared to provide enough information on each individual in your search results so that we may narrow down our searches to reduce our expenditure? Someone pointed out that since this information has been given to you freely, you shouldn't be charging at all (Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park don't and I'm sure many others don't either) but I won't get into an argument over that point! ;) Another concern for me personally is that I live in Germany and have an American bank account. For me to submit just one enquiry form, it would not only cost me the $12 enquiry fee, but it would also cost me an additional $15 for an International Money Order and take weeks for the information to get back to me. I find that $27 is totally unacceptable no matter how high your income is. In this day and age, I also think it would be a reasonable request that you provide credit card payment facilities to enable those, like me, who live overseas with the opportunity to save themselves the $15 IMO fees. Then again, I also feel you shouldn't be charging, that the "basic" burial information should be provided free of charge! If the Trust would see our side of this problem and provide enough information on each individual searched for to enable us NOT to spend the family fortune in obtaining information, I think you'll find the Trust will actually start to make more money from this venture. If you had death dates, it would make it much easier to find our ancestors. For instance, you have 2 Arthur Bynon entries. I have 2 Arthur Bynon entries in my tree, however, only one of them was buried at Bendigo as far as I know. You have an Arthur William; I have an Arthur William George, but mine died in Richmond. If you had a death date next to YOUR Arthur William, I could ascertain whether or not MY Arthur William died in Richmond but was buried in Bendigo with his parents. Until I have enough information to pinpoint my ancestors, I'm not prepared to pay $27 to lodge an enquiry form! :( Another valid question is, what exactly do we get for our $12? Do we only get the date of death and burial? It would be great if the Trust could also indicate very clearly on the website exactly what our money is buying. With all the issues the BCT website is raising, I personally will not be applying for any enquiries and I certainly won't be recommending any of my fellow list members do either. Basically, I find the site rather disappointing and hope the Trust will rectify the "problems" within the site as a matter of urgency so that we may actually start to make decent use of it! Sincerely, Robyn J.J. Leeds. Stuttgart, Germany. IBSSG Honey's Home of Genealogy www.honeyshome.com