- Report: #1494069
Complaint Review: WikiTree.com -
Reported By:
William Mortensen Vaugan -
Virginia, United States
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
WikiTree.com
United States
Web:
www.wikitree.com
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WikiTree.com After hours of volunteer service, I was "flamed," muted, and blocked.
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I joined WikiTree.com November 4, 2018. By April 15, 2020, I made 6,828 contributions to this genealogical website, and earned 37 of their badges, including "Pre-1700 Certified," ""Big Heart," "Language Volunteer", "Generous Genealogist," and "Family Star." For several months, I also had their "Ranger" badge, and worked an hour or so a week, as a volunteer to monitor potentially harmful traffic on their website.
Unfortunately, when people in the U.S. "sprang forward" in the spring of 2020, a scheduling conflict was created because WikiTree doesn't enforce the use of one time zone. So, apparently, every year, when people in some parts of the world "spring forward," others don't do so until days or weeks later. WikiTree Leadership asked us Rangers to liaise with each as necessary to cover the gaps in the schedule, as necessary.
I noticed that the Ranger (Ros Haywood) who came on after my shift was coming on an hour late. I told her I'd stay a half hour late, and asked her to come on a half hour earlier. She copped an attitude saying this wasn't her responsibility. I suggested she remove herself from the slot so someone else could fill it. Long story short, my Ranger Badge was removed.
Then, to celebrate Easter Weekend, and National Tartan Week, as well as my Scandinavian lineage, I created and posted links to "wallpapers" or background images on their G2G forum, where I held the rank of Mach2 (above a Crew Member and Mach1, but lower than Mach3, Mach4, and so on up to Pilot and Astronaut). These wallpapers were based on the official thread counts for The Swedish and The Norwegian Tartans. I had previously posted more than a dozen, similar "wallpapers," with no complaints, but rather compliments and thank yous, but, almost immediately, these threads started getting flamed.
WikiTree Leadership accused me of fraud, spam, even of perhaps getting some kind of a kickback for any marketing that resulted from my posts. I replied, defending myself, including two posts explaining that I wasn't getting any financial compensation for creating and placing my "wallpapers" into the Public Domain for free. My replies started getting hidden willie-nilly, and finally, on April 15, 2020, I found that I was unable to answer any questions on the G2G Forum, or sending Private Messages to other WikiTree Members, or even editing my own Profile, or any WikiTree Profiles, including those of my deceased relatives, such as my Uncle Mick, who was a POW and a Purple Heart Recipient in WWII. So, potentially, anyone could become a WikiTree Member, and post anything they wanted on my Profile or any of the Profiles of my relatives, including Profiles I created. And I wouldn't be able to edit these Profiles, or post a complaint, or send a Private Message to a WikiTree Leader.
