AncestryReviews 636

I have been a member of Ancestry since 2012. I always enjoyed it. Due to the financial mess that I have managed to get into, I had to cancel my subscription. Ancestry took their monthly fee out on June 16. I canceled (which I could have sworn that I canceled before that), and then Ancestry took another 21 dollars for canceling, which really threw my bank account off. I was already treading water; that little amount has left me without a dime. It seems that the more money that a company makes, the pettier they become.

Have had a Canadian account for 18 years. Last year they raised my rate by over $35 stating it was. Now adding taxes. No way. Taxes have always been included. Over the 18 years I have seen a big decline in service. They say more records but actually less information. They have also been slowly removing source documents and replacing it with index cards or as the case with military information, paid access to another website. Another problem is their location database. I contains impossible locations and these populate the family tree histories on the results pages. Go to the actual tree and these locations do not show up. It's also very difficult to perform a search with their search engine. You can put in very specific search data and the person won't show up or will show up on a distant page of the results, long after people who have no matches to any of the search criteria other than last name. Yet when you finally locate the record, the results show the exact information you used in the original search. Was very happy with Ancestry but now only use it as an initial 'unverified' source and usually try to get better verification on other sites like Family Search.

I ordered Ancestry Kit and it never arrived. Post Office looked for it but didn't find it. The online version was sent to the wrong email so I couldn't open it. Many emails later to alert them of problem...still no results.

I had some problems with my search on Ancestry. I have been seeking a grandfather for over 30 years, with nothing but brick walls. I contacted Ancestry customer service to try to explain what happened and to get further directions. I was met with two very rude customer service reps...Moesha actually told me to "calm down"...I told her that I had spoken with Gabrielle who was rushed and confused me on her instructions to delete one of the accounts that I had...I have no idea how I ended up with two accounts. I did get the phone number for a pro genealogist and I will work with him if I can work separately from Ancestry, as I will not join until they bring back their customer service jobs to the US, where hopefully courtesy is a priority. There was nothing welcoming or nice about either of the reps I spoke to...they gave the impression that they really do not like dealing with Americans...in the mean time I am sticking with Family Search which is free and handled in the US.

The product is a scam. My mother had to provide them with spit 2x; once because Ancestry lost the order once received and the second time due to not being able to provide a final decision regarding ancestry. They asked for a 3rd sample. Every time they ask for a sample it takes 6 to 8 weeks for them to process. My mother received the gift for Christmas 2022, it is now June 2023 and still no results. We asked for a refund and they refused stating it was through Amazon and all refunds should be through them. Amazon is a drop-shipper Ancestry used, it wasn't Amazon's fault it was Ancestry's for not being able to provide/follow through on the service paid for. You can't return a service to Amazon and if it was a product (which it is not) it is already passed the 30 days due to Ancestry's processing times and incompetence and it is a product you spit in and mail so that's also a reason it would be impossible to gain a refund from the third party. This company is worth millions, has millions of dna stored (supposedly) and yet can't seem to figure out how to get this right after 2 attempts nor will they provide a $60 refund due to their ineptitude. This company is greedy and fraudulent. I would suggest finding another company. We've done 23 and me and they were able to get results within the first try.

Revived my first DNA kit 2/2/2023 waited and waited what seamed like months just to receive a message that my sample was not good! Sent another kit same thing "sample no good! Sent another kit! This time I waited for over a hour after get out of bed! No water! No coffee! Absolutely nothing! Just received a message that that test was also no good! Can someone explain to me how the cops can get DNA off a coffee cup or cigarette butt and ancestry can't get it from three tubes of saliva! This will be my fourth try!

I have never opted in for a paid membership only a free trial because I was gifted a test, was combing through credit card bills on a shared credit card and they have been charging me for a year with absolutely no email notifications. This organization is purposely ripping people off. There are other better DNA sites out there…RUN FAR FAR AWAY FROM ANCESTRY

Ancestry recently changed. Now, most of the sources are summarized on something that looks like an index card, and it is not possible to confirm if the "card" is correct. When they show a death certificate or actual document, the site is worthwhile, but those sources are now fewer and fewer. All professional genealogists preach that you must review original sources before blind acceptance.

Bad service been trying to get a refund for the shipping and ancestry didn't do anything saying wait til tomorrow …. And what if it comes your not gonna refund me when I could have just did the regular shipping

Tired of "hints" for an ancestor who lived in the 1500's having CIVIL WAR hints. 200 YEARS AFTER MY ANCESTOR DIED. Ancestor born, lived, died in Virginia - get baptism hint from ENGLAND.

Now suddenly trying to add ancestor mu tree is in SPANISH. THAT'S RIGHT, SPANISH. PHONE SETTINGS SHOW ENGLISH, CHANGED LANGUAGE ON ANCESTRY TO ENGLISH MULTIPLE TIMES - STILL SPANISH. ONLY SITE IN SPANISH. BOT IS USELESS. CAN'T GET PERSON UNLESS YOU GO THROUGH MULTIPLE USELESS QUESTIONS.

I AM ON MY BREAK AT WORK. DO NOT HAVE AN HOUR JUST TO TALK TO SOMEBODY.

USED to enjoy this site, but there are too many sites out there than I can post my tree to. And THEIR hints are RELIABLE! Ancestry has become too unreliable! Tired of deleting JUNK that gets added to my tree!

5/31
Decided to cancel subscription. Now they are going to delete all of my foriegn hints, even though I have been paying for them for the past TWO YEARS.

How's THAT for a scam?

Welcome to ancestry.com!

I have subscribed to Ancestry.com for 11 years; many 1000s of $$$. I recently realised it had expired and went to renew using a new CC. First, the price, $319, was just in $, not USD or AUD, so I assumed AUD. Then on checking I found Ancestry had added 10% GST at checkout, and then $350.90 became USD, converted to AUD = $524.16.
I cancelled immediately, which was confirmed, but they will not refund the AUD $524.16. Apparently I went to the wrong site, ancestry.com, not.com.au!
I would not have renewed at $524.16! So they have cancelled, expiry: 14/4/2024, but are keeping my money, despite several attempts by me to appeal to their sense of honour, honesty, customer service or whatever. This is just shameful I'm afraid, and is the end of the line for Ancestry as far as I'm concerned. I have lodged a complaint with the Australian Govt Consumer Affairs and with Fair Trading Western Australia. Be very wary of Ancestry.com. John Ford

Date of experience: 14 April 2023

Couldn't find death records of someone I been wanting to find out how they passed. Tried my name as well just to see if it would work even Google has me on there. Tried 10 different people and no information what so ever came up. Also it scammed me into signing up for the free trial cuz when I did search it had someone's name there but when I did click it it was a whole different person from the Philippines. Couldn't know that till I signed up. This site sucks

I received plenty of info but within a year price went from$16.80 to $19 something to $21, I wasn't using it enough to justify price and cancelled. They charged a $25 cancellation fee! I'm sure it is in the fine print you never read. Anyhow, just expect this if you cancel. I don't agree with it. Bad business & won't go back.

I looked at the site under the free trial option but did not want to subscribe. I have used the site until i saw on my credit card statement that I had been charge £13.99 for a premium I never signed up to. I tried to cancel my membership online but there was no cancel button - I was a classified as a guest member. After phone the help line I am getting half of my payments refunded as a special consideration! I am very unhappy with this process.Attached is a photo of my so-called,transactions'

I have Natuve American ancestry from several sources on both sides of my family. The strongest is from my father's mother's father, who was 100% Native American. Yet my results came back as showing 0% Native American. This is not possible. I sent an email asking what happened, and three weeks later I still find no reply. So today I called and asked for a refund, and was told I cannot have a refund since I received the results. THIS IS RATHER DISCUSTING!

I've spent the outrageous amount for a DNA test years ago, and now everything is gone! There are no more DNA results on my account. I tried to chat with someone on customer support but they lied and said that it wasn't deleted from my account. Besides at the results were inaccurate I will never use this site again.

All for the turkish propaganda dont do the test fake results. GREEKS DONT DO IT ESPECIALLY CYPRIOTS!

We ordered our kits and they says they would be here in 7-10 business days. The shipping said the same things everyday it would be here at 7pm. We never received the kits. We called several times saying if we didn't receive it that day they would send new ones. We didn't receive any kits so called one last time, they told us they never received the funds and was unable to process the order. The money came out of our account. We had nothing but issues with this place, if we talked to them several times prior and didn't tell us the first few times the order wasnt processed due to the funds which again isn't true because the money was out of our possession why is it now been over 3 weeks and you are barley saying this. Talked to a supervisor and said they didn't receive the money after that I was livid so I had it out with them. I wanted the money back because it came out of my account. They then try offering me new kits and membership again I just wanted my money back they processed my refund and said it would take 5-10 business days. I pray I get those funds back because if I have to call back it will not be a very pleasing phone call.