Ancestry

Ancestry DNA kit packaging disappointment
I order an Ancestry DNA kit heres my review.

Pros: The ordering process was simple and experience no problems. Kit instructions are simple and easy to follow. Return kit mailing is also simple and easy.

Cons: Packaging is terrible if you prefer some privacy or confidentiality. The kit comes in a simple not designed for shipping Ancestry DNA box. It seems Ancestry is more concerned about marketing then confidentiality or privacy. After speaking with customer service, I was told I would have to order 1000 kits in order to get discreet packing. WOW Really! That was their answer.

Beware of the check boxes on your online profile to insure you dont open up your results to the public world if thats not your intentions.

No order shipment tracking, only information a product has been shipped.

I'm kinda surprised at all the negative reviews. However, I can only speak from my experience which has been pleasant so far.

I managed to reconnect with many of my maternal grandfather's relatives and find out more information about my ancestors. My grandfather was born in 1915 and he was illegitimate. He never spoke much of his father's family so details have always been sketchy. He also died when I was pretty young. Thanks to Ancestry I now have a pretty good idea who his biological father was.

For over 6 months Ancestry has had continual problems with access to their Searches and DNA results. It has been going on for far too long. I expect to be able to access EVERY part of my account that I have paid for, not continually getting error messages and notes that say "feature unavailable" come back later. This is getting to the point where I may cancel my account and go elsewhere for genealogy research. I certainly will not recommend it at this point. Apparently they are more interesting in selling more memberships than making sure they have the capacity to serve the current ones.

November 2016 I renewed my subscription to ancestry.com data base. Everything worked well for a week or two then I was demoted to registered guest. No more data merging. Called them and they blamed it on the new owners of Family Tree Maker. Went to the Ancestry website and followed their instruction for resolving "registered guest" issues. Still nada. Tried to cancel subscription because I do not want to be charged again for no service. Could not do it since they claim I have no subscription. Last penny they get from me!

I started my family ancestry tree just a couple months ago so I'm still a beginner but everything you learn is so incredibly interesting! Ancestry.com is SO helpful with little leaves that pop up for you to review and ultimately decide if it pertains to your family or not.
Unfortunately, they are rather pricey which can be a little difficult especially with the economy what it is right now.
They also have a DNA kit you can purchase and do yourself at home and then send in, your results help with figuring out who your family is. It's definitely something I'm going to try in the future!
If you have any interest about your family history this is the place to go!

This change is not an improvement. There are no functions that cannot be performed on the old site. It takes more time to perform the same functions, search is slower. They have meddled in peoples family histories and chosen to rewrite them. They have also manipulated personal photos in an effort to make them fit their new designer photo portraits. Square photos have been made smaller in a feeble attempt to make them fit a round space. Background colors make family charts almost illegible. Upper management has not addressed a single issue, leaving it to customer service reps to handle. This has been a totally unprofessional and amateur transition. The should be embarrassed.

As appealing at it is to research your family history, Ancestry.com is a waste of money. All of their "helpful" records and hints are just noise. They inundate you with records, but don't provide any real guidance on how to sort through everything. If you don't already know your family history, trying to figure it out through their site is next to impossible. Also, despite having met the requirements of my initial contract (6 months), they still charged me a penalty for cancelling my membership. Don't get caught up in this scheme and save your money!

Ancestry.com is a dishonest company. They never disclose on the first page of the sign-on that you will be charged $25.00 cancelation fee if you don't give them $280 in subscription fees. When I chatted to ask about this, they just said here it is where we told you, Yeah, buried in the middle of a long legal document that you need a law degree to interpret. Then when I politely complained, I was ghosted, completely ignored, even though the chat was still active. Horrible, dishonest, company with ZERO customer service. DONT DO IT!

I recently bought a DNA test for my father as a birthday present. When it came through we wanted to be able to get in contact with new family members. Sadly you have to purchase, so we tried the free trial and I was charged before the trial ended. I called twice about it being canceled was gave a confirmation number that did not work. Don't trust ancestry they'll charge you anyway. They tried to put blame on a old account I had from early May last year that I had stopped. You can see from the pics I cancelled and was still charged. I was charged 8 days before the free trail ended, which put me in the negative. I'm paid monthly so yeah this sucks big time!

I am now in the process of making sure all is well on my Family Tree Maker before I dump Ancestry.com. I absolutely hate the new format. I find it cluttered and a b*@*%*h to work with. I hate to do this because I have been able to make contact with other distant family members, and if I drop ancestry, that opportunity will be gone. Now it is no longer easy to write comments, find comments, find stories, or follow-up leads. It took me twice as long today to do what I normally did in terms of research. Who was the idiot that decided this new format would be better!?!?!?

I want to take my whole tree someplace else. It all gets messed up and so called "experts" don't help you. Their answers are things I have already tried and don't work. Sometimes the whole tree disappears. It's confusing and awful to work with. Changing a relationship involves selling your right arm. So fed up. I am quitting it in about 3 weeks when my subscription runs out. I will find some other software that is more pleasing to work with.

Absolutely the worst customer service I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. I should have read the reviews prior to not choosing another company. Shame, dropping from the #1 rated company in this line of service to #68 should tell them they need to do something different. Wish them the best, my guess is if I would have waited a year they would have been out of business and not an option.

I ordered and paid for a DNA test from them well over a year ago. Since then I've been peppered with emails pushing other products from them. I never responded to any of it and ordered nothing more ever. 2 weeks ago I get a $99 charge on my credit card. The card co investigated and sent me a letter stating that it has been 'resolved' but they are awaiting documents from Ancestry before they can close the case. They were unable or unwilling to give me info as to who was responsible. I later called Ancestry and they stated that my only purchase was the original DNA test and that this latest bogus charge has been wiped out (apparently they already heard from the credit card co). They also would not give out any further info. Bottom line: Keep a long-term eye on these guys. Beware.

This is probably the stupidest thing I ever purchased. The commercials are so deceiving; total lies. The only thing I got for $70 was stuff I already knew. It was basically a stinking pie chart of what percentages i was of each nationality. No personal details AT ALL Never ever buy this, not at any price. You can't even contact anyone to complain or get an explanation.

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.

If you are AFRICAN American, do not use this site. I am sorry that certain Afri an Americans are promoting this company. They are using slavery to profit with lies and inaccurate DNA testing. I attempted to cancel my account only to find that they were still charging me 79.99 months later. In my opinion go to Mormon site, it is free and you will find actual records. Ancestry should be sued in a class action suit, in my opinion. Let's get that started.