• Archives

Archives

Is this your business?

Is this your business?

Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and manage your listing.

Claim Your Business
Is this your business?

Overview

Archives has a rating of 1.09 stars from 158 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Archives most frequently mention credit card, free trial, and customer service problems. Archives ranks 49th among History sites.

  • Service
    17
  • Value
    15
  • Shipping
    10
  • Returns
    12
  • Quality
    15
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
Positive
0
Neutral
0
Negative
6
7
See all photos

What reviewers want you to know

Positive highlights

No positive highlights yet

Critical highlights

  • They count on people not checking their credit card bills so they can keep the subscription for as long as possible.
  • Terrible Company, Terrible Customer Service; no telephone; chat only with a robot; it takes your money and runs.
How would you rate Archives?
Top Positive Review

“Extensive records”

Cynthia D.
3/3/19

I've found records from the 1880's. I've uncovered so much information. Not sure if I want to pay $9.99 a month to keep the access. For now I'm enjoying the information on my family that I have found.

Top Critical Review

“CRIMINALS!”

Lindsey D.
1/31/24

Go straight to the necessary county for what you need, not this criminal source. Or you will be out $$$. We kept getting "reasons" for the delay of receiving the certificate requested. Those "reasons" were to buy Archives time to make it so I was unable to dispute the charge. As mine and your bank has a cut off time. I am out $$$ with no way of getting it back now.

Reviews (158)

Rating

Timeframe

Other

Reviews that mention popular keywords

credit card (34) customer service (20)
Thumbnail of user lindseyd205
1 review
2 helpful votes
January 31st, 2024

Go straight to the necessary county for what you need, not this criminal source. Or you will be out $$$. We kept getting "reasons" for the delay of receiving the certificate requested. Those "reasons" were to buy Archives time to make it so I was unable to dispute the charge. As mine and your bank has a cut off time. I am out $$$ with no way of getting it back now.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user rileyr98
1 review
1 helpful vote
March 19th, 2024

This is a scam, they will give you 7 days, then auto charge your card, you have to call them to cancel no way to do it from your site, I was on the phone for a hour, to get a human. I will never use this again. They NOT REFUND YOU! I canceled in Feb over the phone, and then got charged again in March had to call again.

Products used:
This is a newspaper search, which does not get any results.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user yod8
1 review
1 helpful vote
November 13th, 2023

I will have patience and hopefully the mistakes by charging my card will be corrected ASAP! I had no results btw

Thumbnail of user thaism11
1 review
2 helpful votes
July 23rd, 2023

According to the Archives website, I should have all the 4 requested certified documents within 10-15 business days. But after more than a month, I am still waiting for them. What this company is doing is outrageous and completely outside the scope of what they promised for their customers. I paid in advance and when I complained over the phone, they didn't cancel my order or give me any compensation. It is absurd that a company like this continues to operate dealing with certified documents online, which should be a job of great responsibility and reliability, which Archives is far from being.

Tip for consumers:
I want to add that the customer service over the phone was useless, and also that the person who answered the phone started laughing at my complaint. I want to make sure that Archives will be well known as an unreliable company.

Products used:
For now, just one.

Thumbnail of user saramanoff
1 review
1 helpful vote
August 24th, 2023

No way to reach a live person. They take your money and will not cancel the service. DO NOT USE THEM. If I couldngive negative stars, I would. I did find a phone number after a while of searching *******442 is supposedly customer service. Be careful with info you give them please

Tip for consumers:
DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE FOR ANY REASON.

Products used:
Trying to find anything was a joke. Too much info and no real way to narrow it down. No live person to talk to and they just keep billing you. They will not cancel the service.

Thumbnail of user leonardom54
1 review
1 helpful vote
August 6th, 2018

I had a great experience with archives.com When I wanted to cancel I called them right up and they took good care of me. I use it often and have been doing extensive research into 16 different lineages. I have been able to (with much patience) trace most of my ancestors back for 300 or more years.

Thumbnail of user cynthiad156
1 review
1 helpful vote
March 3rd, 2019

I've found records from the 1880's. I've uncovered so much information. Not sure if I want to pay $9.99 a month to keep the access. For now I'm enjoying the information on my family that I have found.

Thumbnail of user im.roxie2
1 review
1 helpful vote
August 22nd, 2023
Verified purchase

They offer it to you from their site and you think that all you have to do is cancel your ancestry account and your good but you have to go to separate site to cancel. Sign you up from one but require you to logon to separate site to cancel. This company(s) just want you to signup and then forget you have an account so they can slip in on your credit card bill monthly and take your money.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user kenp498
1 review
3 helpful votes
March 11th, 2022

I signed up one day in February and immediately emailed to cancel subscription as the site had no useful information! They cancelled but in March took £8.95 out of my bank account and told me they could only refund $8.95 dollars and anything lost was currency exchange! It's not currency exchange when they're not even attempting to match the amount they took without permission in the first place!

Tip for consumers:
Get off it asap, don’t sign up and don’t give them your card details!

Products used:
None immediately asked to cancel subscription

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user patriciab3065
1 review
3 helpful votes
January 15th, 2022

Started "trial subscription". Quickly realized poor decision. Tried to CANCEL by email and phone (reached Indian call center). Said they had no record of me. Charged my Paypal act 14 days later. Got paypal to cancel further charges. These folks are liars, scammers and cheats. AVOID them

Tip for consumers:
it is a total scam. it will offer you nothing and rip you off

Products used:
zero none nil nada

Service
Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user mikeb3088
1 review
1 helpful vote
February 22nd, 2023

The site seems great, but really they have a very small database of data. If your search does not fall into line with one of their archives you'll get nothing. If you live in California you may have a decent experience, but they are missing so much data from most other states that there is a great chance that you won't get a good result. They give you a 14 day trial because they already know that most people will forget to cancel after 8 days statistically and they will get at least 10 bucks out of every person that visits the site. This adds up to millions in revenue for them and you will get nothing valuable out of it. This is a scam for sure.

Tip for consumers:
Don't use this site. There are other ways to get the information you need for free, but you may have to wait a little bit .

Products used:
Search

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user brittainys
1 review
8 helpful votes
February 10th, 2021

I joined for a free trial. I cancelled my membership because I was never able to find information, looked at my bank statement and they have been pulling money from my account for 2 months. Yeah reached out to them and they used the unfortunately nothing they can do because I knew the terms this and that. Well if I cancelled why was it still active? And why have I been charged. Stole my money.

Tip for consumers:
Double check if you cancel or they will take from you too.

Products used:
NONE

Service
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user sandrag2213
1 review
5 helpful votes
July 14th, 2022

I cancelled my subscription the first day and was still charged. Didn't realized I never recieved a credit back until a month later when I was charged again. I called them and you could hear another representive repeating someones information back to them. Still have not recieved my credit for this charge. I believe that this is not a legitimate company. On the rating stars should be a 5 minus.

Thumbnail of user royl39
1 review
11 helpful votes
July 18th, 2016

I tried the free trial found nothing of use to me.and beware newspaper.com is a sister co. I got stuck with them deducting $74.90 from my bank account needless to say I am not very happy with this company. But hopefully a gentleman by the name of Justin can get this issue resolved.

Thumbnail of user thomasj120
4 reviews
4 helpful votes
June 5th, 2021

Took my money and won't let me sign in saying I haven't paid. Archives used to be a good site. Called the phone number for them noted on my bank account and they denied that I had paid.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user emils48
1 review
1 helpful vote
April 8th, 2021

I've been waiting for 2 and a half months for four pairs of shoes Air Force 1's, and they have not made it here at all and there is no communication back from the company with all of the emails I've sent to them I would think that I would get something back. But no, nothing. They stole $500 from me and won't answer me about a return or to send me the shoes finally. This place is a scam and they should be locked up for theft, fraud, false advertisement, and for being douche bags. F this store and the people running it. I'm a Sneakerhead and I would've bought almost every shoe design they had there if they would've just sent me the money or the shoes finally. They get no stars from me and a big F-U FROM CANADA

Tip for consumers:
DONT FRIGGIN DO IT ITS A SCAM THRY ROBBED ME OF $500

Products used:
None

Thumbnail of user codym134
3 reviews
0 helpful votes
February 14th, 2022

I have been charged 5 times in one day. I called them and said hey that wasn't me. They then told me it didn't go through and I told them it did go through five times. She said it shows it failed six times on their end. I would recommend and if I could then I'd leave no stars.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user sandyc28
1 review
24 helpful votes
October 29th, 2014

BEWARE CONSUMERS! Archives.com is a company owned by Ancestry.com. Yes it has records you can review when doing genealogy research but you are limited to the amount of records available to you. Once you have reviewed the few records they offer on Archives.com they refer you to Ancestry.com for the thousands of records available. The catch is you have to pay for Ancestry.com as well. So instead of purchasing Archives.com on a monthly basis why not make the purchase to Ancestry.com for basically the same amount of money AND you get access to ALL the records. The owner of Ancestry.com and Archives.com, being the same person, is scamming you to get you to join both. Why? To add to his pocketbook. Consumers please don't fall for this scam.

Tip for consumers:
BEWARE CONSUMERS! THIS IS A SCAM!

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user gerritd13
1 review
1 helpful vote
November 30th, 2022

Terrible Company, Terrible Customer Service; no telephone; chat only with a robot; it takes your money and runs. Filed a complaint with the company about a refund and got no response.

Thumbnail of user ianc174
1 review
11 helpful votes
February 19th, 2019

I used the free trial in Nov/Dec 2017, I then cancelled the membership to which they gave me a cancellation date and number. I've recently found out that they have been withdrawing money from my credit card for over 12 months. When I've been in touch with both UK & Australian departments they acknowledge cancellation but want me to ring International to ask me what I have already supplied them by email. This mob are criminals and go out of their way to fob you off. Pay me the $200 you owe me you thieves!

Thumbnail of user lizo82
1 review
2 helpful votes
September 10th, 2021

I went on that site to find something and couldnt find what i was looking for they took and had a way to cancel subscription and thought i did it but was wrong i work so its not easy for me to just sit and make calls when i want when i finally did they say sorry but no refund unless done on same day as charge what hell is that they should refund like all other places do but they just shown that they steal money from everyone dont go on the Archives you just might not get what your looking for and may end up being charged with no refund. I would rate them a zero overall

Tip for consumers:
Dont use Archives they will rob you

Service
Thumbnail of user mikel1021
1 review
6 helpful votes
February 3rd, 2020

Beware the site is very tricky & before you know it your charged fee's you didn't want & they sure wont give any refund. They bait you with possible information that turns out to be useless a great waste of time. Only reason I give them a 1 Star is because Negative Star is not available BUYER BEWARE.

Thumbnail of user scottp25
1 review
5 helpful votes
January 21st, 2013

Scott P. I cannot believe that every single person on this review page has something negative to say about archives.com. The only conclusion I can come up with is that the millions who have actually HAD a great experience with the site is just simply not saying so. This is now the second year I will be using the resource, and I just love what I've accomplished. I use it often and have been doing extensive research into 16 different lineages. I have been able to (with much patience) trace most of my ancestors back for 300 or more years. I'm sorry to hear how some have lost out. I love using this site. The only thing I have to complain about is that they do not have extensive background in continental Europe. Otherwise, I've really enjoyed the results.

Thumbnail of user sheriseh5
1 review
2 helpful votes
November 7th, 2022

People Don't Bother With This Company! This Company Do Charge You When After You Did Your Membership Cancellation Already!

Thumbnail of user berniek23
3 reviews
34 helpful votes
June 19th, 2017

This Archive.com scam is operated by Ancestry.com. Sir John Rogerson Quay. Dublin Ireland.
What ever they say they are the same conmen/women who operate both companies. I thought I had cancelled my subscription 12 months ago but on going through my statements I discovered to my dismay they are still taking £8.95 monthly payments from my account.
I believe my bank must be partly responsible for allowing this to happen and I will be taking it up with them today.

Sitejabber for Business

Gain trust and grow your business with customer reviews.

About the business

Trace your genealogy and family tree to learn more about your family's history.

How do I know I can trust these reviews about Archives?

  • Sitejabber’s sole mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
  • Sitejabber has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
  • Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members

See reviews as you browse with our Chrome extension

1.1
158 reviews
Have a question about Archives?

Is this your business?

Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and manage your listing.

Claim Your Business