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BillionGraves has a rating of 1.37 stars from 59 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about BillionGraves most frequently mention credit card, auto renewal, and last year problems. BillionGraves ranks 21st among Genealogy sites.
This company does not typically respond to reviews
I've been transcribing tombstones for awhile now on BillionGraves and never bought a subscription. I've won monthly upgrades by transcribing over 500 each month (there's a similar one for those taking photos and uploading to their site). When I've had any questions, they've answered in a day or two and that's impressive considering the covid pandemic has made most businesses closed or slow. I've never had any issues with their replying or the issues outlined by those criticizing BillionGraves. Many of these issues appear when you don't read before signing up or reading the policies which everyone reads and agrees to.
Quite simply they suck at communication... even when youre a premium subscriber they dont reply. No reminders of annual auto renew means you get charge for a service you forgot you had subscribed to... their refund policy is bull$#*!. And again they wont reply to your contact attempts... aside from that i found the database lacking in Aus. Very underwhelming platform.
For a year I subscribed and I've never gotten one result. I thought I had canceled before my year was up but it didn't take. They took another year after i canceled yesterday when the payment was pending. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS SITE. They are a rip off and customer service is no better.
Quite simply they suck at communication... even when youre a premium subscriber they dont reply. No reminders of annual auto renew means you get charge for a service you forgot you had subscribed to... their refund policy is bull$#*!. And again they wont reply to your contact attempts... aside from that i found the database lacking in Aus. Very underwhelming platform.
Tip for consumers:
Theyre crap.at communicating
Products used:
None
Ancestry, Find a grave, Family Search have better info and are legit good sites.This company only wants ur credit card and wont refund.Hard to reach them once they have ur $...They dont stop renewels without a major headache even after years of people complaining about the card issue!...It's obvious when reading "Anna Y" response to complaints--she skirts the issues saying stuff not even related, just defending herself.There's a reason this "company" has less than a 2 rating people! Wish I could give it a negative 1...
Tip for consumers:
Wish I would have read reviews before I signed up
Products used:
Genealogy
Having been a subscriber to this online service, and using it which is ok but nothing flash when you compare it to the free ones available.
A word of caution, they will take money from your credit card even when it has expired. In my case they advised me my card was expired and to update the details before they took another lot of money. They took it anyway.
There priority support is garbage as no matter how many times you contact them you get no reply
It's a case of buyer beware. Good luck if it all goes smoothly for you.
Products used:
On line service
Shortly after my husband died last year (2021), I found a $24.99 charge on my Discover card for a Paypal payment to BillionGraves. It was difficult if not impossible to get through to BillionGraves, so I let it go. I took my late husband's name off the Discover card and figured that would be the end of it. NO! The charge has gone through again this year. Now, because BillionGraves is still impossible to contact, I will work with Discover and PayPal to reverse the charge.
I enrolled; used the site for 2 hours - searched various ancestral names - it constantly gave me other names that were mostly not similar at all; their database ignored the location parameters. Not a friendly site; not a useful site. AND now i find, I am on the hook for the fee although I cancelled it within 3 hours of enrollment.
Everytime I put in my ancesters surname - Moyle, they provide details for Boyle, Noyle, Doyle, but never for Moyle. I have clicked on the exact match option, but to no avail. Their search engine is useless. Trying to stop them from renewing my subscription was a real battle.
Tip for consumers:
I can't recommend purchasing a subscription to Billiongraves ever
Products used:
Ancestors gravesites.
Auto Renewal + policy of No Refunds - even on day of money taken from bank + not worth it!
Most cemetery info limited & few pictures - GPS not good.
Tip for consumers:
Use cost to add to other ancestry sites
Typed in very common ancestors that I knew all the info was accurate. Even when typing in the right location this site will take you somewhere else, another county, another state and supply data that is totally removed from your search.
I have never subscribed but receive frequent emails. These are impossible to unsubscribe from. You click on unsubscribe and are required to log in and then the whole process starts again.
I have been a member of Billion Graves Plus three years and find it useful but then I noticed they charged a credit card when the subscription wasn't due for 5 mos. Trying to get issue resolved impossible. Everytime you try to tey to their nonsense response they send an auto reply saying they closed the ticket and if you want to reopen it to ret to message. When you reply they just send you another form message stating the same thing. First of all, their response said it must have been because I used a different email. What does that have to do with anything, I only gave them one credit card to charge and all of their notices came to the correct email. Second, the renewal was supposed to be $17 when due not the $24 they charged. They hide behind their "no refund" policy to cover their mistakes. I have now canceled my subscription so they can't charge me again and they sent a notice admitting it wasn't due for renewal yet and I could still use it yet they won't refund the extra renewal they charged in error. Terrible company to deal with. Beware.
Products used:
Subscription
BEWARE of this site!
This is another rip off, as they do NOT have anything more than Find a Grave which is a FREE site and VERY friendly user. They automatically renew your membership, even if you do NOT want it. They will NOT reply to emails or a phone call. Next contact will be the Attorney General of Utah, as they choose to refuse to answer. How have they gotten away with this scam for so long?
How do you contact this company, I want to rectify a mistake in an entry, wrong birth date, but not even an email address.?
To contact customer service for this issue click on "get help" at the top of the website. Type in the question: How do I fix a bad transcription. At the top of the article, you will notice the word "Submit a Ticket" Fill out all of the information about what needs to be done. This will be sent to a customer service agent who takes care of these issues for the site. We do not have a call center as this helps to keep costs for the subscribers very low. Unlike many other genealogy websites, our subscriptions sometimes are as low as $24.99 a year or lower depending on the promotion. Subscribers are helped first usually within 24 hours or less. If you do not desire a subscription, our agents will answer free customers within 48 -72 hours.
The concept of Billion Graves is a good one. The design is NOT user friendly. The website is supposed to link with My Heritage. It might, It might not. A few of my photos have appeared on My Heritage which is why I chose to join Billion Graves. However, more often than not, my clear photos transcribed by myself on Billion Graves have not shown on My Heritage and the time frame has been 10 months. Very disappointed with Billion Graves. Their promise exceeds the products ability.
We share photos and information with My Heritage and FamilySearch. However, if you have taken photos outside of the app, these are considered supporting records and are not shared with either company as these types of records can not be verified for 100% certainty, like those taken with the app. Photos taken with the app have a GPS tag on them. This shows the exact location of where a photo was taken. Photos taken outside of our app are not shared with other entities because they can't be verified.
The only website we currently link with as far as trees are concerned is FamilySearch as these are public trees that can be viewed by anyone. We do not link to private trees on My Heritage or Ancestry. We have articles written on the help desk that explain all of this in detail.
My mums grave with pics is on this site! No one asked our family to do this! She died on her 47th bday… 24 yes ago. We r still heartbroken. How dare some pathetic person called Tabitha take pics of her grave. U disgusting person!
My wife subscribed to their site in 2018, and found the site hard to navigate. Due to illness, she did not notice the automatic renewal last year, but, being better this year, has tracked our charges, and noticed the renewal. BG+ has responded to two of our "tickets" put in through their site, but has refused any refund, citing their no refund police. As others have said, this feels like a scam. My credit card company will not initiate a complaint, nor refund my subscription, after reading their no refund policy.
Disgusted!
Subscriptions are not necessary to use BillionGraves. You can only acquire a subscription by placing in a credit card and agreeing to automatic renewals. You are also provided a 14 day window each year to decide to continue the subscription, or to cancel. After the 14 day window expires and the subscription renews, there are no refunds, but this is what was agreed to before setting up a subscription. If you do not want the hassle of a subscription, use the site for free.
The company typically answers the review of their scam on auto renewal by saying "simply not true"
The fact is no where on there site is there a check off box to stop auto renews.
As I now find out, When you sign up there is no way to stop auto renewal but by cancelling which you should immediately do or get out during any free trial period
The notice they send at the end of the year contains no wording to indicate one is being auto renewed
I ve been involved with genealogy for over 20 years and never found a genealogy site that auto renews like this
I am also filing with the Better Business Bureau... note many other reviewers have this problem and note the overall poor ratings for this site
Tip for consumers:
Be aware that they no not advise of auto renewal policy at end of term
You will be surprised to find you are autorenewed with no refund possibility
Products used:
Subscription to website
I subscribed and found it to be zero help in my genealogical searches. I was waiting to the end of my subscription to cancel and noticed my credit card was charged for another year that day. I immediately went to their site to cancel and could not get any help on line or by phone and left a message. Four days later (after a weekend) they told me they do not do refunds and I have another year's subscription. I used PayPal and got no help from them. I tried the Better Business Bureau that had several complaints, but have heard nothing from them and I am out $21.99. For my part, this a firm I would stay away from! Further, after posting, I read other reviews and Anna always comes back and says they ALWAYS send out a reminding email on an upcoming renewal. Since she is so quick with saying complaints are "untrue," so I will say her claim for a reminder on my account is simply a lie. I went back through all of my emails, my spam, my trash and my deleted emails for more than a month and there are NO email from Billion Graves. I followed their instructions the day I saw the renewal on PayPal, and four days later I was told I did not follow their instructions and ti was too late for a refund. And we are all to blame for allowing them to do auto renewal. Anyway, if I was the executive with this company and had this many objecting, I would refund the lousy $22 and make people who feel they would never recommend them... people like me, go away. But my recommendation is stay away.
Tip for consumers:
do not sign up; it is not worth the effort; no in person service, no refund policy
Products used:
genealogy grave seeking software
I subscribed to Billion Graves last year at this time. A week later, I cancelled because I wasn't impressed. They told me at the time they would not refund my money - which was fine. I just wanted out of it.
They recently renewed my membership without my permission and after I had cancelled last year.
I cannot find any contact information for them anywhere. They have my credit card number and using it without permission.
You can contact customer service on BillionGraves here: https://support.billiongraves.com to find out what the circumstances might be. Most likely the subscription wasn't cancelled as this customer claims. We do not charge customers nor keep credit card information on site. Once an account is cancelled it is cancelled.
I have cancelled my subscription and have just got my credit card account and have been charged another subscription fee. I tried to log on but are inable to log in. Cant get in to my account to contact them. So if you are reading this review please cancell my account and refund my subscriprion on paypal. Paulette Hamilton *******@gmail.com
This user deleted their account, by doing so the subscription will not renew.
Useless for information unless you literally go to the grave sites and do the research yourself. They are making money by using your efforts and putting the information that you collect into their database and charging you for the privilege. Then they sell it to other suckers (like us) and collect twice on your sweat. They automatically bill you on your anniversary without telling you and refuse to refund even if you don't use or want. Even Pay Pal couldn't protect me on this one. STAY AWAY FROM BILLIONGRAVES! IT'S A BIG RIPOFF!
Let me address a couple of these issues. Everyone can get a free account. You do not have to pay money to have an account with us. (I personally had a free account for nearly 10 years.) People who desire extra tools such as quick customer support, nearby graves (which shows you who is buried around an individual, as well as other tools that enhance the experience, can pay for a subscription to do so. We tell our customers up front that this is a yearly subscription that will renew. (This is common practice.) We allow users to cancel their subscription at any time, they will still have the amount of time on the account that they paid for. Once a subscription renews, however, there are no refunds. (Also common practice.) We send out a reminder 14 days before a renewal to let the customer decide if they want to keep the account or cancel the subscription. We are not responsible to ensure that our customers read their email.
I signed up for BG+ and I find next to nothing on my family. After one week if struggling to use the site and finding almost nothing I asked about a refund. I was told too bad so sad, no refunds. I think this is horrible policy, every genealogy site I have sign-up for and have been unhappy gave me a refund without question. Just goes to show a legit site from non. Don't waste your time and money.
Our no refund policy is clearly displayed when you subscribe to BG+. We are no different than a lot of other web based subscriptions in this respect. We always encourage our users to try it for free, use the technology to get familiar with it and then pay for BG+ when you are ready for the use of better tools. I used the free side of BillionGraves for almost 6 years before deciding to make a commitment. However, after using the amazing tools I would never go back, and wonder why I waited so long!
The website is still under ongoing Data collection. I'm sure if this will be managed carefully and all cemeteries around the world be Geotagged, this will surely be a very useful tool for familysearch. I'm excited for this site to be available to everyone soon. For now searching for ancestors in this site is not yet recommended.
Our data is in the process of collection. However, searching for ancestors on our site is highly recommended. Why? Because if you do not find a photograph of your family you can have the opportunity of providing one, or requesting one. I live in the state of Utah, but have traveled to California, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Maryland and West Virginia to gather information for the site. (I like to do this for fun!) If you have kin that are buried close by, and you would like to volunteer we would love to see how you could capture their monuments. Not only does the app capture the GPS data, but it also captures high quality photographs. If you live far away from your family cemeteries, there are many volunteers throughout the world, that would be happy to help you!
I had no help. They couldn't even find gravestones which I had found myself. When I tried to cancel I was told to follow a procedure that was impossible. I have now managed to close my account but I am not even sure if this means my subscription is cancelled. They have taken two lots so far. As my account is closed I can no longer log in to try to find "cancel my subscription". Sites that make it almost impossible to get out of are unethical and should be closed down.
There is always help on the website by simply typing in https://support.billiongraves.com. This portion of our website is dedicated to questions and easy step by step procedures to help in researching headstones. Subscribers have a blue button on the left hand side of their screen that says "priority support". Any questions or problems can be answered within a 24 hour period, if not sooner, by a customer simply clicking on the button. The procedure to cancel a subscription is
Also very easy, and straightforward. The customer simply has to click on BG Plus at the top of the main screen and click on manage subscription. If a customer still can not figure things out, they simply need to click on the "priority support" button and fill out a form. Directions will then be sent on how to cancel the subscription with detailed step by step instructions. At that point, if a customer for whatever reason, can not figure out how to cancel the subscription, there are avenues we can pursue that will enable this to happen, as we also understand that there are many users who struggle with basic computer literacy. Our staff is very patient and willing to help in any way possible.
As we went through the database, it was determined that this customer was given a notice of their subscription renewal, which they opened several times before it actually renewed. The account then renewed and the customer cancelled the subscription the next day. They then waited a further three months and deleted the entire account. As we are a world wide company in compliance with privacy laws under EU standards, we do not keep data from a users account once it is deleted. This is the reason this customer could not get back into the account as it no longer exists. Deleting the account entirely is set with warnings that this will happen and the data will be lost.
I've been transcribing tombstones for awhile now on BillionGraves and never bought a subscription. I've won monthly upgrades by transcribing over 500 each month (there's a similar one for those taking photos and uploading to their site). When I've had any questions, they've answered in a day or two and that's impressive considering the covid pandemic has made most businesses closed or slow. I've never had any issues with their replying or the issues outlined by those criticizing BillionGraves. Many of these issues appear when you don't read before signing up or reading the policies which everyone reads and agrees to.
Thank you Deborah, We appreciate users like you! If you will send in a ticket to customer service, we will be excited to reward you for a great review! Thanks again!
Gain trust and grow your business with customer reviews.
Our goal is to document and preserve every cemetery throughout the world, to honor those who have died and to connect families. We use modern technology to capture images of headstones with their GPS locations so users worldwide can access those records anywhere. With just a couple of trips to your local cemetery each month, YOU can easily make these records available to those people searching for their relatives. Join our worldwide effort and see just how rewarding (and even addicting!) BillionGraves is.
Let me address a couple of these issues. We encourage people to use the FREE side of our site before taking out a subscription so you can see the real value in a subscription.( Our free side is no different than Find A Grave.) However, with the app regardless of whether you are paid or a subscriber, you can punch in the name of an individual that was photographed by our volunteers. If the name has been photographed you can walk to the grave with our app in less than 5 minutes. I've done this in several cemeteries in California with over 4,000 graves to look through. You can't do this with Find A Grave!
As a genealogist, I used their site for free for nearly 10 years as a volunteer. After I started working for the company, I finally got a subscription and would never go back. First of all, the subscription if taken out on one of our monthly specials, is less than $3 per month. Secondly, we provide many tools to our subscribers that are not offered anywhere else. As a researcher, would you find it helpful to know who is buried next to a stone you are looking at? With our subscription site, you can! Subscribers can also have things fixed by our helpdesk staff in minutes. Their problems and concerns are addressed typically within a few hours of creating a ticket. We do not have a fancy call center, so that we can keep costs down for our users. To get help, subscribers simply need to click on the yellow help button found on each and every page with those who have a subscription.
All subscriptions are placed on automatic renewal. Users have to agree to this before placing in their financial information. (This is a common practice in the industry.) Subscribers can delete their automatic renewal right after taking out a subscription if they so choose. They will still have the subscription until it expires on their one year mark. Although we are not required to, we send our users an email reminder 14 days before their subscription renews to be fair and upfront with our customers. Customers just need to simply open the reminder and decide if they want to go another year. If they do, nothing further needs to happen as the subscription will automatically renew. If they don't want to go another year, they simply open up the account. Go to their settings under manage account, and click cancel. Yes, it is that simple!