AncestryReviews 637

I have been a customer since 2013 and have enjoyed the countless hours I have spent building my family tree from the information on Ancestry databases. However, my experience today has changed my view on this company. My husband purchased a DNA kit for me last year for Christmas, unknowingly signing up for a subscription when doing so. We have been double paying the subscription fees for almost a year ($344). Customer service discovered this extra account when I called to inquire by running our credit card. Once discovered, I asked about a refund or partial refund on the account that my husband mistakenly created but never used. I was told a flat "no refunds", not willing to meet half way on cost or even refund the 86.00 they just took in just last month! We now have an account until March that has NOTHING in it! My husband did not understand that he was signing up for the "service" and not just the kit. Ancestry.com can see there has never been any activity on that account. Most "service" companies have some exception leeway for instances such as this. Buyer beware/be careful. After reading the reviews on here...this seems more like a mistake by Ancestry design.

I had part of my tree removed twice. Almost 2 weeks worth of research. I complained to CS they didn't read my problem at first then said they didn't do it and couldn't help. The CS agent couldn't spell or type a full sentence. I do not recommend this site. I could do it cheaper using Google.

I'm just not convinced that all information leads to the answers one is looking for. My uncle and I searched high and low for info leading to my grandpa's side of the family. Not convinced that what we found is correct. But I think we are giving it up because we have searched long enough and still have nothing

I have spent several hours talking with 4 different customer service people with horrible results. My problem is a software proplem that started recently and the customer service people's answer was for me to spend over twice as much time to complete a task. I asked to speak to 2nd level support or a supervisor and I was told I would get a call back from them. That never happened. I was given an email address as a way to communicate and it was non-working. Unnaceptable from a service that I pay good money for.

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!

You can find some good information, but you have to be smart about it. The DNA matches are the best part since I have found some relatives that I didn't know.

The issue is that the computer can only pick out information if it's entered accurately but since any user can enter or use the information there are some glitches.
- Someone entered a married name for a wife instead of the madden names, so the computer picks up the married name to find the parents, then the information is incorrect. Then unfortunately this information gets used over and over again down other's family trees.

- Names of parents do not match or are entered incorrectly, example Smithe vs Smith, then someone will make it look okay will change the name to suit their family tree instead of finding the correct information. Then of course, this gets copied by someone else and so forth

- It's almost impossible to find a correct date unless you actually research. There is way too many dates listed for each event (mostly marriages) and a lot are duplicates. I had a grandfather that I had to scroll through six pages just to get the next person. The system needs to be setup to merge the duplicates.

The product itself is great. HOWEVER, I got this for my husband for a Christmas gift during the Holiday's said it would be in on Thursday (great my husband will be working) but it came on Saturday. My husband walked in after getting the mail holding it up saying who is this for? There was no hiding it since it was an ancestry box with a label slapped on it, they did not bother to put it in a box or another package to hide what it is. Marry F*ing Christmas thanks for ruining the surprise.

When I first signed into Ancestry it was very beneficial but I am extremely disappointed. They keep changing their page and I am receiving hints and other materials that are far from anyone I am researching. My subscription will not end unto mid 2023. It is said they are using government documentation but just because a surname is a surname I am researching does not mean the person is related. I am wasting time to check it out. I suggest you sign in with free State genealogy sights on Face Book. I do not trust Ancestry.

My son asked me to get an ancestry membership for him for Christmas. I went to the Ancestry site and selected the gift membership. I paid for it but the account came in my name. When I canceled it 20 minutes after I opened it, I was told I only get a $1 refund. Cost was $79.95 I tried to call the 800 number but was told they were not available: but they did provide any operation time information. I tried the on line bot but that was useless. I tried the ancestry expert and they sent me to another website where I had to pay for assistance.

I ordered a kit back on November 8th that I have not received yet. After 10 days I called and let you know that it was not received, I was told that another one would be shipped. Now the second one is lost in the system also.
I was on the phone for over a hour and then the rep came back and said she would be back and hung up on me. These kits still are in limbo and it looks like I am out the funds that I paid

I give Ancestry a 2 out of 5. I canceled my membership several times and still got charged every month even a $25.00 termination fee. In think that's ridicules and I will never recommend Ancestry to anybody. They own me $42.82 but I guess I can kiss that good bye.

NOT good if you want support for American ancestry.(after 'talking' to their chat robot, you are out sourced to a heavily accented, unintelligible, and uninformed hires) EXPENSIVE and too, too frustrating.
I want to go back on and remove all the 19th century photos I have shared. Why would I want to give them my hard work when they and their site are an impediment to my research? The whole thing has descended to worthless... too bad... It once was good... I have been a member for years.
P.s. Just try and view your tree (as promised) if your membership has expired... you can't.

Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time calling customer service. I can't think of a worst experience trying to communicate with someone who clearly had problems speaking english. I asked to speak to the manager and it was even worse. Very disappointed. Never got resolved..

So pricey and the staff is not big on help. They can care less about what you are trying to discover. I can hear them laugh or other people are laughing too, while you are trying to explain about a certain point you are at with your tree. Not very helpful. I think they just hire whoever and they should be fired.

My boyfriend bought me a kit for Christmas of last year. They say on their site it's supposed to take 6-8 weeks to process after they receive it. However I waited 6 months with no update from them and when I called customer service they told me they lost it. Literally. I was baffled but they refunded the shipping cost, and sent me a new kit. I thought all was well until I waited another 6 MONTHS once again with no update and when I called they told me they couldn't refund me and "hadn't received the sample" and when so far as to tell me I did something wrong on my end. Do not buy. Not only that but after not providing the service they advertised TWICE there was a sudden and unexplained "reoccurring charge" of $90. Which was more than the kit was even bought for as he had bought it on a promotion for Christmas. They also wouldn't refund that. I'm looking into taking them to small claims court or suing

I have taken breaks from Ancestry since joining in 2016 without this BS. I needed to unsub for financial and time reasons and as I was clicking "cancel sub" I saw the FEE... too late now bam $25 right out of my account. I am rethinking ever using this service again. Disappointed.

Ancestry is just another internet scam. They make you input your information, if you already know most of the information, what the $#*! do we need ancestry.com for? There hints are regurgitated over and over again. They send you email notifications that there is a new hint and then when you click it, it's the same crap they sent last time. I caution everyone to stay away from ancestry.com, it's a scam and a joke.

I forgot to cancel my free trial by one day. Oh well, that's on me. But they try to charge a $25 dollar cancellation fee! It was not about the money at this point... I was determined to not let them get away with it.

BEFORE YOU CANCEL change your card to a credit card under your account information. THEN cancel and let the charge go through. Call your credit card company and dispute the charge, and voila, Ancestry.com loses out on another attempted scam:)

BEWARE that if you do not cancel it will charge you a YEAR SUBSCRIPTION after 6-12 months without your clear consent. That's around $200, depending on your membership option.

Your last instruction is to go tell everyone you know about how Ancestry.com is a scam :)

Canceled back in July and still get charged. Contacted customer support and get a run around. Keep offering services. I wanted to cancel and wanted my money back. Guess what? No refund..

My wife and I thought it be would interesting to look up our DNA. What a big mistake to go with ancestry. They received our DNA sample kit July 21. It is now September 19 and I still haven't received my results. The estimated due date was September 3. I've called customer service numerous times. Every time I called customer service was very rude and I was told to be patient. When I asked customer service if there is anyone else who can give me more answers, their response was "this is it, there is no one else you can speak to" They also said that they don't speak to the lab and they don't have a contact number for the lab. So basically When you use ancestry you might get your results or you might not. And no one owes you any explanation. I gave them one star because zero stars wasn't an option