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1.8 42 Reviews

Archives.com Complaints Summary

8 Resolved
34 Unresolved
Our verdict: With Archives.com's very poor resolution rate, careful consideration is needed. Research their service comprehensively, and read up on how they handle customer disputes. If you face issues, be prepared for potential challenges in obtaining resolutions and explore other service providers as backups.
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Archives.com reviews & complaints 42

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1:03 pm EDT

Archives.com Archives.com

This place is crazy and a rip off. I cancelled right away after going through the 7000 screens as it was way too confusing. But of course they said I never did - as seems to be the same way everyone else feels. It's a total scam. People beware! Free in this case is not free - and they make you pay for an entire month AFTER you cancel. I called today - September 16th and was told that it wouldn't be until the 16th of October that it would be effective.

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6:03 pm EDT

Archives.com Identity thieves and credit card fraud

We have notified the FBI, The Utah State AG, the California State AG, the BBB, and other interested parties.

THey have no proprietary database - they take your request, pass it to other services, get a results set, and offer it to you, stating they'll get you the records if you sign up, enter your credit card.

So you do, and ... NOTHING - they do not have any records. Except, now they instruct you that the records you want required a SILVER or other membership, and request you enter the card info again.

If you ask their customer service why you never got the record, the "Customer service" preson RUNS YOUR CREDIT CARD AGAIN, WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION.

And you go back, and still, NO RECORD, just a notice that to get the same records you must now go for a GOLD membership.

When you complain again, saying they are a scam, and either get the record or you will notify the BBB, the delete your account.

And keep charging your credit card!

If you have gioven this outfit your credit card information, contact your financial institution, and cancel the card, get a new one, and watch for charges.

Go to the website for you state to report credit card fraud, and report it.

Good luck.

PS We have all our emails. All the screen grabs. It's for litigation. Get rid of these scamsters. The internet is filled with complaints about these scamsters.

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12:27 pm EDT

Archives.com Street corner shell game of fraud

Archives.com signs up for 7 day "free" trial. Their information collections are weak at best and they know. They try and charge you a full month, NON_REFUNDABLE fee on the last day of the 7 day "free" trial. When you call in they give you a schtick about memberships being non-refundable. When you push for a supervisor intervention they put you on hold, refund the money and then leave you on hold as some sort of juvenile punishment. They know you won't be back for a second month so they bottom feed off the first ill gotten first month's fee. If you don't mind being ripped off by all means sign up with Archives.com, better yet buy a car from Larry H. Miller!

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5:09 pm EDT

Archives.com they claim to get you your birth certificate

Archives.com is a very phony website. they promise they can deliver things like birth, death, marriage and divorce records. i signed up and paid the 9.99 and then when i put all the information in, they said it would take at least 72 days to get it and the mailing would taking another additional 14 days, but i could pay to get it express mail. but still i have to wait a minimum of 72 days.
i cancelled my subscription less then 15 minutes after joining and they still keep the money for joining their bogus website. oh sure, it all looks professional, but its its a lie. they just want all your information.

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3:32 am EDT
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Archives.com Wouldn't cancel, continued to bill

I signed up for a 7 day trial membership on May 16th. In order to get the trial membership I had to supply a credit card number so I entered my PayPal debit account. At the time I did not have any money in that account, but since I expected to cancel wthin the 7 day period, that was not a problem. I used the service on that day only. On the evening of May 23rd (within the 7 day trial period) I went on-line and canceled my trial membership. I shortly received an email confirming my cancellation. This email told me that I would lose membership privileges on May 23rd.
Accordingly, I expected that I would not be billed. WRONG.
They have continued to attempt to withdraw money from my PayPal account:
5/24 $7.95
5/24 $49.95
5/28 49.95
6/2 $49.95
6/10 $49.95
Around June 10th I started calling the toll-free number and every time I tried to cancel the operators told me their systems were down for maintenance and they could not access my account.
Around 6/15 I logged into the site and again, canceled my membership. The site said that I would not be billed again, and in fact said that I did not even have a payment method on file!
On June 17th, archives.com again tried to withdraw $49.95 from my PayPal account.
On June 18th I sent an email to archives.com with all of the above
details and told them not to bill me anymore. I never received a reply.
After that, I called PayPal about this and they said there was nothing they could do because I had not set up the automatic payment through PayPal and they could not block a third party who was trying to debit my account. The PayPal representative suggested that I cancel my PayPal debit card and get a new one issued. I didn't cancel my card but I did ask for an additional card with a different card number to be issued. The new card did arrive and I activated it yesterday (6/26).
Today, 6/27, I got yet another email saying that they had attempted to withdraw $49.95 from my PayPal account.
So, despite canceling several times on the web site, calling them on the phone, and sending an email, they are still trying to get $49.95 from me.
I just canceled my PayPal Debit Card and requested a replacement. In the meantime I'll use the "second cardholder" card that they sent me.
It is unconscionable that they get people's credit card information based on a free trial period and then continue to bill the card after the trial membership is canceled. That is CRIMINAL and it is FRAUD. The Attorneys General of each and every state should be looking into this company and their practises.

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Update by Serendipity94123
Jun 28, 2014 3:34 am EDT

Original poster here. Just want to clarify, I did not link directly to my PayPal account, nor did I set up an automatic debit (which would have been easy to cancel on the PayPal end of things). I entered my PayPal Debit MasterCard number when I started my trial membership. In that sense, it was like a credit card.

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1:43 pm EDT
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Archives.com Cancellation doesn't work

Signed up for Archive.com FREE 7 day trial, canceled with hours yet was billed for three months. Called the number on my credit card bill [protected] to cancel and ask for my refund. Janet says sure I will be happy to help you do you have an email confirmation of your cancellation? No I didn't receive an email confirmation, well then you must not have completed the cancellation process online. Archive.com knows they have a software issue with cancellations yet they continue to take people's monies and charge for services that are not being used. I didn't get back on the site because I thought I cancelled the subscription. This website is a SCAM ancestry.com needs to watch who they associate their name with or they will be in the SCAM category too.

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5:29 pm EST
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Archives.com Unable to cancel

Signed up for 7 days of free access, after using for 5 days, I was unable to connect to web site. I was on-line from 4pm till 3am trying at regular intervals with no avail and the next day for several hours also. I am unable to connect with web site to cancel. Then I found this site and found all the complaint about Archives.com.

[protected]@yahoo.com

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Jimmy Owen
Lucerne Valley, US
Sep 01, 2013 5:24 pm EDT

The help page of this company states that one must click on a link to go to the "Subscription Options" page to cancel their membership, including being able to cancel the 7-day free trial. After clicking on that, there is nothing on that page AT ALL that allows the consumer to cancel anything. I have personally contacted Ancestry.com and told them about the complaints on this site where Ancestry.com was referenced and how this is bad business for them, and I was told that Archives.com is actually a subsidiary of Ancestry.com, just the welfare version of it. It was not until I was TRANSFERRED by Ancestry.com TO Archives.com that I was able to cancel this membership. Be very aware of whom you're dealing with. I did file a complaint with the FTC about this practice and I told the rep at Ancestry that I have done so. I also referred her to this site so she can read all of the complaints that are listed here. La'arni at Archives.com handled the call for me and cancelled the membership.

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10:11 pm EST
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Archives.com misrepresents service

I fell for it too because I've seen their ad so many times on Ancestry.com, which I trust. Archives is a 90% scam. They have, current generation, info on people like a detective site, but not many historic records, like they claim to have, for genealogy research. Some of you are getting Archives.com and Ancestry.com confused. Archives is a site advertised on Ancestry, but you have to sign-up for it separately. Until we know different we should assume there is no affiliation between them, and we certainly expect there is not. Agencies will never be able to shut them down because they have a legit search engine & some data. The only way is to petition Ancestry.com to remove all reference to them, then they, (Archives.com ) will lose most of their business. Ancestry will lose some ad $$ but it's necessary to keep, our trust, and their repetition, which no business can exist long without. (Did you notice the Archives.com ad on this complaints board?! Their paying to advertise here too. )

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nancy espinoza
Provo, US
Jun 29, 2013 9:53 pm EDT

i signed in because it was a free trial .i tried to cancel before the trial was over and it still charged me. and i tried canceling again when i seen on my statement that i was charged for another month, i do not know what to do to get my money back or to really cancel.the last time i canceled it said i was not going to get charged again and i did.what can i do?

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6:17 pm EST
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Archives.com Rip off

I was looking for the burial location of my Grand Uncle who was killed in WW1. They said they had it. They gave me a one week free trial and if I didn't like their service I could cancel before the free week was up. Sure enough they didn't have any record at all for my search. So I wanted to cancel immediately. But there was no e-mail or phone given on their webpage. They only allowed cancellation by US mail. Well a letter would not arrive there on time for their dead line so my credit card was charged. Moreover their charges are recurring every year if I don't cancel. I have the credit card company intervening to dispute the charge and get a refund.

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5:40 am EDT

Archives.com This fraud has to stop

Here is the "latest" scam from AncestryDotcom.

I enrolled in Ancestry and dutifully gave them a CC#. I cancelled within 5 days and got the confirmation of the cancellation and the $39.95 never appeared on my CC bill.

However, they gave my CC # to a "marketing partner" called One Great Family (OGF) who immediately charged my account for $59.88. I called OGF who immediately cancelled my membership but couldn't refund my money. Instead I was referred back to Ancestry.

At this point, I could see what was going to happen, so I called Visa and filed a dispute on the charge. They blocked the charge until they could investigate,

Then came the "finishing touch". Someone, probably Ancestry, sold my CC# and the buyer started using it. Thankfully Visa sensed fraud and called me. I told them that I had not made the charges and Visa shut down the account and will be reversing all the charges.

For the record, I'm filing a complaint with the Feds and with my State Attorney General.

This fraud has to stop.

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10:39 am EDT

Archives.com Unauthorized charges

I'm having hard times now and I can't afford such charges, they juts took $39.95 from my credit card without my permission. I want a refund immediately!

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5:48 pm EST

Archives.com The 7 day free trial is a scheme

They are thieves. The 7 day free trial is a scheme. They will charge you no matter what. I'm trying to figure out how to get them arrested for robbery.

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luvacat2
Corona, US
Jun 24, 2013 5:31 pm EDT

I cancelled my account on June 17, 2013. They charged me $49.95 and $6.95 on June 23, 2013. I am disputing it with my bank and they will go to Archives.com and ask for the money back. I cancelled within 1 hr of my 7 day free trial. I put in searches of people who I knew their name, date of birth, place of birth, time of death, place of death just as a test and I couldn't even get a match. They are a complete fraud as well as thieves. I am trembling right now. I am disabled and have many medical bills. I just can't afford this. I will get my money back if I have to go Iowa and strangle it out of them. I am on the phone with a rep from archives.com. I told him I felt sorry for him because he must get an awful lot of angry customers. He said no most people are very happy. Yeah right and I am princess Di. If you are looking for a telephone number it is [protected]. Never do business with these well I can't even call them people.

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5:09 pm EST
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Archives.com Scam -- call cust svc @ [protected]

I've noted the other complaints about Archives.com slamming credit cards, event though people **attempt** to cancel their trial membership. In my case, I tried to cancel the trial and received no reply. I made two more attempts to cancell and was still able to log in. Note that there is no phone number listed for customer service so you are at the mercy of their failed email response system.

Fearing the credit card slam, I located this number [protected]) which is listed in the "Aboutus" section of their site if you can find it... I contacted them and (finally) they sent an email confirming my cancellation.

Note, If you order **any** "certificates" or other services during your trial period, you will be charged.

I should have checked this website before ever starting the trial membership.

Caveat emptor...

Read full review of Archives.com and 7 comments
Update by JustMike
Jan 05, 2012 1:38 am EST

Kelli B, glad you were able to reach a human being and cancel. You nailed it when you wrote - "When it is this difficult to cancel, something is wrong."

I'd suggest keeping the cancellation email for a long time and watching your credit card charges online like a hawk. Archives is a disreputable outfit and, judging from the numerous complaints, they'll miss no opportunity to slam your plastic. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

Update by JustMike
Jan 05, 2012 1:29 am EST

"Hi JustMike, we're glad our customer service team was able to help you over the phone. The free trial includes access to our 260+ records collections. Members (including those in the trial period) also have the option to order hard-copy certificates and other special products (like DNA tests or discounted NewspaperARCHIVE memberships) at an additional cost. We hope to ensure our customers' full satisfaction, and we are happy to issue a refund when a customer is not satisfied with our products. If we can be of further assistance, please contact us at that number [protected]) or at support@archives.com. Sincerely, Chelsea-Archives."

Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea... please give it a rest. But, thank you, I require no “further assistance” as I have successfully canceled my trial membership.

If you truly “hope to ensure our customers' full satisfaction, and we are happy to issue a refund when a customer is not satisfied with our products.” then fix your damned website. It would be a snap to put a customer support link at the top of the page and include the phone number on the customer service page somewhere near the image of the ditzy blonde. Here's your customer service page and it's still the same old same old, isn't it?

http://www.archives.com/contact-us

But websites that offer 'free trials' fall in one of two categories:

- Some that have faith in their service and know that a fair share of new customers will continue the service at the end of the trial period, or...

- Those that hope new customers will fail to cancel before the end of the trial period for one reason or another and the website will be able to slam the customer's credit card.

Sadly, your outfit falls in the latter category. You deliberately make it difficult to cancel, hoping that the process will take too long for the customer to contest the charges on their credit card. Shame on you, Chelsea. If anyone will take the time to Google "Archives.com" they'll find an abundance of complaints and the pattern is all too familiar, isn't it? Missing emails, slammed credit cards, zero customers service, etc. Worse yet, I could not find a single positive review of your service. Yes, I did notice your futile attempt at damage control...

As for the customer service 'ticket numbers' and (supposedly) lost emails, that's a load of crap. The entire registration, payment and – if necessary – cancellation/email process is easily **automated**. Cancellation and the subsequent confirmation email should be entirely automatic and require zero input from some minimum wage representative. It is not rocket science so, please, tell your boss to get a clue.

Update by JustMike
Dec 22, 2011 3:18 pm EST

Wow! Looks like The Fact Police, Ramelle & Ragon (aka smegma breath) decided to hold ### Fest 2011 on this thread. It never dawned on me that -- as welfare recipients -- they had no credit cards and therefore might be unfamiliar with anything requiring plastic.

Please continue the festivities and you may have the last word. C-ya.

;^)

Update by JustMike
Dec 22, 2011 1:56 am EST

http://www.archives.com/member/Default.aspx

Please have someone show you how to follow the link above and see if y9u can find Aboutus or the phone @ from withing the site.

Does the full moon bring out the trolls? Is Weed that boring? I realize that you've never enrolled and clearly you haven't read the terms & conditions. The words "cancel, " and "cancellation policy" are not mentioned anywhere on the website.

Sorry to know your significant other.

Update by JustMike
Dec 22, 2011 1:25 am EST

Clearly you've never been a member of Archives and you appear to be shilling for them. I'm typing this slowly so everyone can read it, but:

- "Aboutus" and the ph # are **nowhere** to be found... once someone enrolls.

- Any reference to customer service, complaints, questions leaves one with two options -- email or snail mail.

- One might assume that the **customer service** ph # would be listed on the **customer service** page, but it is conspicuous in its absence. Oddly enough, the customer service page is graced by a smiling young blond wearing a headset. I wonder who she is talking to...

- If a person was a tad skeptical, they could almost assume that the lack of ph # was **deliberate** and that sets the stage for mysteriously "lost emails" and the total lack of response.

- No contact + no cancellation email = credit cards slammed for $39.95 + little recourse for the screwed consumer who will not be able to convince the credit card company that they cancelled...

Read the other complaints to discern the pattern and, by all means, please sign up for the 'service.'

:

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DBOkay
, US
Jun 21, 2018 1:50 pm EDT
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That phone number does not work. This is a subsidiary of Ancestry.com and I contacted the Better Business Bureau of Utah through their online form. I complained about the fact that it cannot be cancelled and that to satisfy me, I want 6 months of those charges refunded. I also mentioned that Ancestry.com has a high BBB rating and wondered why when they are scamming people. Anyway...a few days later, I got a note from them that they had contacted Ancestry and they have agreed to refund 6 months that they have been charging me.

The BBB of Utah form is really easy to fill out. The next day after Ancestry agreed, the 6 months payments ended up back in my account. I believe they don't want to ruin their rating, yet they want to make it difficult to cancel, so my advice is to
1/ Try several times phoning the number on your card line item. If no success (the phone never picked up for me), then
2/ go directly to BBB of Utah online and fill out their form and
3/ include at least one line item screen shot showing the phone number and amount debited from your account--just the line item not your entire statement, and
4/ complain that you can't cancel and ask for as many months as you've been trying to cancel.

The BBB of Utah was AWESOME. I couldn't have gotten my money back without them.

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Reviewer47426
,
Nov 02, 2015 7:54 am EST

have tried for 2 days to cancel without success

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disappointed in archives
Spring Hill, US
Jun 12, 2015 11:31 am EDT

I had the same problem. I called to cancel within my three days and they had already charged my account. I thought it was some sort of scam when I called to cancel and never got a live person and after waiting for more than five minutes, I was disconnected. I called back again and the same thing happened. I finally went online to contact us in an unrelated field and was called back. I then cancelled only to find out a week later they charged my account. anyway.

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luvacat2
Corona, US
Jun 24, 2013 6:43 pm EDT

Another phone number given to me by my bank is [protected]. It is a good number I used it.

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Kelli B
Seattle, US
Jan 03, 2012 7:36 pm EST

Thanks Justmike, this really helped me. I agree with everything you said. The email address I signed up with was not recognized when I tried to cancel, the system archives.com set up for correspondence would not load properly (therefore would not send), and I saw no hope of reaching anyone until I saw this post. When it is this difficult to cancel, something is wrong.

I called the number you provided (thank you) and got a human who said he would cancel me (no charge).

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Chelsea-Archives.com
Redwood City, US
Jan 03, 2012 7:22 pm EST

Hi JustMike, we're glad our customer service team was able to help you over the phone. The free trial includes access to our 260+ records collections. Members (including those in the trial period) also have the option to order hard-copy certificates and other special products (like DNA tests or discounted NewspaperARCHIVE memberships) at an additional cost. We hope to ensure our customers' full satisfaction, and we are happy to issue a refund when a customer is not satisfied with our products. If we can be of further assistance, please contact us at that number [protected]) or at support@archives.com. Sincerely, Chelsea-Archives.

Ramelle
Ramelle
Weed, US
Dec 22, 2011 1:31 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

The cancellation policy is in the terms and conditions that shoyld have been read before agreeing to the free trial. "About us" is available to anyone, member or no, by clicking on the site, and how dare you call Lovey a company shill!

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11:20 am EST
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Archives.com Birth certificate

I ordered a birth certificate, I had paid to join then I had to pay 49.00 for the certificate. I got a letter from the state of VT. that they did not have record of this birth. Archives are suppose to be reseachers. They take all the money and use your information and do nothing.!

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Chelsea-Archives.com
Redwood City, US
Dec 12, 2011 10:43 pm EST

Hi Linda,
Our customer service team has refunded your two certificate orders. Older certificates, like these from the late nineteenth century, are more likely to be unavailable now. We have sent you a confirmation email. Please contact us at support@archives.com or [protected] if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, Chelsea-Archives.com

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6:37 pm EDT

Archives.com I will never use their services again

I had an charge for automatic renewal on my credit card statement. I called the phone number and was told that they sent me an email confirmation that my account was going to be renewed. I told them that I did not receive the email. Automatically I am at fault? They said I should check the way my email is set up. Junk mail, etc. I have been in IT Tech Support for more than 20 years. I think I know how to check email. They never sent any confirmation and even if they did, they should be required to wait for my reply before charging me. I canceled and will never use their services again. If you take my advice, neither will you.

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Justsayinma
Manhattan, NY, US
Jan 29, 2013 10:25 pm EST

I fell for it too because I've seen their ad so many times on Ancestry.com, which I trust. Archive is a 90% scam. They have, current generation, info on people like a detective site, but not many historic records, like they claim to have, for genealogy research. Some of you are getting Archive.com and Ancestry.com confused. Archive is a site advertised on Ancestry, but you have to sign-up for it separately. Until we know different we should assume there is no affiliation between them, and we certainly expect there is not. Agencies will never be able to shut them down because they have a legit search engine & some data. The only way is to petition Ancestry.com to remove all reference to them, then they, (Archive.com ) lose 99% of their business. Ancestry will lose some ad $$ but it's necessary to keep, our trust, and their repetition, which no business can exist long without and is near impossible to retrieve after it's lost. (Noticed an Archives.com ad on this message board. Just sayin.)

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Gundee
, US
Aug 30, 2012 9:56 am EDT

Am going to cancel my free trial immediately. I think their records are in very poor disarray, their trees & "my Records" are not user-friendly and furthermore, it is very hard to discontinue. If you do sign up, keep the first email they send you. It has the link to where to go if you want to cancel. They certainly DO try to trick people into unwanted subscriptions. You get what you pay for!

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Rimaase
, US
Jan 10, 2013 12:08 pm EST

I have been doing Genealogy for nearly 30 yrs. When I went to Archives.com they stated that I was a member, yet I could not sign-in. I even went as far as to give a credit card, and would have actually paid for info, but the site continued to refuse to give me access. I wrote to "support@archives.com" and received NO RESPONSE. I wrote again, and again. FRAUDULENT comes to mind. I will contact my credit card service to refuse payment if they have the nerve to try to take any $. I deal with many genealogy services and this one brings the words SHAMEFUL FRAUDULENT SCAM to mind!

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DisgruntledDude123
Omaha, US
Oct 11, 2011 12:36 am EDT

Please do not order from this company. You guys realize that you can call the county directly and get your document faster and cheaper. this is a scam. taking your money and running off with it. these people do nothing but charge you 5 times the amount of a certificate and order from the county, exactly what you couldve done for cheaper! You ask why I know this, because I have worked for them. Please do not fall into this scam!

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Prior
, US
Feb 02, 2012 4:59 pm EST

I had a suspicion about this site, and almost did the same thing as described above: provide my CC info, check it out, then possibly cancel if it was bogus info.

THANK YOU ALL for taking the time to write about your experiences! I'm sorry you lost money, but I really appreciate you taking the time to warn others like me. :) You saved me money I could not afford to lose.

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Lamiker
, US
Apr 03, 2012 6:02 am EDT

It's not bad enough that they fraudulently charge your credit card after promising that they won't and don't allow you to cancel after promising that they will. When you decide to try to use the site, since you were forced to pay for it, it is absolutely useless. These people couldn't find their own mother is she was living next door to them. It's a shame that sites like this don't get shut down!

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Ewors
, US
Sep 14, 2012 5:35 am EDT

Horrible and unprofessional! I have just gotten off the phone with manager Melissa, who did nothing to help me get my money back (I was charged 2017, 2017 and 2017). They refunded the money from this year, as it was placed yesterday, but as of previous year she suggested I should take care of my finances and that they don't do it for clients! Now the aspect that angered me and that I see described in previous comments: to sound professional they claim they always send emails prior to placing charges on a card. GUESS WHAT? NEVER got any...When I asked Melissa about it, she claimed (!) they were courtesy emails and they didn't have to take responsibility for them getting lost! After I said it was odd I never got them, three years in a row, and how I suspect they were never supposed to be delivered, so that I wouldn't really know about the charge, she claimed I should be responsible for my account regardless if I get an email or not. Well, nice customer service, Archive.com - let's just admit, you DO count on people not noticing your charges and the courtesy emails you should send that you so proudly emphasize NEVER make it to clients inbox. They don't go to their junk folder as you strongly suggest, you just NEVER SEND THEM (they will say just about anything to make you look like a fool who doesn't have control over their life and will blame their shortcomings on you or your email account pushing their emails to its junk folder). Ironically, just when I was ready to hang up on Melissa, I got an automatic email from Archives about the phone call I placed AND I GOT THIS ONE! So, the marketing emails MAKE IT to my inbox, but the ones about CHARGES DON'T? Right, I get it. Keep counting on people not noticing the charges and then bombard them with your ready to use phrases that are formed specifically to corner the client, make them look stupid and get off the phone, so you can keep their money. Lesson learned - NEVER provide your credit card for a FREE trial. ARCHIVES.COM is a SCAM.

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Tamtone
, US
Mar 12, 2012 11:28 am EDT

My mistake, should have read others reviews first before I fell for their "free 7 day trial". Had to enter credit card info-another RED FLAG I blindly ignored. My card got charged immediately, the site is horrible, the phone # they provide for customer service is constantly a fast busy signal(even more bogus) and I got bilked out of $ and had to deal with credit card fraud paperwork to ensure they don't take even more$. STAY AWAY...

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Dave Elhart
American Fork, US
Apr 04, 2012 7:55 am EDT

My daughter's checking account was charged for a 39.95 charge to this web site today...she has never gone to this website, let alone that she doesn't even do genealogy. Someone has given her information to this website and they have charged her for it...she's also a college student so some of her money is provided by me...thanks for ripping us off people...they need to shut this place down...

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Kulmas
, US
Aug 01, 2012 7:16 am EDT

I, too, regret that I did not read reviews for this bogus "company" prior to signing up for the 7 day free trial. I talked to two people (their customer service offices are in Omaha) who seemed to be reading off a script broken record style. One supposedly was a "supervisor"...in reality probably was the desk buddy of the previous person I spoke to. I asked for the address to send my request for a refund of this worthless service and for a contact person to whom I could send to their attention and he would not give a supervisor or head of customer service name. When I asked for the address of the corporate headquarters, he said he wouldn't give that out because customer service is in Omaha. Really? So what if all us unhappy customers wrote to the corporate headquarters and flooded their office with the stories of their atrocious and borderline scam service? I plan on sending letters there AND to "customer service" whose address is PO Box 391146, Omaha, NE 68139, at least that's the address according to the faux customer supervisor I just got off the phone with. I wonder if these people are aware that they have a non-credible rating as compared to a reputable company such as ancestry.com? I could only hope that as is stated on this site, that the owner of archives.com does see these reviews. Oh, wait, that would mean that the higher ups actually care about their reputation out there...somehow I don't think they care the least...only about the money their are raking in at the expense of the unknowing public.

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12:41 pm EDT
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Archives.com 7 day free membership

Tried to sign up for their 7 day free membership, but the link just takes you straight to the "select a level of rip-off" page. I opted for the 3 month $19.99 membership after reading their terms and conditions. I cancelled my membership after one hour, realising that they didn't have ANY data on any member of my family, including me. Because I paid for my membership through Clickbank, the membership assistant Susan tells me that I'm not eligible for a 7 day free trial. WTF? I paid through Paypal and have initiated a dispute with them over this. There is NO information in their T&C about lack of eligibility if you pay through Clickbank, and there aren't any other means of paying EXCEPT by using Clickbank. I've mirrored their entire website, but couldn't at first because www.Archives.com is an alias - their webfile has moved from www.archives.com/ to http://vvllc6.phonesrch.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=&gasearch=1

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Update by Parydiso
Jul 27, 2011 1:49 pm EDT

UPDATE: Called their customer service [protected] and spoke to James (operator number 347), who initiated a refund to Clickbank. Within 10 minutes I was refunded. This doesn't change the fact that this website uses deception as its main tool to lure people in. It makes big promises that it can't keep, and if you forget about it or wait longer than the 7 days allowed you will get no refund as per the terms and conditions. Cancelling by email is also useless as I found. I still haven't had a confirmation of cancellation email as promised on the website (also in their T&Cs). I have checked my Paypal account to make sure that no recurring charges have been set up, just in case. I can still log onto the website with my details however, even though when I go to the subscription page there is a prompt for me to reactivate my account by giving them some money (I'm just SO sure). The company that owns Archives.com is Inflection LLC. I read their web blurb and they do/sell nothing tangible, nothing of use. Archives.com is not a website, it's a parasite. They aren't doing anything illegal, they are preying on the careless and forgetful. User beware! I feel like I've just dodged a bullet.

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Cranky Old Lady
Mills, US
Aug 20, 2011 12:35 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Funny I was just there, They wanted $39.95 from me, They got Nothing From me. If they tell me it's a free trial, I expect a free trial, and if it's free dont ask me for My Credit Card Info on day one, show Me what you got, and if they cant, I Exit their little program, before they have the chance to grab My cash & hide out with it.Got to get up very early in the morning to beat this Cranky Old Lady out of her Cash, Or, Better yet sit up all nite (Bring a Big Lunch Your Gonna Need it). Sorry the rest of you got scammed.You can get copies of Marriage License Or Divorce Decree's through Your County Courthouse they are Public Record, You will have to pay a fee for them.

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dontbelievetheliespeople
san diego, US
Aug 19, 2011 11:40 pm EDT

archives.com here is their phone number!
You won't find it anywhere on their site, but I was able to get it because they made a charge to my paypal account and they need to disclose a phone number.
ph #[protected]
seven day free trial and they charge you at the beginning of day 7? seven days free means seven days free right...
aren't they suppose to charge you on the eight then? once your seven days are up?
again... their ph # is [protected]

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8:41 pm EDT
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Archives.com just a scam

I was on this site as well. I didn't like the info as there was NO info on the person(s) I was looking for and felt I was getting the run around.
So within two hours I canceled this account, I did get a "sorry to see you go" on the page. Its listed under --->Privacy * How can I opt-out of your records database? Clicked it.
Not even 7 days go by and via my pay pal and bank account they took the 39.99 out anyhow. I since then filed a complaint in to resolution center in pay pal. they are now waiting to get a response from these people. I once again went to their site and tried to log on and it keeps telling me I am not a member. I also, tried the password recover where it says, a password was sent to my email. I yet to see a password sent to my email or junk mail. to this date.

Lesson learned the hard way, NEVER ever give your bank information or cards to any of these sites.

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1:29 am EDT
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Archives.com - scam

I did the 7 day free trial. On the 6th day I cancelled. They still charged me for 1 yr. I have called my credit card company to get it taken off and to block them. I should have looked at your complaint board first. This is about looking for your heritage and they take advantage. DON'T USE THIS SERVICE. Can't find on the site how to e-mail them???

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11:11 pm EST
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Archives.com - rip off scam

BEWARE OF ARCHIVES.COM!!! I am doing some family research, went to Archives.com, and entered a relatives full and distinctive name. A box popped up saying they had an exact match. So I signed up for one week free trial membership, then clicked on relists to view information. The "exact match" was a man with different last name, different year of birth and...

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10:53 pm EST
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Archives.com no servive

signed up at archives.com to search for relatives and old friends. went thru the sign in process and opted for a year of service . provided the credit card number and registered my email address and password. went to sign in and it didn't accept the password i just registered even tho it said my registration was complete. a note said that they would email me a message to change my password .i'm still waiting for the email.

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