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1.6 33 Reviews 173 Complaints
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Ancestry Complaints 173

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V
9:15 am EST

Ancestry Customer Service

Although the site has a Cancel Membership link, it seems that NO ONE is reacting to information entered in that area. Although the site lists a text option for cancelling membership, it is worthless in that each interfacing by text results in additional, different information be entered. I cancelled by the site form PRIOR TO the end date of my membership yet since Ancestry screwed up, it wasn't recorded so when I finally was able to cancel through the automated telephone method, THE ADDITIONAL CHARGES FOR A YEAR OF MEMBERSHIP WERE NOT REFUNDED. Avoid this site at your own hazard.

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G
2:41 pm EDT

Ancestry Ancestry.com

Ancestry is a fraudulent company... I sighed up to a 14 day free trial... Cancelled the next day... Was still billed for the month... Called them and had to argue with the cs rep for over an hour... He said they would credit my cc for the amount charged... Never happened... Filed a complaint with the ftc... It has been over a month and they still refuse to give my money back... They should be charged with fraud...

Desired outcome: I want my cc reimbursed....

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X
9:51 pm EDT

Ancestry In direct violation of California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

Ancestry.com in violation of the California Consumer Privacy Act. They deliberately take you to broken links and require you to create an account. It still will not allow me to delete Personal information off the site after numerous attempts to the company. This is illegal. The law does not require me to provide any personal info or create an account.

Desired outcome: Allow easy deletion of personal information without creating an account

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K
10:41 am EDT

Ancestry Online customer service rep was extremely rude and disrespectful.

On Monday, July 12th I " chatted" online with an Ancestry customer service rep named Minos. I explained that when I try to access ancestry member trees under the hints section, there are now only three trees listed. this is true with every single page on my family tree. There are sometimes less, but never more. I explained that there were certain people I had been research ing who had twelve to fifteen trees, and now only had three. I provided names.
Minos did not understand, or was unable to help. When I asked who I should contact the next morning to resolve this, he kept repeating the same thing. When I asked for the name of his supervisor, he said no!This is unacceptable!

Desired outcome: I would like my original issue regarding the trees explained/resolved, and I would like to know what Ancestry's policy is regarding the treatment of its' customers.

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J
11:50 am EDT
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They billed me $162.41 on 4/12 for auto renewal even though I did not want this and have not used the site for a long time. I contacted them today, and they said they can cancel auto-renew subscription (which I did not know I even had) but they cannot refund me the $162.41 that they charged on 4/10 and if they look at my records, until today (when I tried to get a refund), I have not been on the site.

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J
4:24 pm EDT
Verified customer The reviewer confirmed their account using Facebook. Learn more

Ancestry Service

I was given a subscription for 6 months of ancestry for mother's day 2021. I have yet be able to use it because of all the flaws in the system. I have emailed and talked to customer service about these problems and they have done nothing to correct the issues. This a a big disappointed and cost my daughter 99 dollars for nothing. This has made me so stressed that I do not know if I will get back on their service. Explained in detail to this company so many times. Why don't they listen? My hope is that no one else goes through this.

Desired outcome: fix my problems

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J
5:41 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more
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This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

I signed up for a temporary subscription in November 2019. I thought I had cancelled it two weeks later, but I must have not clicked the correct box. I am not sure, but after officially cancelling the subscription today, May 2021, I can say there are multiple pages that are confusing and encourage you to accidentally keep your subscription. The credit card...

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D
4:52 pm EST

Ancestry Ancestry

I've had it with Ancestry. I joined in 2019, it was a mess then and is a worse mess today. Disaster! Legacy Tree advertised on their site because Ancestry got their advertising monies. I spent over $2, 350, with Legacy for 20 hours and they got both of my great grandparents wrong. Then they wanted $3, 000 for 20 more hours. Ancestry is deceitful and told me they weren't with them. Now 23andMe is advertising and saying they are with Legacy Tree and now they are saying they aren't. The message system is a mess1
Ancestry is adding layers which makes things more confusing. After waiting for 55 minutes, I'm lucky to talk to a nasty rep and forget about talking to corporate. I hate this whole system. It's corrupt and a SCAM! There's more to [censored] about, but I am sick of it all. It's all a SCAM!

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F
3:19 pm EST

Ancestry Free trial charged within one day despite 14 day supposed delay

Feb 16 2021
Ancestry charged two subscriptions to my mastercard (one of which is pending)
I was trying to open one account on free 14 day TRIAL BASIS
Despite cancelling subscription on both, to start over from zero, they still charged me

I called Ancestry and they claim they cannot see my credit card number
Yet on my mastercard I absolutely see the two charges
I asked to speak to a supervisor and they said it was impossible

Desired outcome: refund

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S
1:26 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Ancestry Unauthorized linking to trees / theft of content

Where i'm from taking something that does not belong to you is theft!
Allowing "members" to attach other people's hard-earned research without any type of communication should be a violation of every rule ancestry has in place. After all it's not fb!
There is no justification for having nearly 26, 000 unverified "family" members in one of tree, managed by a single person that has four trees going. This "kdc10" managing that massive tree has not even tried to confirm any of those connections and that tree does not have anyone inside of six generations of the primary person with any surname in my tree. Yet this degenerate latched on to my original tree.
This "kdc10" person won't communicate with me constructively or try to identify the connection between the adopted arena g lombard cassidy and anybody in family! Absolutely ridiculous that one person amongst those +25k with a common last name, is one of 36 children born to a couple that does not share her surname!? And there is no spouse or children included?! Wtf

So with more than 25, 900 people in the tree aptly named "arenadna&adoptivefamilytree" contains only one mention of a common surname and zero common info.

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M
6:21 pm EDT

Ancestry dna kit

Ancestry always "updating" but still can't tell you an exact country in a region.
The results change drastically, one day you're German the next you're Italian. Which is it? If you can't give people accurate results, the first or second time, don't waste our time & money! We didn't buy to guess we spent money to know. "Your DNA doesn't change, but our science does"
Proceeds to change completely
Ancestry basically tells us the results aren't accurate each time.

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A
3:03 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Ancestry Accounts

On 7/17/20 I apparently opened an an account for $149.00 [protected]. I wanted to reactivate my old acct. It appears that on 05/11/20 I opened another acct. In my effort to straighten my problem out. I have been billed $39.99 a month. I have had an acct. Since 2005 as alicelyons50. It has years worth of work with trees named hover, borker, lyons, alice's multi family. There are also other people's trees that connect. Fredericks. The bill I paid $149 for has a user name of asbl48 but it takes me to my alicelyons50 acct. I believe I used [protected]@yahoo for both accounts but I may have used [protected]@aol.com. Somehow I messed up but I only need 1 acct. The one I have all my work in alicelyons50. Please help!

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M
9:55 am EDT

Ancestry Family tree maker

To Whom it may concern: (Ancestry)
June 25, 2015 I ordered FTM 2014, order number [protected]. I could not download it, and asked for a refund or the disk itself. They never sent me one, nor gave me my refund. I had several heart attacks and strokes and was in hospital and rehab for long time. I sent several emails to no avail. I even cancelled my Ancestry subscription that I was paying for monthly due to their lack of integrity.
This is now 2020 and still have not received anything. no disk or refund. I am a widow on fixed income and sacrifice to get little enjoyments in life (Ancestry being one of them). I can't afford to lose money.
They should be ashamed of themselves not even answering my emails, I sent several.
I would like someone to help me with this situation please. I am paralized on one side and have hard time since I live alone.
Thank you for your help.
Marie Kravette
11 Pondview Dr. Apt 9
Patchogue NY 11772
[protected]

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J
11:02 am EDT

Ancestry Charges for services I didn't order

Ancestry scams people as often as they think they can get away with it. Idid not renew ancestry when my subscription ran out but they put the charges on my credit card anyway. I called the credit card company and had the charge removed. A month later I find more charges on a credit card I had not given them information on. How many times do I have to tell these people I do not want their services? They even went into my favorites column and removed information I had saved from previous ancestry accounts.

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Update by Janice watt
Jun 17, 2020 10:49 am EDT

Ancestry keeps putting charges on my credit card that I have not agreed to.When I had my card company remove the charges Ancestry found my other credit card which I had never given them information on and put the charges on that one.These people need to be reported to the Better Business Bureau, The Federal trade Commission and office of Atty General for your state.

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M
9:30 am EST

Ancestry Customer Service - WORST EVER

Customer service should be there to help people and not talk over them and hang up on them when a customer becomes frustrated.

Your customer service is very very sad in this day and age. When I can hear the agent say (in the back ground with his British accent) has anyone talked to an American who said she his pissed off ? And then proceed to hang up.

Good Lord - if I hung up up on every customer who was upset when they call my job I'd #1 be fired!

Ancestry you have a looooooooooong way to go with your customer service!
Most likely time to go to another company who offers better Customer Service.

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L
8:56 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Ancestry family tree

I joined ancestry about 7 months ago did the dna kit and started my family tree. I was very pleased with the progress on the tree going back as far as the 600 AD with some branches. Then one day about 2 weeks ago I went to the site to work on my tree and 99% of the tree was gone. I immediately call ancestry customer service and explained what had happened. After hours of being switched from many different representatives, they could not give an adequate explanation of what had happened to the tree. They refused to take responsibility for the error in their system and to offer compensation. I am very disappointed at their complete disregard. I would be very interested to know if anyone else ha had this experience.

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L
6:44 am EDT

Ancestry complaint

ANC*ANCESTRY.COM has been charging my credit card for two years without my permission. I joined www.ancestry.com about three years ago and I have since cancelled my account but I am still getting charged to my credit card $9.99 each month for this scam ancestry. I want this cancelled today! I believe ANC*ANCESTRY.COM is a scam from another country. I enquired before about it being a scam to take money from innocent consumers, like me, however, not one thing is ever resolved on my credit card and/or account. Please make this a priority as I am sure other people are being affected by this also.

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9:50 am EDT

Ancestry ancestry “free” trial

Signed up for the free trial and this wasn't useful (couldn't locate any ancestors) so stopped using it after 1 day. 1 year later I was going through credit card statements and found I had been charged AU$600 by ‘ANC*ANCESTRY.COM'. Thought this was a scam, and then did some investigation. Turns out my free trial was automatically rolled into a paid service without any notification provided to me - no emails, invoices, receipts or mentions I would be charged.

The website says you have to telephone to cancel or receive refunds. However, it is an American number and I live in Australia. Sent them a message and they wrote back that they could not return the charges they took because it was in their dodgy T&Cs. Avoid at all costs. Do not trust this thieving organisation.

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R
1:17 am EDT

Ancestry dna

Got tired of haveing to up the price for information with this and that price increase. Research DNA companies this one in my opinion is not the best for the money. When you do the test they only tell you relatives in USA. Part of my family come from Canada so they want omore and more money to look up your Canadian relatives. They will keep asking for more and more money. Research DNA compaines the choose the best I made the mistake of using Ancestry.com

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1:50 pm EDT

Ancestry linking family members

I won't say that ancestery is a complete scam it does provide you with the basic information about your lineage and your heritage. However as one who was looking specifically for family members that would link me to my biological father and failed me . It seems ancestry will pull popular DNA from a profile because it's comment to a particular region which can skew the results in giving false information . Example it listed my aunt has a first cousin and my half sister as first cousins because it did not include all Centimorgans. Really I want to use this platform to warn people to dig further because it's not correct

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About Ancestry

Screenshot Ancestry
Ancestry is a leading genealogy and family history website that provides users with access to a vast collection of historical records, documents, and other resources to help them trace their family tree. The website has been in operation since 1996 and has since grown to become one of the most popular genealogy websites in the world, with over 3 million subscribers.

Ancestry's database contains over 20 billion historical records, including census records, birth, marriage, and death certificates, military records, immigration records, and more. These records are sourced from various archives, libraries, and other institutions from around the world, and are constantly being updated and expanded.

One of the key features of Ancestry is its DNA testing service, which allows users to discover their ethnic origins and connect with distant relatives. The DNA test analyzes a user's DNA sample and compares it to a database of over 18 million DNA profiles to identify potential matches. Users can then connect with these matches and explore their family history together.

Ancestry also offers a range of tools and resources to help users build their family tree, including a family tree builder, a research center, and a community forum where users can connect with other genealogy enthusiasts. The website also provides access to a range of educational resources, including webinars, tutorials, and articles on genealogy research.

Overall, Ancestry is a valuable resource for anyone interested in tracing their family history and discovering their roots. With its vast database of historical records, DNA testing service, and range of tools and resources, Ancestry provides users with the tools they need to uncover their family history and connect with their past.
How to file a complaint about Ancestry?

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1. Log in or create an account:
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2. Navigating to the complaint form:
- Locate and click on the 'File a Complaint' button on the ComplaintsBoard.com website. You can find this button at the top right corner of the website.

3. Writing the title:
- Summarize the main issue you have with Ancestry in the 'Complaint Title' section.

4. Detailing the experience:
- Provide detailed information about your experience with Ancestry. Mention key areas of concern, any relevant transactions, steps taken to resolve the issue, the nature of the problem, and the personal impact.

5. Attaching supporting documents:
- Attach any additional supporting documents that can strengthen your complaint. Avoid including sensitive personal data.

6. Filing optional fields:
- Use the 'Claimed Loss' field to state any financial losses and the 'Desired Outcome' field to specify the resolution you are seeking.

7. Review before submission:
- Review your complaint for clarity, accuracy, and completeness before submitting it.

8. Submission process:
- Click the 'Submit' button to submit your complaint.

9. Post-Submission Actions:
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Ensure you follow these steps to effectively file a complaint against Ancestry on ComplaintsBoard.com.

Overview of Ancestry complaint handling

Ancestry reviews first appeared on Complaints Board on Nov 8, 2006. The latest review No results 3 months later. was posted on Jul 22, 2024. The latest complaint Charging credit card after cancellation was resolved on Dec 07, 2014. Ancestry has an average consumer rating of 1 stars from 206 reviews. Ancestry has resolved 17 complaints.
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  1. Ancestry Contacts

  2. Ancestry phone numbers
    +1 (800) 262-3787
    +1 (800) 262-3787
    Click up if you have successfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 262-3787 phone number 28 28 users reported that they have successfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 262-3787 phone number Click down if you have unsuccessfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 262-3787 phone number 32 32 users reported that they have UNsuccessfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 262-3787 phone number
    +1 (800) 507-4612
    +1 (800) 507-4612
    Click up if you have successfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 507-4612 phone number 6 6 users reported that they have successfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 507-4612 phone number Click down if you have unsuccessfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 507-4612 phone number 17 17 users reported that they have UNsuccessfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 507-4612 phone number
    +1 (800) 958-9095
    +1 (800) 958-9095
    Click up if you have successfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 958-9095 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have successfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 958-9095 phone number Click down if you have unsuccessfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 958-9095 phone number 1 1 users reported that they have UNsuccessfully reached Ancestry by calling +1 (800) 958-9095 phone number
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  3. Ancestry emails
  4. Ancestry address
    360 W 4800 N, Provo, Utah, 84604, United States
  5. Ancestry social media
  6. Jenny
    Checked and verified by Jenny This contact information is personally checked and verified by the ComplaintsBoard representative. Learn more
    Sep 02, 2024

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