Ancestry
Reviews and Complaints

It's important to recognize that Ancestry.com has nothing to do with retrieving actual birth certificates. All they do is refer you to companies that can do it (Vital Check in your case?). If you have a problem with the service, complain about the company that's providing the service, not about the company that referred you to them.

In any case, did you know that you can get birth certificates directly from the government? Check with your state (or in my case, the county) where it was originally registered. You can get copies of certificates, and it's always cheaper than going through 3rd parties (though admittedly not as convenient if you happen to live on the opposite side of the country).

So sorry that you missed that. Actually, there are a handful of places that it mentions recurring charges, but as you mentioned, they're pretty much all in the print. There's a site that explains differnt issues like this in more detail and explain how to avoid the problems that so many people face with Ancestry.com:
http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/

The company may operate using several names. When purchasing certain copies of Family Tree they will offer a free three month to one year subscription of their service. You will be asked for a credit card in order to validate the 'free' service. Once they get your number they will then charge you in the future for subscription service. My charge was $163.17. I never received a notice and did not know about the charge until I received my credit card statement.

The company telephones are open a limited number of hours and even then after repeated calls I was always told there would be a 'nine minute wait'. The internet site they have will not let you delete the credit card number from their files. The site will also say that it is too late to cancel the subscription as more than 7 days have passed since the charge date.This is the second time in my life I have been ripped off like this. When will I learn?

In the other instance I filed a complaint with the FTC about a $29.95 charge that was made to my credit card on a 'continuing basis' without my knowledge. The FTC was able to recover $26.00 for me on that case. This company just has to have oen of the worst customer relations programs in existence. They are out to rip you off. Don't accept their 'free' services.

Actually, per the terms and conditions that you explicity agree to when you sign up, you actually do authorize them to keep charging your card. Of course, I agree that it is a little deceptive, but you can't call it fraud when you've given them legal permission.

I've found this site to be helpful. They endorse Ancestry.com, but they're not a part of it so you get Ancestry's fine print in layman's terms. They explain how to avoid most Ancestry.com complaints, and they explain how to completely cancel your account so you don't keep getting charged. http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/

Its time that an international police investigation was immediate because for 3 months AFTER i Cancelled my Account held for many years
and still they are extracting a monthly premium.
If I try and log in "BECAUSE I OBVIOUSLY HAVE AN ACCOUNT I am notified my E.Mail/Password is not recognised.
So phoning the Dublin Office Southern Ireland I was informed I had an account according to their records and thats why they have extracting MY MONEY OUT OF MY BANK ACCOUNT.
Strange how signing in on thev Ancestry Co Uk internet site I am advised that I do not have an account, yet today Leo in Dublin stated I do have an account showing and thats why they extract money monthly.
So having E.Mailed and cancelled in December 2016 they decided to not cancel but illegally extract money each month.
I will be pursuing the Chief Executive of Ancestry Co Uk and seek an immediate Police Authority investigation in Utah and Dublin

paid special offer fee on *january 8 2010 money taken from my account but cannot access web site

i agree with the last complaint ancestry .co. are pulling a scam .i used the site only once when i signed up for the so called free trial didnt realise they would bill me without letting me know first not until i received my credit card statement and found i had been charged quite are large sum as i am a senior citizen (you you would think i should know better but you trust people who are advertised on television and have such a big profile .
i do hope no one else will be taken in by this firm as i was i have cancelled my subscription by phone tried to do it online but email address was not recognised

i have received an sms on my mobile that no. is [protected]. in this massage written that i had awarded one million pond from yahoo/msn contest held in london.

Did you get a 7-digit cancellation number? If you didn't, then you didn't finish the cancellation process. See this site for an (unofficial) tutorial on how to cancel: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/scam-exposed-here-cancel-and-you%e2%80%99re-good/

I have paid a sub for a year and have had hours of fun researching my family tree. I have been able to make contact with distant family members and have found family all over the UK. It has been a real treat. I dread when my year is up as I do not know if I will be able to afford another year. By then I hope to have done all I need, have all the addresses where my family lived, Then I, from South Africa, a brother from Australia and a brother from London are all going to meet in London and explore where the family all lived and get an ide of how they lived in those days gone by.

Ancestry have told me they intend to renew my subscriptio if I don't cancel by the 8th April. I have gone into their website but there is no way one can cancel a subscription. They give you the steps to take but when you get into the website they are not there.
I feel frustrated and find it difficult to believe they would do this but the proof is in the pudding. I don't trust them at all.
Michael Young

yes i had the same experience recently. Didn't read the small print and was taken for a ride.
You take advantage of their 14 day offer and then lose interest and then find they are billing you and they cite the contractual terms that you nevere read! They must swindle millions worldwide. Am writing to my MP!

Have you had an account with Ancestry.com in the past? If so, you should know that generally such subscriptions automatically renew (which is in the terms and conditions). See this site for an explanation: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/subscriptions-automatically-renew/

In any case, they somehow got your credit card, and they definitely didn't go out looking for it (the BBB sure wouldn't give them an A+ if this were the case: http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/genealogists/ancestrycom-in-provo-ut-2003190).

Since it obviously wasn't your intent to subscribe, I'm glad that you caught it in time. It's never fun to find a random $155 charge on your card!

I have 100% proof of evidence of my German heritage going back generations with birth certificates, names, etc. Generations. Ancestry.com returned a result with 0% (ZERO!) of German or even any Western European descent. How the hell can that be!? They refuse to provide a refund back. They suggest, to get a blood relative's test done--I say, great, give me a free DNA test and I'll test a blood relative. Said, I have to freaking pay for another test! So, even to lodge a complaint about a faulty test, I have to PAY extra money for ANOTHER DNA test with them (I already have 0% trust in their first result!). What a freaking rip-off!

P.S. Also, they charged me for a subscription when I just ordered a DNA test...

Ancestry scam, no refund, no reply to mails, waiting period on the phone when calling their help line is about 1.5 hours. We have ordered 4 test set from ancestry.com, all were delivered within 3 month ! 3 of the sets were processed and the results were sent back after another 3 mont; however I got a mail saying that they could not process my samples and that I needed to get another test set. Strangely enough the link in the e mail lead to a new ordering page. After having this rectified by mail after some weeks I was send another test set 2 month later. I returned the sample just to receive another e mail that they couldn t process it again. I called their help line and had to wait for 1.5 hours (that s 90 minutes listening to music and announcements that one of the customer service associates will be with me shortly) I was told by that I cannot apply for a refund as the sets were ordered and pad by our son. I had to get our son to write to them and request a refund. Guess what: That was the last time they have shown any signs of life! No response to e mails, sent several ones asking for verification as our son had in the meantime requested a refund to his credit card. But nothing has happened since .. this was 6 month ago ! Sept 2020 to be exact. No reply to my latest e mail where I was asking for an urgent response.

DO NOT SIGN UPO WITH ANCESTRY >>>> THEY WON T HOLD THEIR PROMISES AND DO NOT REPLY TO YOUR MAILS !

Mike

Ancestry charged my card twice for $199 for membership I never signed up for. To date they have not responded to my request for a refund. I can only hope they cancelled my account as requested. Don’t fall for their sappy ads.

Ancestry ripped me off. Billed me 5 months even though I was told it was one month free. Got no info on my fathers family nothing. Also dna test results 'you are of of European decent' yea no kidding not one dna match.

Promised me full refund, but never got it. Filing small claims court and ripping them on social media ...will get my $250 back you crooks.

I used to think Ancestry DNA was accurate. I did the DNA and was impressed with the results. It seemed believable to me. Recently I received an "update" from them... telling me my original sample was 'retested' or something, and most of the countries they said I was from are gone, and now morphed into just 2 regions. These don't seem plausible to me.
Save your money. They'll just make up something anyways!

This website is a fraud. It seems links to "family members " are provided with very little validity in hopes of attracting people to pay fees and keep them engaged to pay even more fees. A waste of time and money.

Ancestry.com. Is it a scam?
I have been trying to write my biography over the last decade. One missing piece is my ancestry. I have subscribed to Andestry.com for more than three years (at a cost of more than $850). However, I have made little progress tracing my ancestry. My wife has Parkinson’s and dementia and requires most of my time. So, I approached Andestry.com because they advertise that they can do this work for me. They wanted $5, 000 to produce a history and promised both a Family Tree as well as a summary describing their findings (They provided me with a copy of the “Davis Family Story” implying that is what I would get for $5, 000). After months they provided a draft work in progress and finally on March 7, 2018 a final Family Tree along with a 5-page summary of their work and a “Research Journal” with considerable detail of what I expected Ancestry.com to summarize. The Family Tree was incomplete and followed the lives of people (however related) I had never heard of. A total waste of time. The summary was not only wrong and disjointed, it too was largely useless (and nothing like the “David Family Story”). I had several conference calls with Ancestry.com staff regarding their poor work. They promised to fix it but claimed they had no time left. Finally, they sent additional Family Trees, but they too were incomplete and needed a lot of detailed work. They promised to put together a proposal for completing the work that I was promised but did not deliver that at well. One problem was that all this work was done apparently by an “intern” who they probably paid $15 an hour. Ancestry.com pocketed the remailing $110 per hour. So, for $5, 000 I got $600 worth of work (plus $4, 400 overhead?). Clearly, I have been cheated. I write this as a warning to others thinking Ancestry.com can be of any help. And now I am left to do the work that I have paid for with the little time I have away from my wife. Brian Ketcham, Brooklyn, NY.

Ancestry.com gave me two different DNA. I have one DNA kit saying that these are my results and another DNA kit saying that's it perfectly normal that I am looking at two different DNA test. Also because I have certain list or regions of Africa that makes me an automatic match to Virginia where Africans were taken and were enslaved. That's where my DNA ends nothing else. I have received racist remarks from Ancestry.com and a brush off like as it their mistakes are my mistake. DNA does not change as their site says but two different test saying different things. They do not have provide or have enough info.

DECEPTIVE, FRAUDULENT enrollment! Beware!
Without my direct & explicit consent Ancestry.com automatically enrolled me in their Semi-annual World Explorer Membership

They did this by using the credit card number that I used to explicitly purchase the DNA kit

After buying their kit in the first week, they started bombarding me with multiple emails trying to sell additional kits, etc. I did not read all these emails or if I did, I probably barely glanced at them

In one of these emails in very small letters they informed me I had been subscribed to this club for free for 14 days AND IF I DON'T CANCEL at the end of 14 days they'll charge me a $158 fee
HOW DO I CANCEL A MEMBERSHIP I NEVER EXPLICITLY AGREED TO?

In order to generate steady cash flow, it seems that the business model of Ancestry. com counts on the fact that the typical person does not open all their email or if they do, do not read all fine print

THIS IS A SCAM!

they also are carching my accoount for something i did not ordered

AFTER I CANCELED MY SUBSCRIPTION WITH ANCESTRY.COM A CHARGE FROM MFI/MYFAMILY/ANCESTRY DEBITED MY ACCOUNT. I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE. AND I DON'T APPRECIATE THEIR ACTIONS.

Ancestry is FRAUD! Do not repeat my mistake, beware of this scam!

Try sending an email using this form: http://ancestry.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ancestry.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Just make sure that you label it a complaint and inform the reader that you want the complaint logged in their official complaint log (or whatever they may call it). Usually with companies like this, customer services reps can't do a lot, but they can send the complaint to someone else with more authority. Believe it or not, but some policies do get affected this way.

If you're interested in the free trial, just make sure you get it cancelled completely if you don't want it billed. There are unofficial tutorials on how to do this here: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/

Ancestry.com perperuates the worst in company mis conduct. They hide their continuous annual fees in the fine print; do not acknowledge legitimate cancellations of the charges; refuse to honestly discuss their misconduct; and in my latest confrontation, one of their representatives lied about making a refund.

When the disception was brought to their attention, the supervisor "excused the lie by stating that the representative did not have the authority to communicate the intended action nor make the refund. Indeed they never communciated any "mistake" and obviously continue to refuse refund the misappropriated charge and make no aplology for their action.

The representative even had the audacity to proclaim their unethical conduct is corporate policy.

These people are dangerous. Beware.

Anderson,

Like many internet sites, Ancestry.com has a free trial available. While the trial period is free, they generally ask for a credit card for verification and to begin billing you if you fail to cancel your account. There is nothing fraudulent about this and many, many, many other sites on the internet -as well as many other brick and mortar businesses - will begin billing after a trial period is expired. Be sure to always read the Signup pages carefully!

If you never gave them your credit card for a free trial then I would call your credit company because this is likely a case of theft. I don't think many large corporations are in the practice of randomly billing unknown credit cards and Ancestry.com seems to be fairly reputable. Someone may have stolen your credit # and billed it for themself!

BEWARE! MY FAMILY ANCESTRY in UTAH, USA (BOGUS COMPANY) Somehow someone attempted to use my VISA card number by manually inserting my card numbers. Whom ever did this failed, but VISA thankfully caught it, called me and blocked my card. Who are these thieves? What is this bogus company? Why doesn't the FBI look into this fraud?

The reason you see fraudulent charges to Ancestry sites is this:

Somebody has obtained your credit card information, and to use this information to the fullest they also need your mother's maiden name.

My Family Ancestry fraudulently charged my credit card for nearly 110$. Fortunately my credit card company called me before it appeared on my credit card statement and are investigating the charge. My Family Ancestry has a website at www.ancestry.com. Their website and business should be shut down for fraud, plain and simple.

I also just got a call from my credit card issuing bank notifying me that "my family ancestry" has billed me 29$ and then immediately after that, another 119$. I am filing a fraud claim and hopefully they will lose their merchant accrediation soon, or face legal pressure.

I cancelled my subscription on the day I subscribed they won't give me my money back they have put the cancellation date from today so I will get charged im not happy at all and won't be recommending them in the future they have kept my bank details on there system even though its been cancelled fuming !

Trying to cancel my account on [protected] message said 70+ minutes waiting time. This company has no customer service in my opinion.

I've been trying for days to log in to the site. I keep getting Error Message 57 Captcha Challenge. I've tried logging i on Chrome, with and without going through my VPN. Same result.

Oddly, I CAN log in from my phone, but don't want that to be my only axccess.

What's going on?!

I paid 129.71 on may4 - may8 for a six month subscription.. Now my profile states I am not a member.

Paid by withdrawal from my checking account at Old National Bank

It've been receiving death threats on ancestry dot com And on find a grave.

Used the Android app for six weeks to update my ancestry information while out of town. When I got back home and brought Ancestry up on my desktop and laptop computers, I found the information I had been updating for six weeks was not applied to the Windows app. Big problem that needs to be addressed.

Hello,

I bought a DNA testing kit and sent in my sample. It's been a year and no results. I called the company and they were supposed to send out another kit. Haven't received a new kit. The activation number is: J5M-9H4Y-2J3K-9Z9P.

At this point, all I want is my money back.

Alara Miller

Alara_Miller@yahoo.com

[protected]

When I click a green leaf by a name, I no longer get the results or details in the center area of the page. This has occurred since the update. It WAS the details from Ancestery.com submitted by members. Now it is blank.

Christine Brown

steeling money from my credit card do not know who they even are

Ancestry.com continue to create problems! I had just tryed to cancel my FREE TRIAL SUBSCRIPTION and the Ancestry.com Cancelation Page have a permanent ERROR (https://secure.ancestry.com/myaccount/cancelerror.aspx)!

Who can solve this OLD problem?

at matches, email doesn't work. Can't enter any info in the context box.

Acestory shipped my DNA kit by UPS to be delivered to USPS for delivery. I live in Hawaii and the shopping process will take over a month. UPS placed the DNA kit in a container then shipped it by container ship. They claimed there was a delay shipping. I purchased the kit on November 25 and now will not receive in time for Christmas.

Did not receive my dna kit. Calls were hung up. Multiple requests to cancel account were given the run around.

from v.m.laursen@gmail.com ... Re: emailing matches box doesn't work, I have an one-year membership for Canada.

I viewed an Internet site a year ago that required a debit card to view information on the site. I did this and was charged 69.99. I thought this was very expensive as I only wanted to trace family members and the information was a 10 minute read! They have now debited my account another £79.95 a year later! What for I have not joined anything. My bank can't stop it as it is internet evolved.

Laura

This company, who I've never heard of and have never dealt with, used my debit card number and charged 3 separate transactions against my account totaling $989.55. They claim to not be able to help me until the money clears my bank authorization.

Apparently it does not matter that you have never used their "services". The last place I used my debit card before these charges hit my account was a Chinese Food Restaurant. someone also tried to buy a laptop computer via Staples in the same time frame. I am assuming that my account was compromised at that time.

This company charged my credit card for a service that I did not request or even receive. I have never heard of Ancestry.com until the charge showed up on my bank account. Now I have seen many complaints about them. They took 109.00 dollars from my checking account.

I was asked to give my credit card number to view a MFI Ancestry programme and now find I have a debit on my card of over $100.00 what can I do as I am a pensioner of 68 years.

I was not aware of any think and did not give any one permission to Debit my account for any amount and I went to check my online account and notice that money was taking out so I called my bank and they told me who was doing this and I am filling a dispute about this with my bank.. Some one needs to be sued!

Application was made to this website on January 15th 2007. Transaction number53649200. The number given on my credit card is800-262-3787 GBR. Credit card is Natwest Premier Private Banking. Number [protected]. I was not aware of the charge until I received my credit card statement.