Ancestry
Reviews and Complaints

Ancestry has a facebook page you can post complaints there as well.

I am having a similar situation. I did manager to get Ancestry to delete the offending posts but they have not addressed the offending party. A friend of mine is a attorney and I have been advised not to engage this person and record everything. Which i have.

ANCESTRY.COM IS A FRAUD. They charged me $200+ dollars without my consent using the credit card I used to pay them for previous services. I never purchased or received anything. They don't have a recording or a signature from my part that states my approval AND THEY WONT REFUND MY MONEY!

Poor service... well, yes... the cancellation process is a bit confusing. It's way too easy to think that you've cancelled when you really haven't. The sure-fire way to know whether you have is if you have a cancellation number -- I bet that asked if you had one, right? Of course, it's a great system as long as you know how to cancel correctly, such as is explained in this video: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/scam-exposed-here-cancel-and-you%E2%80%99re-good/

I agree scam! Be careful with the trial offer. After I thought I cancelled the very same day I agreed to it, I was charged $17.99. I went to cancel again and this time I received a confirmation. A day later, I was charge a $25.00 cancellation fee. WTF! I canceled the very same day because I felt there were too many personal questions that I just wasn't willing to give. I originally was just trying to get a copy of my marriage license. I should've just waited for City records to open it's doors again. Never again!

Ancestry has multiple problems with their site. My husband is a college professor who teaches Computer Science and told Ancestry he could fix their problem in hours. The problem lasted months with their stupid new messaging system and my tree became a mess. They had no intent on fixing the problem and let the problem lie and blamed it on me. Yes, they said it was my problem! They too, must sit around on their duff picking their noses. It has taken them over a month or nearly two months or more and this new messaging system with constant circles going around is a holy disaster. They have no intent on fixing this problem.

They should of tested this mess before putting it on their site. My husband has worked with the largest computers in the country and you always TEST before you put something out there. I don't think Ancestry gives a damn! They'll find out when people are fed up and get off forever!

The product ad, says DNA but when you call because your test results are false. they tell you it is just a ethnicity prediction. I didn't pay for a prediction I paid for a DNA test. They won't give me my money back or re-test it. This is a scam

I have been receiving emails from Ancestry.com about a new 1940 Substitute Census. The REAL 1940 census won't be released until April 1, 2012. According to several posts, this and the 1950 substitute census info are simply made up of telephone directories from these years. I was considering paying for a subscription in order to get early access to the data but have since decided to wait for the real thing. Always search the internet for details before signing up for any genealogical site subscription to avoid potential problems in advance.

There are a number of issues regarding Ancestry the first being that there are major flaws in their customer service. People are unclear of the various subscriptions to Ancestry and the customer service representatives are obviously trying to get customers to upgrade from what they call a trial period. This trial period can only be refused by phone to Ancestry and many subscribers were unaware of this and it is clear Ancestry employees do not ensure customers are aware of this. Subscribers sign up for the trial period, pay the price and when their credit card is charged 99.99 they are furious rightfully so.

Two weeks free: Yes, the two weeks are free. However, you have to make sure that you specifically sign up for the trial. You must enter your credit card, and your trial turns into a paid subscription if you don't cancel the trial before the two weeks are up. But if you do cancel, then you're never charged for anything.

Sell to sex and smut scams: Absolutely not. This is against their privacy policy. Why in the world would Ancestry.com step outside of their legal bounds? Have you checked their stock prices lately? They're way too profitable to risk something like that. It sounds like you must have signed up for something else... especially since it sounds like you don't read the fine print for things you sign up for.

Bad business practices: Some of their practices aren't the best... for example, many people are confused by the cancellation process. But you're throwing ridiculous claims at them without any foundation.

Keep records you search for: Yes, I believe that they do have the technology for that. In fact, many site with search features do that. For example: Google. But honestly, it's not like anybody internal is going to risk their job by stalking you using your ancestry searches (as if anybody cares anyways). And that type of information isn't available to anyone outside of the company... why would it be?

Convenience of not doing the leg work: Absolutely! Ancestry.com is nothing more than a huge compilation of public records. I don't know if they have anything exclusive. If they do, they're probably obscure records. Some people are able to use Ancestry.com to jumpstart their genealogy work that would normally take a much longer time. And some aren't. Some of their information is mistranscribed, but you also have to remember that many original records are incorrect. For example: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/not-all-records-military-census-etc-are-always-correct/

Compile the information for you: Of course not. They do have algorithms that provide hints to help you out: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/hints-and-how-great-they-are/ And they also provide family trees that others have compiled (if the creator wishes it to be shared with others): http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/family-trees-unmatched-comparison-of-genealogy-notes/ I do agree that Ancestry.com leads people to believe that everything is compiled for them in their advertisements. They never say it explicitly, but it is suggested.

I'm sorry that both of you feel like you were scammed. But Ancestry.com is not a scam if you actually inform yourself about what to expect. http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/scam-exposed-here-cancel-and-you%E2%80%99re-good/

You'll be interested to know, they also KEEP RECORDS OF WHO YOU SEARCH FOR! WTF?
When I called to cancel my membership, the dude was able to tell me who I searched for! that can't be good.
all my searches ended up as merely links to other paid sites. No thank you. I'd rather not pay twice to get information. I'm doing my genealogy the old fashioned way. These sites never really provide you with any information that isn't available through any state's public records, you're paying for the "convenience" of not having to do the leg work. These sites supposedly compile the information for you, too bad most of it isn't even accurate and merely there to get to you pay for "more information" only to have it turn up the wrong person or nobody at all! Unfortunately, sites like these make millions from tricking you into joining because everybody wants everything instantly and easily. remember, genealogy is work and there's no way around it. these sites can help give you a direction, but the paid content is usually no more useful than what you can look up for free on any search engine.

That is horrible, Lucy! I have tried the 14-day trial today (7/5/2011) and I looked my dad's name up - and it shows that I can ONLY contact one person (not public, but have to go through this person NJPATTERSON46). This NJ is an ex-wife and has been for DECADES! I am the DIRECT DESCENDENT of the Holtwick name - not Nancy Jane Patterson. So, I definitely WILL NOT proceed w/the trial of this as I will cancel it before the 2-week 'trial period' is over.

And, records I looked up do not show my marriage to my current wife (of 21 years) listed - only the ex from over 30 years ago. Obviously, their 'so-called' records are not kept up to date!

Sorry to hear about your problems w/the NASTY others that have gotten ahold of your e-mail address, Lucy!

I meant to say that it is possible to cancel a trial online, without calling Ancestry's customer service. That's what the tutorial I linked to above is about.

You can also call in, as you mentioned, but the customer service will probably try to keep you in the program. Just stand your ground and insist on cancelling until you get the 7-digit cancellation number.

No, you can completely cancel a trial. You just have to continue until you receive the 7-digit cancellation number. There's an (unofficial) tutorial about how to do this here: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/scam-exposed-here-cancel-and-you%e2%80%99re-good/

I had the same thing happen to me and when I contacted Ancestry.com I was told that they couldn't do anything about my card being compromised and would not refund my money.

I do not know who MFI Family Ancestry is... I was not aware of Ancestry.com using this name. They have switched names in years past, but they've not used that one that I'm aware of. It sounds like it might be a company other than Ancestry.com.

In any case, if it is Ancestry.com then you should be able to call in and cancel for a refund. The only way that they could have gotten your credit card information is if someone put it in... so perhaps your card has been compromised and is being used by someone else. Ancestry.com is pretty good about returning money if it was due to fraud. Of course, the most important thing is to contact your card company and have them cancel your card if it has been compromised. They can also start a chargeback process for any charges you did not initiate. They also might be able to give more information about the company who charged that (whether it is Ancestry.com or another company).

Email to Ancestry. com: So you believe that we, the general public, aren't smart enough to figure out the implications of Y-DNA and mtDNA, so you drop this part of the testing and satisfy the masses with grouping genealogist with hobbyist. And by the way, if you plan to eliminated Y-DNA and the mtDNA aspect of testing, clean up the website and help files so you aren't misleading your costumers with bits of information that don't exist. I did send in a test and thought there was something wrong when I saw what seemed to be an incomplete test result. I called service and I was told that that was it. I thought it was strange for a company into real genealogy to expand a service not subtract from it.
Response: (Sort of) Dear Sir,
Thank you for contacting Ancestry.com regarding your feedback on the new autosomal DNA test.

We apologize for any frustration this issue may have caused and appreciate your feedback. We have forwarded your message on to our feedback department.

For information regarding additional methods of submitting feedback, please visit the following URL:
http://ancestry.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/970/
If you need additional assistance, please feel free to reply to this message or contact us by phone at 1-800-ANCESTRY [protected]) from 10am to 10pm EST, Monday through Sunday. To date there was no response be the feedback department.

Yep. That was a rather poor way to handle your question. It drives me crazy when customer service reps don't actually answer my questions as well.

I'm not an expert with DNA, but I happen to know a geneticist whom I asked about things like this. If I remember correctly, DNA can be traced through a male line (your father, his father, his father, etc.) or through a female line (your mother, her mother, her mother, etc.). Ultimately, you'll find out countries where your ancestors came from (sometimes actual regions as well). But it's only going to be able to follow two branches of your tree, so it doesn't really give a whole picture. For some people, the DNA test is really helpful. But for others it's a complete waste of time.

I was stupid enough to open a Ancestry guest account. This is VERY SCAM! I tried to cancel my guest account but this is impossible. Very chip trick! Ancestry.com is chip, lying, low profile money sucking “company”. I tried to call but there is answering “too many calls”. Sure! The website doesn’t give any option to cancel account. There is no option at all. All they need to suck your money and no escape. I will do everything possible on all websites to tell about my experience.

Ancestry is a scam and racist operating business out of Utah .

Yeah, I don't really like that policy either. If you're really finished with Ancestry.com, then there are a few things you can do, however.

First, download your tree as GEDCOM file. This will allow you to still have access to it later (you'll need a Genealogy program to read it, but it doesn't have to be Ancestry.com). There's a tutorial about it here: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/export-your-family-tree-as-a-gedcom/

Then, delete your tree. The link to do so right underneath the Download GEDCOM button.

Then, click My Account at the top of the screen. On the right, you can then update your personal information like your email address, your mailing address, your phone number, etc. Now, you can't delete this, but you can change it to be information that is totally incorrect. This way, your account will live on in the Ancestry.com system, but none of the information on it will be correct.

It's important to recognize that there are errors in genealogy records. Ancestry.com is a great way to connect with records, but you MUST verify the information. See this site for an explanation: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/not-all-records-military-census-etc-are-always-correct/

Old complaint, same problem. Why are all subscriptions set as default to auto-renewal when I (the customer) should be able to choose “auto-expire”? Ancestry.com certainly make it easy to set this OFF at the start. Worse is that you default to a 6 month renewal. What an arrogant assumption. What if I don’t like your service that much? Or what if you only want 1 or 2 months subscription.

This is a dishonest business model. You can hide behind your TC’s all you like but that has lost you a customer and hopefully 99 more as the saying goes. I really don’t want to have any more to do with your service, and I will discourage my friends and family from going anywhere near Ancestry.com, T Jones, Australia

Keith is right. You must have a cancellation number to be sure you cancelled. Otherwise... well, they'll charge you again. Calling and having Ancestry.com's service team provide you with the number is one way and definitely a safe way. But as long as you get the cancellation number, the web process is okay too... but you MUST keep going through the process until you get it. If you're not sure whether you got it, it's always best to phone customer service to double-check.

I completed the on line cancellation forms and the last one was a reason for cancellation. Then it wasn't cancelled. I recommend that you phone and CANCEL and get a receipt number. I was cancelling for a month or so whilst I was between jobs but now after this experience I will not rejoin or renew my subscription. Keith Burge, AUSTRALIA

Easier to join than to cancel... I agree on that one. And I agree that it really shouldn't be that way.

As for the 800 number, I'm sorry you had difficulties getting through. Are they busy? Yes, they definitely are. It's a big company. Some times are busier than others, of course.

I personally prefer just canceling on the website anyways. It's easier and less of a hassle, in my opinion.

I know that some people don't have a good experience, but I've used it for a while and I love it. And I believe that if people know what they're getting into and how to work the system correctly (hence my links to that unofficial website www.familytreeshortcuts.com above), then anyone with a good disposition and a desire to really get into genealogy can have a positive experience.

Anyways, I hope that since you didn't have a good experience, you were able to cancel correctly and therefore don't have to worry about it anymore.

Their number is 1-800-Ancestry. It's at the bottom of all of their pages where it says "Contact Us: 1-800-Ancestry." Of course, there's an argument to be made as to whether they should place it at the top so that people don't miss it. If you take a few moments to look for things, you can usually find them. But if you're the impatient type, genealogy research probably isn't your thing anyways.

As for the cancellation process, I suspect that a majority of users don't have a problem. Still, when you're as big as Ancestry.com is, a small portion is still a LOT of customers. I agree that the cancellation process should be easier.

Just my thoughts...

Sootane,
Fabulous data, yes. Problems with the interface, yes. But I have seen them make numerous changes (for the better) in just the last year. And I'm sorry you have problems with Firefox... though for me, I find that Ancestry.com runs much better on my Firefox browser than IE.

Since they are so huge, their customer service does get slammed from time to time. And you're right, their hours aren't very convenient for people who need to contact them in the evening . Don't ever reply to the automated emails because they're all "noreply" emails (read the fine print). Use this form instead: http://ancestry.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ancestry.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php.

You can also use the help articles (see http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/help-navigating-the-website/ for details on how to access and use them).

Oh, and while there are a lot of complaints about cancelling, it's actually a breeze if you actually follow through with all of the steps. See a video tutorial on how to (completely) cancel here: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/scam-exposed-here-cancel-and-you%e2%80%99re-good/

Cecile Marie--
Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do. You should have read the fine print (yes, I know that no one does, so I don't blame you, but Ancestry.com has the legal advantage now). I found a site that you might find helpful explaining everything, however:

About the annual subscription charged at once: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/subscription-costs-explained/

One thing you need to be aware of as well is that your subscription is probably set to automatically renew next year. Please take action to get it cancelled so that it does not renew. There's a nifty tutorial about how to cancel here: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/scam-exposed-here-cancel-and-you%e2%80%99re-good/

In the mean time, like I said, there's not much you can do. You can call in to Ancestry support, but you're likely too late to get a refund of any type. But since you have an account, you may as well use it! It appears you were having difficulties finding any records on the site (Ancestry.com actually has the most extensive online record database in the world), so check out these pages for help findnig records:
http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/search-build-your-family-tree-learn-the-tips-here/
http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/the-card-catalog-is-your-source-for-specific-records/

http://lisaduvalltoday.com/
Refunds, Collections & Justice

Email: lisaduvall@att.net
Email me the details for proven results. I have the knowledge, experience and time.

Unfortunately, sometimes even Ancestry.com's massive databases aren't helpful for some people. You may be one of them. As for the hints, they're not always that great (though again, for some people, they are).

Have you tried advanced search or the card catalog yet? See this site for unofficial tutorials:
http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/search-build-your-family-tree-learn-the-tips-here/
http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/the-site/the-card-catalog-is-your-source-for-specific-records/

You need to call 1-800-Ancestry. That's their customer service line. If they really did erroneously overcharge you, they'll usually refund the amount (I'm not an employee of Ancestry.com, so don't quote me on that, but I've found that is often the case). If you don't want to deal with them and just want to avoid recurring charges, be sure to cancel. There's a tutorial at this site: http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/scam-exposed-here-cancel-and-you%e2%80%99re-good/

Unfortunately, simply cancelling isn't going to get you a refund in this case, so I recommend talking to customer service.

Actually, you can cancel using the website. A lot of people don't know how (or they do it wrong), so this site made a video tutorial about how to do it. The key is getting a 7-digit cancellation number. If you do it correctly, this it's really pain-free.
http://www.familytreeshortcuts.com/avoiding-issues/scam-exposed-here-cancel-and-you%e2%80%99re-good/

I tried to cancel my guest account but this is impossible. Very chip trick! Ancestry.com is chip, lying, low profile money sucking “company”. I tried to call but there is answering “too many calls”. Sure! The website doesn’t give any option to cancel account. There is no option at all. All they need to suck your money and no escape. I will do everything possible on all websites to tell about my experience.

Click My Account at the top of the screen, and update your email address to be something non-existant. I imagine this should fix your problem.

Another user had a similar complaint about the removal of personal information due to this policy. See my response at Ancestry.com — deleting account for more details on that.