AncestryReviews 638

Ancestry used to be a upstanding company Recently they have completely changed the entire format of the family research experience and even the way our personal family trees appear. Firstly I am and have been paying a yearly subscription rate to have complete access to all the records etc this program allowed me to place ancestors pictures where I want them. It was possible to add my photos and other media and attach them to certain census dates. With the new format all that is not possible. My family stories are my family stories. Ancestry has taken it upon themselves to insert certain stories and or media that pertains to a certain era in which my personal ancestor was living. I didn't give them permission to make these stupid changes and if I choose to research what was occurring in the world when a specific ancestor was living I w I'll do the research and add it! They need to stop messing with people's family trees. They have also. Hanged the color to a horrid grY that after about ten minutes of reading my eyes are so weary. This color is bad and can't be good for the eyes. This new site is cumbersome and difficult to navigate and not user friendly again I didn't pay for this. I paid for the old classic ancestry. All the joy has been taken from family research. I am ready to quit. When I personally have let ancestry know about things that I didn't like... I was told all I do is whine and don't explain what I didn't like. I have numerous times and I was told if I don't like it I can leave! Well that is not good business! Who tells customers to go away? There are many people that are working for and spokespersons for ancestry who are haughty and hateful, self righteous non helpful people! They certainly have no work ethics. In fact my opinion is ancestry has lost all good ethics and are only interested in becoming a bigger money grubbing corporation! I used to tell anyone I talked to how wonderful this company was no more though. I would NOT recommend ancestry to anyone -- they don't care about furthering family research they have another agenda. They are not listening to their customers who are serious researchers. We want the classic. It works! They should at least give those people who want classic the choice instead of forcing the new on us!

Ancestry.com recently changed the format of the individual profile on family trees. This change does not seem to be well conceived nor well implemented. Most particularly, the changes made have destroyed five years of my work in building a family tree.

The quality of service provided by Ancestry.com as sadly declined over the five years I have been a member. While once I once thought this site provided the best means of researching family history and building a family tree, but no longer. I cannot recommend Ancestry.com, and in fact would discourage anyone from subscribing to the site.

Ancestry.com is a company that cares nothing about its paying subscribers, or even if their website is functioning. I have been a member since 1999 and it has gone from a functioning, useful site, to one that is down in part or completely daily, signs you up and takes your money and you don't have the use of what you are paying for. Now they have decided that everyone must use a site that is geared for inexperienced researchers and cell phone users. The platform is difficult to read, and people with a vision issue, cannot use it. They should be fined for bait and switch, and discrimination towards visually challenged people. They refuse to refund my subscription fee, even though I cannot use their program.

I forgot that I had subscribed to a monthly trial subscription on Ancestry.com, until I received a notice from my bank that a payment had been made to Ancestry.com two days prior, for a 6 month subscription. I canceled the subscription both online and via telephone, where I was informed that Ancestry.com does not refund any of the amount paid. It's unfortunate that when canceling a subscription (particularly so early in the subscription period), Ancestry.com forces the customer to maintain the subscription until the next renewal. They claim that when cancelling the subscription that there will not be an automatic renewal fee. Therefore, Ancestry.com is not responsible for refunding any amount on monies to the subscriber.

Don't ever buy their software. Whenever you'll need to reinstall it on the same machine that you've just upgraded, or if you are one of those people who format their hard drive once a year or so, they will lock your serial number - meaning that you can never use it again - even though you're following their licensing terms by using their software on only one computer. Their customer support team is useless, and all they do is send you useless emails with patches, which you can't use because you can't even install the program. Then they'll direct you to Nova, who is the seller of the software. Nova, apart from being extremely rude, will tell you that you're not allowed to reinstall the software after 30 days, and that you'll have to buy a newer version. Clearly these guys are scam artists. I expect this post to be deleted by Ancestry.com, but rest assured, it will be posted everywhere else for everyone to see.

This is a total monopoly. You cannot find any information online without it reverting to ancestry.com. You have to pay to join. If you opt for the "free" month trial, you are still charged. I hate this company. My Aunt did a lot of research on my mother's side of the family in the 1970s without computers. She went to churches for birth/baptismal/death records, interviewed living people, etc. But I wanted to get more data. NO WAY. Every site possible, including. Net sites &. Org go back to ancestry.com. Avoid like the Black Plague!

I subscribe to ancestry one day then cancelled my subscription. The information I found on other sites, I would update in my tree over the years. Then I noticed when I look at the public tree there would be folks searching for the same thing, would have the exact same info I put in. I cancelled the next day not even 24 hrs. I stop getting hints. No refund either. You have to pay more money to see more documents, when I go to other sites FREE No credit card NO sign up, I can see more documents. It maybe a good site if you have the money.

Ancestry is a good site for info. However, once you start your tre and then stop paying their fees, you will have access to your tree, but will not be able to view any ancestry documents you down loaded into your tree unless you pay for the subscription again. This is bad. Ancestry should allow you to remain as full access to any document that was downloaded into your tree when you paid the fees. Look for a different site that will allow this.

I have just gotten and account with ancestory.com.au and paid for the pay-as-you-go option. However once I had paid it and the money had gone through I was not able to access any documents on the website. Every hint I got on the family tree just took me to a page which tried to get me to pay for an annual service or pay again for the PAYG.
WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ABOUT? I just paid for the right to access 10 documents on their website and suddenly I am not allowed to use that 10 and need to buy an monthly subscription. All in all I think ancestory.com is a huge con job (I am aware it is a reputable website but my experiences have been only of money grabbing and dodgy payment systems). They have taken $10 from me and given me nothing in return, although $10 is not that much it is something to me. When I pay for any good or service I expect it to be actually carried out, not meeting expectations is one thing but not doing anything for the money they collect is just a total rip off. Hence I am giving them one star because of their shoddy service and lying payment plans.

I've subscribed to Ancestry since the beginning (around 1999)- when they had only a couple of census records and they were only partly indexed. I've been amazed at the whining and complaining I see from all of the one star posts. Like any other "contract" you need to read through the fine print and understand what you are agreeing to before signing, rather than skip the agreement part, click on "agree" then get angry.
We should be intelligent enough to know that all business change hands, and all businesses change policies. The only way to keep your data and documents secure is to have your own copy- whether that is a paper copy or an electronic file. That's what genealogy software on your computer is for. In fact, it's wise to keep a copy off site as well (a disk at a family member's house, for example) to protect you against a fire/flood, etc.
This site has the largest collection of vital records anywhere, conveniently located, available at all hours. I began doing genealogy when the only options were to write letters and visit archives. I can use Ancestry without having to drive somewhere or make appointments- or spend additional money to access a repository. Gas, parking fees, entrance fees, copy fees, and travel time are all hidden costs to doing genealogy research. I've spent as much as $50 for one record. It doesn't take long to add up. The price of Ancestry for one year is cheap for all that is available, and for the convenience, and for the opportunity to collaborate.
I love the hinting feature, where Ancestry searches for possible record matches when I'm not even online. I have plenty to check out every time I get on. I love that I can send/receive messages from others regarding research and individuals (corrections, additions, etc). I have made some wonderful connections with distant relatives that would never have happened without this site. It's great to collaborate with others! Doing so has unlocked many doors and expanded my research and knowledge.
It's not a perfect company (I haven't found any that are), and I've have disputes with them over the years. When I have had a serious disagreement, I call and talk to them- and keep talking to them until we find a resolution. Staying calm and reasonable and working together makes that possible. We have to do our part- read contracts, understand them, ask questions, understand the purpose of the website (find our ancestors, not find living classmates for example- one of the complaints I read), understand what records are available- they may not have records for the time period and area you need, etc. It doesn't mean the company is a "rip-off" just because you didn't do your part and understand what the "free trial" was or what records are available.

I would like to say doing the free try out was fine which I only tried it out a few times like let's see 3 times. Really was useless for me. However few weeks later my wallet was stolen and I replaced my debit card with a new card. Long story short 2 new bank cards later I long forgotten I sign up for them. I never caught on they were taken money out my account (stupid) me until my son school wanted a print out of payments then I notice ancestry was STILL taken money out my account.
I was in complete shock for I never notice since they were taken it out around rent time. The guy basically told me but saying clear not them of course many people bank off those who do online banking and that VISA itself was the one updated my cards with out informing me. They ONLY refound me this months charge! Are you fkn for real right now. I'm contacting a lawyer over this issue for many reason like let's see the main one I never gave any one my permission to update my new credit CARDS yes more then ONE card number in the first place. Please be careful giving your card number to them in the first place for they have access through visa itself to update your credit card any time you change them or when they expired and I feel that's complete BS. Thanks for making me feel real comfortable banking with a bank in the first place. Online bankers beware they are some sneaky $#*! people

Buyer beware! In the last few weeks Ancestry has gone to a new customer service which is non existent. For the price you pay there is no service. If anything goes wrong on FTM your only alternative is to buy the program again. And the service people are unfamiliar with Ancestry and unable to answer basic questions It has really become a rip off. I am most anxious to get all my information together so I can close the account. It is not what it appears.

The way the site works is that you have to pay an up front annual amount, but the wording on their web site indicates you can cancel at a later date and still receive a refund.
The site is deceptive as it does not make clear the fact that you will not receive a refund if you don't cancel within the very short period from the time of taking out the subscription. It does not clearly state that you will not receive a refund if you pay the annual amount and you cancel after two months for example.
I was hoping to find old class mates. Out of twenty searches, using name and age it found not one. Even those who had passed away, three former students, not one was found. It was totally useless.
Having paid $215 it was a complete waste of money and very disappointing as a search tool.
I contacted them and even though they would know I used the site in a very limited fashion, and it also failed to deliver, they would not offer any refund at all. This web site is based in typical American aka Microsoft greed style of taking peoples money deceptively, and is happy to receive $215 for about 2 hours use of their data base. $215 allows you to use the site for 24 hours a day for 365 days. I used it for 2 hours. If you rang a small business in Australia for a refund under similar circumstances you'd probably get it. Having had previous experience in business with American companies it is no wonder "the world hates America" - it's been ripping the rest of us off forever and it does not care.
See also post 20/09/2011 by Don at http://www.geneabloggers.com/ancestrycom-scam-common-misperceptions/

"I am an Ancestry subscriber and I love it, but I think what they're doing with the monthly/yearly business is pretty sleazy and really hurts their reputation."

BEWARE. They lie I signed up for a free trial. They said I didn't I canceled 3 days later and they still charged me $19.99. I could not view a document because I have windowsxp and can't afford a new computer at this time. The rep Bill was rude. I live on Soc. Sec. And my budge is very tight. I was trying to get to my late husbands DD214 form so I could send it to the VA. I believe I'm entitles to some benefits but can't do anything until I get the form.