I've been a member for about 20 years. There've been many changes. You MUST understand Ancestry is a money-making business. Service has become less helpful, while charging more for what is offered. Fewer tools, fewer options in search -- this makes your search last longer - you must renew to continue. If you're looking for DNA,, do not use Ancestry! They are not competent. Do NOT use 23andMe. This is headed by the wife of a Google founder, whose declared objective is to gather as much information about EVERY soul. DNA is one more way. All information will be kept in the "cloud" for future purposes. Check it out! For real DNA results, try Family Tree DNA. They also have groups (names) to join. Harder to follow, but more competent. Ancestry is just "fun and games" and not accurate, but it may connect you to others -- you must decide if that connection is valid. It might lead to other Trees, sharing information and photos. Ancestry has bought out various collections and is now the SOLE proprietor. If you want to see them, you MUST join Ancestry. Census, Social Security Death Index, and more. No one else wanted to go through ages of records and categorize them - so they were sold to Ancestry. If you see errors (ie SS Death Index), Ancestry cannot change it. The price of Ancestry continually goes up. Once you are "hooked" or in the middle of research, you will be "forced" to continue. Family Search aka LDS has joined hands with them -- their site simply doesn't work as it did, declaring the site is not operating. Making a Tree on Ancestry can be a valuable tool . See it for what it is. Once you find a document, COPY IT ONTO PAPER as well as posting onto your Tree. Should you not renew your subscription, you can still access your Tree -- but you CANNOT open documents saved, as they belong to Ancestry. This will create piles of paper, so choose carefully - death certificates, etc. Many sites are free, Collections are limited, but you can copy others.

beentheretoo

Ventura CA

I ordered two kits; I wanted to return one, unopened. I went to website to find out how to do this. It says to call their 800 number; there is no way to activate the return via email. I called the number and was told the wait time is more than one hour. Not only that, ancestry deducts $25 from my refund, because "the DNA kit cannot be reused." I'm supposed to throw it away. An unopened kit, completely wrapped and sealed. I've been on the hold 15 minutes and I'm fuming. Terrible customer service.

ckbelair

Seattle, WA

The website was truly awful....nothing worked...was on hold for over an hour....yes, really, over an hour and maybe when my problem was about to be resolved, i was disconnected. I would not recommend this company to anyone...

JeanH17

Ft. Collins, CO

This is a really cool website. I love building my family tree. They have so many records you can also find on their website. I have found some of my living relatives that I didn't know even existed until I as building my family tree. Ancestry will show you other people's family trees if you have some common people on your family tree. I think it's really cool. They also make suggestions for the people added to your family tree. The only bad thing is sometimes when you have no idea if the suggestions are correct, especially when you go into later generations. But overall I loved this website, I learned a lot about my own family. It's easy to start your own family tree too. If you're creating your family tree that portion is completely free. But if you want documents such as marriage license etc, then you will have to pay a fee to access those records. I'd reccomend this to anyone who is interesting in learning about their family past.

sarahlavergne

tx

It takes me longer to do my research. I liked the old format better. It's alot easier for older people who aren't technical smart. You should have offered both sides then others could pick which one they wanted to use. It's to hard for me to recommend to a friend.

DeborahE15

Columbus, ne

I am always skeptical about any online sites that claim they could find old records or background information or in this case your family tree. I've seen commercials for it a hundred times and since my father passed when I was younger, I didn't know a lot about his side. So it claimed to be able to find ancestors and a census with their names and so on. I decided to use it with what claimed to be a free preview I guess to show you it works, but it pretty much just shows a couple relatives names and then if you want any relevant information, you pay for it. So I put in my credit card and began using it. It wasn't horrible at first, but it was taking a long time to find some ancestors and they kept giving me wrong names and wrong information. But that's not what even made me cancel it. I get my credit card bill and see instead of charging me monthly which would have costed much less. I see a few hundred dollars charged to my account which is an annual fee that I never wanted. When I spoke to their customer service, it was nothing more than even more aggravation. They tried telling me that it what I signed up for when I clearly didn't. So I emailed my receipt showing they were liars and I was refunded my money after I had to deal with my bank. So thanks for nothing and in my opinion it's awful.

mrshunkler417

USA

Very poor customer service. I have been a long time customer of Ancestry.com and yesterday (Cyber Monday) at 8:50 pm PST, I tried to purchase the Cyber Monday specials (the $79 for the DNA kit and the $79 for the Ancestry membership for my niece. When I entered all my nieces info (that I wanted a 6 month subscription and her email address), and then pressed BUY, the web site sent me to another page, asking me the same information. It kept doing this until about 9:05 pm PST, at which time the web site promotion changed to the christmas prices ($10 more). I called and explained everything and they refused to give me the better price. I think they illegally took down the Cyber Monday deal before the end of the day, California time and I think that they need to treat your customers better by honoring your sales deals.

robolemcke

USA

Thanks to technology and this awesome website, you can now do a complete family tree and find out everything you possibly can about your family and ancestors. It is very easy to do since you can use the information you have and it will find and fill in the rest. I did this as a free trial to try it out and really enjoyed it. I know nothing about my maternal grandfather and very little about my father's side so this was neat to see war veterans and other cool people in my family. Ease of Use It was simple to use, it basically tells you what to enter and if you do not know something you can just leave it blank. Product Selection They brought up family from both sides with very little information from me. I could see certificates of death and marriage, and pictures. Product Pricing It is very expensive if you choose to continue past the free trial. I can understand why since they are pulling up records, but I just couldn't pay hundreds to keep doing it. Customer Service They can answer any questions you might have. Shipping and Returns They do not offer refunds if you cancel your account.

willowjen

USA

Ancestry.com is an awesome website if you are interested in learning about your family history. I initially signed up for their free two week trial so I could see if paying for a membership was actually worth the cost. The basic membership costs around $20 a month and you can get a discount if you pay the whole cost upfront as a six month membership. The broader memberships can go up to around $45 per month and that will get you access to more international records that aren't available on the basic membership. The records that are available on Ancestry.com are very extensive and easy to use. The best way to start off on this website is to use what you know with a recent ancestor and work your way back. The census records are clearly copied and easy to read giving a good place for most to start. Another nice tool with Ancestry.com is the ability to work with others that you may be related to. You can share your family tree and if others have information you need you can share and contact them. This is however optional and you can still keep your information private if you choose to.

amybyu

USA

When I found Ancestry.com it was the first time I've seen genelogical database online. I started to research and found very important birth certificate from my great-great-grandmother. I thought that I would never find it. Now I have a complete family tree and I'm grateful to them. I realize that Ancestry doing very important job to preserve a part of history of our ancestors and I hope it will grow more and more. Website is also pretty nice with combination of past and modern design, maybe a little more pale, but that's not a problem. With Ancestry, I have the opportunity to look in my past and past of my ancestors from the comfort of my home and that's great. Ease of Use Website is simply designed with good navigation and easy to use. Product Selection The largest genealogical database on the Internet. Product Pricing They charge a monthly fee of $34.99 for international researchers, but it is too expensive for the citizens of South America, Eastern Europe or Asia because the people in those parts of world have low salaries. Customer Service They are doing a great job.

Mejer

USA