Important information
- Customer Complaint:Consumers should be aware that Ancestry.com/MyFamily.com uses an auto-renewal process that automatically charges the consumer for another year membership if the member does not cancel prior to the anniversary date. BBB files also indicate this business has a pattern of complaints concerning shipping/handling override coupon codes not being accepted.
Complaints
This profile includes complaints for Ancestry.com's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see
Customer Complaints Summary
- 827 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 233 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
If you've experienced an issue
Submit a ComplaintThe complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.
Initial Complaint
Date:09/16/2025
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
was charged after I canceelled my membership and then was charged in australian money which is impossable since I live in the state of washington, usa and have a zip code ***** and do banking with simmons bank in alanta ge. have contacted ancestry . com many times they tried to refund one charge in australian funds but the bank would not except that it had to be in us funds so findly I did get one refund but then they turned right around and charged me for a second charge of the same and once charged it at the aust. fund rate someone in there CO. has and keeps on makeing a big mistake,Icancelled my trail membership in 2024 there was no charges on my credit card until july of 2025 what a susprize thank you *** ********
Business Response
Date: 09/22/2025
Title: *****, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: 1-800-262-3787
Contact Email: [email protected]
September 22, 2025
RE: *** ******** -- 23894632
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Mr. ********** complaint to us. At
Ancestry, we are committed to providing excellent customer service and hold our
customers’ satisfaction in the highest regard.
Our records show that Mr. ******** initiated a subscription
unique to Australia, a World Heritage membership, on July 9, 2025. This would
occur if Mr. ******** was on our Australian site, ancestry.com.au, at the time
his subscription was purchased. Additionally, as the funds in question would
have been charged in AU dollars by his financial institution, they would have
processed a conversion of the funds in order for the charge to have been accepted.
Merchants are required to issue a refund in the same manner as the charge that
occurred. Therefore, we would recommend that he contact his financial
institution as to why the funds were accepted in AU dollars as the charge if
refunds are unable to be provided in the same currency.
Our records show that a refund of $59.99 AUD was processed
on August 11, 2025, for the August 10th charge. We have now issued an
additional refund of $59.99 AUD for the July 9th charge. The
confirmation number for this transaction is *********. The access to the
databases associated with this membership has been terminated effective
immediately, and there will be no future billing from Ancestry. Please note
that it can take between 3-5 business days for these funds to become available
within their financial institution, depending on their refund policies and
procedures.
We always appreciate any opportunity to assist our members
in discovering, preserving, and sharing their family history. If at any time in
the future they become interested in researching or saving their family
history, they may continue to use the free services found on Ancestry even now
after their subscription has ended.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do
not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-262-3787.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive Response Team
AncestryCustomer Answer
Date: 09/22/2025
Complaint: 23894632
I am rejecting this response because:
I did not go to a out of the country site some one from there business loged me in wrong as i stated before my zip code is ***** which is washington state the bank rejected the refund with out of the country moneys their rejecton code ws number 802 so far the bank has been very helpfull simmons bank in alanta ga.and once again this membership was cancelled long befor this happened back in 2024 , the credit card had expired and I waited 4 months before I actived it and as soon as I did they charged it with this amount all they have to do is to look at my membership from back years and that will tell them that I didnot have an out of the country membership they should supply you with a copy of my old membership from 2023,2024 and you will see there is NO OUT OF THE COUNTRY MEMBERSHIP . this is a scam.....
Sincerely,
*** ********Business Response
Date: 09/23/2025
Title: *****, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: 1-800-262-3787
Contact Email: [email protected]
September 23, 2025
RE: *** ******** -- 23894632
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Mr. ********** response to us.
We recognize that Mr. ******** had a previous US Discovery membership
from June through July of 2024. The funds for that membership was incurred in
American dollars. However, because members are allowed to change their
membership type online, it appears that his membership was re-initiated as an
Australian World Heritage membership. Our previous response indicated one way in
which that may have occurred including accidentally being on the Australian
version of the site when initiated. However, Mr. ******** has stated that this
is not the case.
In this case, we have already issued full refunds for both recent
charges incurred on the account. If Mr. ******** has any further questions
regarding the status of his refunds, we recommend he contact his financial
institution.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do
not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-262-3787.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive Response Team
AncestryCustomer Answer
Date: 09/23/2025
Complaint: 23894632
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,
as the company stated they had refunded both charges after checking with my bank only one charge had been refunded so I called the the ------- people at ancestry and guess what the second refund was not procested so the person I spoke with said he would check when he came back on the line he said he would handle the refund he gave me a trans.number of ********* which he stated that he had JUST put it thru and I should see in my account no later than sept 30 if I had not checked it would have not been done if it has SO I will not sign off on this until it hits my bank account , this is the kind of business that they are running, but they seem to not be able to tell the TRUTH . I am very upset about this whole matter but thank you for your help
*** ********Initial Complaint
Date:09/10/2025
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
The Ancestry.com app is all but unusable. You cannot move around freely within the app and it automatically sends you back to the page you were just done completing. It’s impossible to move forward. Also, whenever you try to go and edit any of that the app auto populates for you, as in trying to edit a persons child from biological to step, it acts as if it’ll edit the info, but NOPE! it didn’t!
This company is not worth the money you pay for it!
Also, almost every proof they have as an identitfying record, you have to pay exorbitant prices to view!
Stay away from Ancestry.comBusiness Response
Date: 09/15/2025
Title: *****, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: 1-800-262-3787
Contact Email: ******************************
September 15, 2025
RE: ******* ******** -- 23869066
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Ms. Selinski’s complaint to us. At
Ancestry, we are committed to providing excellent customer service and hold our
customers’ satisfaction in the highest regard.
Most record access is included with a subscription and is
dependent upon the subscription type. Additionally, we regret to hear of any
issues Ms. Selinski is encountering with the Ancestry app. At this time, we
have not received widespread reports of the issue she describes. We believe
this may be a technical issue related to her specific device or an outdated app
version, and we are prepared to work directly with the customer to resolve it.
If she believes this is an issue specific to the Ancestry app, she may call our
customer support team at 1-800-ANCESTRY to request an error report be submitted
for the issue she describes. Alternatively, she may email us at ****************************** and provide us with the following information:
The device being used (i.e. iPhone, Android) and model
Ancestry app version (found by scrolling to bottom of
account page)
The step-by-step process to reproduce the error
A screenshot of the issue
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do
not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-262-3787.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive Response Team
AncestryInitial Complaint
Date:09/09/2025
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I subscribed and paid for membership for February, March, April, May , and June of 2025 and it was charged to my credit card then I finally got a chance to use it and realized that the subscription was not being provided. I contacted them the last of June or first part of July and talked to a supervisor who finally discovered the problem and said they would give me 6 months free. I finally got back into my account last night September 8, 2025 and found that this had not happened. I tried to call them this afternoon to get it straightened out and was told our system is being updated and you need to call back in 2 or 3 hours. They are NOT providing what they were paid for.Business Response
Date: 09/15/2025
Title: *****, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: 1-800-262-3787
Contact Email: ******************************
September 15, 2025
RE: Janet *****
-- 23861513
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Ms. ******* complaint to us. At
Ancestry, we are committed to providing excellent customer service and hold our
customers’ satisfaction in the highest regard.
In this case, it appears that Ms. ***** initiated a paid
subscription in February 2025 on an account linked to an alternate email address
on which she initiated a family tree. In June of 2025, she called our customer
support line and spoke with a supervisor who provided 6 months of free time on
an account linked to the email address Ms. ***** provided within her BBB
complaint. The free time was applied on June 28th and was scheduled
to end on December 28, 2925.
Because she now wishes to receive a refund, we have
cancelled the free membership linked to her current email address. We have made
an exception to our refund guidelines and have issued 5 refunds in the amount
of $24.83 each back to the account that was originally billed. The confirmation
number for this transaction is 522071020. The access to the databases
associated with this membership has been terminated effective immediately, and
there will be no future billing from Ancestry. Please note that it can take
between 3-5 business days for these funds to become available within their
financial institution, depending on their refund policies and procedures.
We always appreciate any opportunity to assist our members
in discovering, preserving, and sharing their family history. If at any time in
the future they become interested in researching or saving their family
history, they may continue to use the free services found on Ancestry even now
after their subscription has ended.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do
not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-262-3787.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive Response Team
AncestryInitial Complaint
Date:09/08/2025
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I signed up for a free trial on August 21 2025. However I ended up forgetting & getting confused in regards to the whole matter. ( Which I now find out was due to being in late/end stages of my liver disease) So I didn't canceI. I really thought I hadn't signed up for the free trial, & since I did not receive a reminder, or notification, or email, I was confident & assumed I hadn't?On September 5th. I received a receipt from PayPal via email saying I had been charged $188.00. By Ancestry Ireland. I contacted them & explained & also apologized. To which I was met with a response to speak to them through the email address charged. So I used my secondary email. Only to be told the same thing again! The email I used the first time was the associated one. They refused to refund me. Now I am late on rent & face eviction unless I come up with the $188.00 by the 19th. Point is they don't care & seem to make money off people who forget to cancel! Not even worth the cost at all. Especially when there are are free options. I know that now. I am no longer subscribing to anything now due to memory loss & confusion now that I am aware it's a symptom.Business Response
Date: 09/15/2025
Title: *****, Executive Office Response Team
Contact
Phone: 1-800-262-3787
Contact
Email: ******************************
September 15, 2025
RE: ****** ***** – 23853122
To Whom It
May Concern,
Thank you
for forwarding Ms. ******* complaint to us. At Ancestry, we are committed to
providing excellent customer service and hold our customers’ satisfaction in
the highest regard.
Our records
show that because Ms. ***** did not cancel her free trial, it rolled into a
paid subscription on September 4, 2025. On September 9th, she called
our toll-free support line and requested a refund which she was granted for
$188.87 back to the account that was originally billed.
The confirmation number for this transaction is *********. The access to the
databases associated with this membership was terminated on that date, and
there will be no future billing from Ancestry. Please note that it can take
between 3-5 business days for these funds to become available within their
financial institution, depending on their refund policies and procedures.
We always appreciate any opportunity to assist our members
in discovering, preserving, and sharing their family history. If at any time in
the future they become interested in researching or saving their family
history, they may continue to use the free services found on Ancestry even now
after their subscription has ended.
If you have
any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us at
1-800-262-3787.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive
Response Team
AncestryInitial Complaint
Date:09/05/2025
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I got the trial of Ancestry and didn't find what I was looking for so I cancelled before the trial was over. the website does not make that very easy either. So they Charged me anyway. This is not good business. Not only that the site says I am still enrolled. They make it very hard to cancel. It also stated I could cancel anytime. That too was a lie!Business Response
Date: 09/11/2025
Title: Ilina, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: **************
Contact Email: ******************************
September 10, 2025
RE: ***** ******* -- 23847404
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Ms. ********* complaint to us. At Ancestry®, we are committed to providing excellent customer service and hold our customers’ satisfaction in the highest regard.
We regret any confusion caused by this situation and are happy to provide further details. Upon reviewing the account, we confirmed that the subscription renewed on September 3rd, and the cancellation was processed two days later, on September 5th. As a result, a billing had already taken place.
As a courtesy to Ms. *******, we have made an exception to our refund policy and have issued a refund in the amount of $58.51 to the account originally billed. The confirmation number for this transaction is 529827209. Please note that depending on the policies and procedures of Ms. ********* financial institution, it may take 3–5 business days for these funds to become available.
The access to databases associated with this membership has been terminated effective immediately, and Ms. ******* will not incur any future billing from Ancestry.
Should Ms. ******* experience any issues in the future, we encourage her to contact our Support team directly, where an agent will be happy to assist her in real time.
We always appreciate the opportunity to assist our members in discovering, preserving, and sharing their family history. Should Ms. ******* wish to explore their family history again in the future, they may continue to use Ancestry’s free services even without a paid subscription.
Sincerely,
Ilina
Executive Response Team
Ancestry®Initial Complaint
Date:09/05/2025
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I canceled my account in August. I just got an email this morning suggesting I had another type of account with this company so I canceled again and they there was a cancellation fee of $24.95. I’ve never heard of such a thing. Had I known there would be a cancellation fee on top of my monthly fee I never would’ve signed for this service. Feels a little bit like robbery.Business Response
Date: 09/11/2025
Title: *****, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: 1-800-262-3787
Contact Email: ******************************
September 11, 2025
RE: ******* ****** -- 23843000
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Mr. ******** complaint to us. At Ancestry®, we are committed to providing excellent customer service and hold our customers’ satisfaction in the highest regard.
When signing up for a free trial, members are presented with the option to select the subscription plan they wish to continue with if the trial is not cancelled. For example, if Mr. ****** chose an annual subscription billed monthly, this selection constitutes a commitment for one year with reduced monthly payments. Cancelling such a plan prior to the end of the term would typically result in a cancellation fee.
As a courtesy, however, we have issued a full refund for the cancellation fee. The refund in the amount of $24.83 has been processed back to the account originally billed, and the confirmation number for this transaction is 529843325. Access to the databases associated with this membership has been terminated effective immediately, and Ms. Wright will have no future billing from Ancestry. Please note that it can take 3–5 business days for these funds to appear in the member’s account, depending on the financial institution’s processing policies.
We always appreciate the opportunity to assist our members in discovering, preserving, and sharing their family history. Should Mr. ****** wish to continue exploring or saving his family history in the future, he may continue to use the free services available on Ancestry, even after the subscription has ended.
If you have any questions regarding this matter or any other Ancestry services, please do not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-262-3787.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive Response Team
AncestryInitial Complaint
Date:09/03/2025
Type:Status:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
This is not about buyers remorse, because this was a transaction that was processed without my approval. I attempted to purchase a 6 month membership and the website showed me a discounted rate. After inputting my details, I received a pop-up stating my transaction could not be processed and I had to call. I called and was told that the sale had expired this morning, but I was only in the page at that time being shown the price. I called, and while I was on hold, I attempted to go back to the page with the pricing, which involved clicking two buttons: one that said "subscribe" and another that said "Become a Member". Previously, when I clicked these buttons and it didn't go through, I was first taken to a page where I was asked to enter credit card information. This time, it automatically charged me without asking me to confirm, or how I wanted to pay. "*******" the customer service rep, repeatedly blamed me for"clicking a subscribe button" because when you click a subscribe button you "understand that you are going to be charged." This is untrue and their system glitched when it reset the price. ******* claimed that she had put through a request for a refund to her supervisor, but she would not allow me to speak to the supervisor. In fact, I had simply asked to have them honor the 50% discount I was initially shown, and she also told me that I would get that, but there is nothing in writing and in fact, I do not even have an email confirming this purchase (because the system glitched and I never completed all the steps). I am incredibly disappointed as a long-time user of ancestry -- I wanted to start using them again but this experience has really soured me.Business Response
Date: 09/10/2025
Title: *****, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: **************
Contact Email: ******************************September 10, 2025
RE: **** ***** – 23832928To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Ms. *****’s complaint to us. At Ancestry®, we are committed to providing excellent customer service and hold our customers’ satisfaction in the highest regard.
We regret any inconvenience caused by this situation. Upon reviewing Ms. *****’s account, we were able to confirm some of the details regarding the issue that was reported. Specifically, the purchase with order number ********* placed on the 3rd of September, 2025, shows an attempt to apply a discount code. The purchase is for the discounted amount of $89.57 (full price $169.00) and displays a billing status of “failed,” which indicates that the funds were not collected by Ancestry.
As the payment was not successfully processed on our end, we kindly advise Ms. ***** to contact her bank directly to obtain further details regarding this transaction and to confirm whether a chargeback was submitted. From our records, the funds appear as reversed, and no payment was received by Ancestry for this order.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive Response Team
AncestryCustomer Answer
Date: 09/10/2025
Complaint: 23832928
I am rejecting this response because: while I accept the response in terms of the financial portion (payment not received) I would like to explain what I am experiencing.My account shows me as a member, effective September 3. I have an option to cancel.
There is also an additional membership in my cart which I don’t seem able to access, it flashes on the screen then disappears. When I check the page with my membership purchase history, the last one was from 2024. I did not enter a discount code so it must have been a cached page that did not clear from months ago.
It is currently unclear to me whether or not I have a functioning membership. There is also no reason that the payment would have failed unless it had to do with the site because I did not ask them to stop the payment. I had been hoping when I called that ancestry would honor the discount it showed me. I had no idea it would create such a mess. The representative was not helpful and borderline disrespectful so I hesitate to call back again.
Sincerely,
**** *****Business Response
Date: 09/15/2025
Title: *****, Executive
Office Response Team
Contact Phone:
**************
Contact Email: ******************************
September 15, 2025
RE: **** ***** -- 23832928
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding
Ms. *****’s response to us.
Our records show that
the sale in question ended at 8 am MDT on September 3rd. Because we
are unable to determine the exact time Ms. ***** was attempting to place her order,
it is possible that the order was being placed at the time the sale ended or
shortly thereafter.
Unfortunately, we are
unable to initiate subscriptions via this platform. However, we have notated
Ms. *****’s account with the offer of a World Explorer membership for the half
price of $84. To accept this offer, she may call our toll-free support line at
1-800-ANCESTRY so that she may be assisted in placing the order for this price.
If you have any
questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us at
**************.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive Response Team
AncestryCustomer Answer
Date: 09/15/2025
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 23832928, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
**** *****Initial Complaint
Date:08/28/2025
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
Ancestry.com has been billing my account for years. When I call the number they will not answer the call. this has bee going on for multiple years RECURRING WITHDRAWAL BILL PAYMENT #************ ** ANCARCHIVES.COM *********** UT 8/27/2025 $9.99 Add tags Add notes Add images Attach to a conversation ***** **************************** - CHECKING RECURRING WITHDRAWAL BILL PAYMENT #************ ** ANC*ARCHIVES.COM *********** UTBusiness Response
Date: 09/02/2025
Title: Kaity,Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: **************
Contact Email: ******************************************************************
September 2, 2025
RE: ***** ****** -- 23810326
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Mr. ****** complaint to us. At Ancestry and Archives, we are committed to providing excellent customer service and hold our customerssatisfaction in the highest regard.
We are only able to locate one Archives account linked to the email address Mr. ****** provides which was only initiated in February of this year. As he has stated that charges go back several years, it appears that he may have initiated more than one account.
In this case, Mr. ****** initiated a 7-day trial of the Archives website and did not cancel his trial. Therefore, it rolled into a paid membership on February 26,2025.
As a courtesy to him, we have made an exception to our refund policy, and have issued 7 refunds in the amount of $9.99 each back to the account that was originally billed. The confirmation number for this transaction is *********.The access to the databases associated with this membership has been terminated effective immediately, and Mr. ****** will have no future billing from Archives.Please note that it can take between 3-5 business days for these funds to become available within their financial institution, depending on their refund policies and procedures.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us at **************.
Sincerely,
Kaity
Executive Response Team
AncestryInitial Complaint
Date:08/22/2025
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
The *** results were vague saying northern Europe including numerous countries, that area being home to every race on earth, I needed more info like where did the relatives originate from or their path to that area. Really not worth the 35$. As you won't learn much and now they have your most personal information.Business Response
Date: 08/25/2025
Title: Kaity, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: **************
Contact Email: ******************************************************************
August 25, 2025
RE: ****** ***** -- 23784459
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Mr. ****** complaint to us. At Ancestry, we are committed to providing excellent customer service and hold our customers satisfaction in the highest regard.
AncestryDNA provides a detailed ethnicity estimate by analyzing a customer's DNA and comparing it to our reference panel of over ****** individuals worldwide. The results are a breakdown of a person's family origins based on the percentages of DNA inherited from different regions. In this specific case, the ethnicity estimate shows a breakdown that includes:
******* and *******************
Germanic Europe
********, with further detail to the *********** and Scottish Highlands & ****************
*******
******
********
This level of detail is a result of our ongoing scientific advancements. While ethnicity estimates cannot pinpoint the exact village or town of origin for every ancestor, they offer a comprehensive overview of ancestral roots based on the percentages of DNA inherited from different regions. The science of inheritance is complex, and we are continuously working to expand our reference panel to provide the most accurate estimates possible.
For the price of his purchase, he is also provided with a list of his DNA matches which is updated regularly as more individuals test with us. As the science of estimating ancestral regions advances, our customers DNA results are also updated on a regular basis.
Regarding the customer's privacy concerns, ********************** takes the privacy of our customers very seriously. Customer trust is our top priority. We are committed to being a good ******* of Personal Information, handling it in a responsible manner, and securing it with administrative, technical,organizational, and physical safeguards. The Ancestry Privacy Statement gives a detailed outline of information we collect from our customers and how that information is used and protected for Mr. ******* review:******************************************************************;
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us at **************.
Sincerely,
Kaity
Executive Response Team
AncestryCustomer Answer
Date: 08/25/2025
Complaint: 23784459
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,
****** ***** My statement stands, their computer generated response is as expected , its still to unspecific, And I noticed in your response you admitted such. this is all you could come up withBut thanks you for the response. I need nothing further.
Initial Complaint
Date:08/20/2025
Type:Status:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
My husband and I have multiple family trees. For dozens of individuals in these trees, we utilize the LifeStory tab to provide detailed stories. It has taken us many hours to input all of this info. On Aug. 19, 2025, we noticed that in these LifeStory entries, Ancestry had removed all the spaces between paragraphs and replaced them with strings of random characters, making each LifeStory an unreadable mess. I logged off and back on. I rebooted my computer. Nothing fixed the problem. Their AI chatbot and chat person couldn’t help, but I was given a phone number to call. The woman I spoke to on Aug. 20, 2025 said that since we were the ones who had written each LifeStory, not Ancestry, it was our problem to fix, not theirs. She said we would need to go into each individual LifeStory and edit out all of the random characters that Ancestry had inserted! Between my husband’s account and my own, we probably have 50-75 LifeStory entries that would need to be edited. It would take us many hours to edit these to fix Ancestry’s glitch! I asked her to restore the accounts to where they were before this happened and she said they couldn’t do that. I know they can do it because many years ago the LifeStory entries totally disappeared and someone was able to restore them. Another problem I’m experiencing is that even though I am logged in as myself, with my profile photo showing, the chatbot and chat person were addressing me by my husband’s name because they said I was logged in as him! Something is definitely messed up on Ancestry’s end and I am very upset.Business Response
Date: 08/25/2025
Title: *****, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: **************
Contact Email: ******************************
August 25, 2025
RE: ****
******** -- ********
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Ms. ********’s complaint to us. At
Ancestry, we are committed to providing excellent customer service and hold our
customers’ satisfaction in the highest regard.
We sincerely regret any frustration which may have been
caused by the situation Ms. ******** describes. Our records show that her
account contains 10 family trees. Therefore, we need additional information to
review her complaint, including examples of the issue. She may assist us by contacting
us at ****************************** and providing the following information of any examples:
The family tree that is affected
The affected individual within that family tree
The URL if possible
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do
not hesitate to contact us at **************.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive Response Team
AncestryCustomer Answer
Date: 08/30/2025
Complaint: ********
I am rejecting this response because: Ancestry responded to my complaint and asked for additional information, which I promptly provided. They acknowledged receipt of the additional information and stated that this matter is in the queue to be looked at by their specialists, but they cannot give me an anticipated date for that to happen. Since my complaint has not yet been resolved, I must respectfully reject the company’s response at this time.
Sincerely,
**** ********Business Response
Date: 09/05/2025
Title: *****, Executive Office Response Team
Contact Phone: **************
Contact Email: ******************************
September 5, 2025
RE: **** ******** -- ********
To Whom It May Concern,
Thank you for forwarding Ms. ********’s response to us. We appreciate the
additional information she provided. As outlined in our recent email response
to her, the information was passed along for internal review. Additionally, we
confirmed that site errors are prioritized based on the number of affected users
as well as available resources. Because of this, we do not have an exact
timeframe for a resolution, however, we can confirm that any information
gathered by the chatbot will not affect the data displayed in the LifeStories
within her family trees.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to
contact us at **************.
Sincerely,
*****
Executive Response Team
Ancestry
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