Ancestry Reviews

Very hard to navigate subscription cancellation on a phone. Cancelled and charged anyway. “Free trial”. Call India and they won’t remove the charge. How far are we going to let these companies go with their trial subscription scams and data theft?

I purchased a DNA kit from Ancestry and they received the sample on January 16. I am still waiting on the results. When checking the website for the status of ny DNA it says "Delayed". I tried calling the 800 number today 1-800-401-3193 and of course no one answers. I tried using Ancestry's AI Bot called "Leaf" and the only answer it keeps repeating is due to high volume and weather related issues there is a delay in processing DNA. Their subscription rates are high and if you cancel early there can be a 25.00 dollar forfeiture of the subscription rate. Their website tells you about creating a tree for free and then it wants you to subscribe in order to view hints or specific info. These are usually sent in marketing emails.

I paid for the DNA directly through Ancestry. I quickly did it and sent it back. First issue. I had to register the kit twice. Next issue is they gave me a completion date, which changed 3 times. Now there is no completion date. I paid them for a service they failed to provide, because they are too busy comparing my DNA to unsolved criminal cases. What a fraudulent company and a criminal corrupt company.

I just wanted to get the DNA done. I got a trial membership as well. Ancestry began processing on Jan 9. Results are still not in yet. Here's what they tell me: "Results pending. Due to high volume, your results are taking longer than expected. We're still on track to process your results soon, and we'll let you know when they're ready." So wait, How long have they been doing this? They don't know how to adjust their staffing level to deliver their product? So I start to get the feeling that it's being drawn out to eat up time while my trial subscription runs out. Lo and behold! I just got the email that my trial is up in about 10 days. That really breaks my confidence in the company.

Enrolled in an Ancestry free trial and later canceled shortly after the trial period ended. I was charged a $25 cancellation fee plus tax. I personally did not see clear and conspicuous disclosure during sign-up that a separate cancellation fee would be imposed. In my experience, when a free trial converts, the expectation is that you are charged for the subscription period, not assessed an additional cancellation penalty. Others may wish to review the full terms carefully and confirm all potential fees before enrolling in a free trial.

Unfortunately I was not a fan of this. At every level of any new information, I was told to pay for a new charge. My husband gave me this kit as a Christmas gift.

Used to love it until they barred paying members from using their RESEARCH databases to identify John and Jane Does and homicide cases, as well as MILITARY repatriations. Absolutely disgusting.

DO NOT subscribe. Their site is a fraud and it will not let you unsubscribe without calling them and they will charge a 25.00 unsubscribe fee even if you unsubscribe in the time allotted. I will NEVER engage with this shady site again!!

Awful service and don't even provide a product. Lied about me not having registered a kit despite the app saying that I had registered one. Lied about receiving the kit, despite the confirmation from the carrier, and wanted to charge me the delivery fee before they could provide a refund.

The site itself can be useful, however, beware of their deceptive "cancellation" process. Twice, I thought I had cancelled my subscription only to find out that they continued to bill me. When I (finally) got a telephone contact, the person admitted that their cancellation process is a 3-step process that many people think they have cancelled when actually they have not. Very deceptive business practice. I will never do business with Ancestry again, or recommend them to anyone. Just an aside: their website will not allow me to delete my credit card information.

Canceled my subscription only to find out they charge you $50 to cancel. That is a bunch of b______t if you ask me. Single mom who can't afford money coming out of my account without knowledge.

I had to PAY $25 to cancel an active membership. Will never use them again. When trying to cancel the membership, which I thought I did before, was asked why I was canceling. I selected the option of too expensive. Their solution - instead of paying $21.99 a month, they offered me $24 a month.

I am extremely disappointed with my experience using Ancestry. Over six weeks ago, I ordered a DNA kit for $109, received it, and mailed it back as instructed. After waiting well beyond the expected timeframe and repeatedly calling customer support because my results were never loading or showing progress, I was finally told today that my kit was “canceled.” The problem? I was never notified of any cancellation, never received my results, and never received a refund.

Do not do business with Ancestry! You can cancel your subscriptions online and they will still charge you. If you try and cancel again after being charged after your initial cancellation it will only open a blank page. You have to talk with someone to cancel and they will not refund you stating they can’t because it’s a “renewal“. It’s just a scam to try and keep charging you. I recommend you use a different company and make sure they do NOT have any affiliations with Ancestry.

I love Ancestry.com. I've been a member on and off for many years now and have collected a lot of interesting information about my family, and I have a lot more to still discover. I just have one small issue with payment options. I am not always able to purchase a membership every month, and I get Visa gift cards for Christmas or my birthday, and I would love to be able to just use the gift card rather than use my bank card, then having to use the gift card for groceries. My understanding is this: they need the card to recharge for the next month's automatic payment, and a gift card generally doesn't have enough money on it for that. My suggestion to them is add a payment option that, if using a Visa gift card, then a second card (a bank card) needs to be added, so that they can then charge that card for the next automatic payment.

Order a kit from Ancestry still waiting for the kit. Talked to customer support yesterday, was easier to talk to my 2-year-old. Tried to chat with a support person, you need to get through the AI chat, then get told we are closed. If we ever get this package I WILL NOT ORDER OR DO ANYTHING with this site.

Do I think it's a scam because both my parents did the DNA test and I have DNA from places they don't have. And the results keep changing, adding new heritages and percentages. It's changed like 5 times for me alone

What I find disturbing is I filled in both parents' names, their parents, aunts, uncles and got a response no such persons.. but for more money and a expensive membership they would look further.. Funny how more money would have found myself and my ancestors.. Shame on you..

Company is a complete scam, took my money and immediately ignored me. Tried to get a hold of them every single day for a week to cancel sale and they completely ignored me. Never sent me any items whatsoever after over a week. They denied my canceling and shipped item anyways late, refused to speak to me, no product, no customer service, stole my money. Avoid at all cost.

Ancestry.com has resorted to baiting customers for a "free trial" and then charging not just a $25 subscription for a month if you happen to forget and slip past the trial period before you cancel, but then when you cancel, they auto bill you for another $25 cancellation fee!! $50 for checking their site out for 5 minutes! No integrity in this business! Profiting off of the unsuspecting customers. Avoid their free trial bait. Don't do business with companies that find more ways to suck you in while they rake in your hard earned money!

Ancestry.com repopulates billing information fields in the account after cancellation and after manual removal. Months pass without charge then erroneous charges are made. Ancestry will wait 90 days to resolve refund. Very poor customer service.

I was sent a reminder on October 21, 2025 that my membership would renew on November 21, 2025. I know my plan was to cancel or put my membership on hold. Unfortunately I did not keep records of that and a month later my account was automatically renewed. Do you think that maybe on November 15 or something close to my renewal date that I could have been sent an email reminding me of this? I think a month is too long for a reminder. I find this unacceptable and unfair business practice, especially for seniors who struggle to keep up with things like this. I will no longer be using Ancestry and will never recommend it to anyone. Sad practice.

It is like they don't want your money and they make everything hard for no reason. Like customers are horrible people, I guess? Their membership program is a nightmare. Pray you never have to contact their support in any way.

Ancestry is scamming old users out of their own work or what they already paid for. I spend over a decade filling gaps that Ancestry could not! I found my ancestry back to the year 0! All those great-grandparents' link now have been removed and hidden behind a paywall. Ancestry didn't do the work, I did. And I paid many times to add to those files. I gifted them the work of hundreds of family lines that their US-centric records refused to complete. Now, I can't find my ancestors through my tree: many are cut short or their relation to me removed. I used to come back and pay for a few months to help add, and this is what I got for it. DO NOT PAY ANCESTRY a dollar!!! They are charging you to do the work and then steal it!

I made the mistake of upgrading my subscription to PRO. At first, it was so satisfying to edit duplicates and to delete extraneous people. Several months later, I am STILL merging the SAME duplicates, day after day. I am STILL deleting the SAME non-relatives, day after day.

This site used to be a great family tree site. Now it's next to impossible to find marriage records... birth records. The price to navigate the mud puddle of sites is stupidly high. Really disappointed because this used to be the go to for family tree building. The records are incomplete.. redacted, and the whole thing feels scammy. Knock it off Ancestry.

They're good on data from well back. The charges they make every month and then if you cancel your membership they charge you $25.99. It’s not worth $21.99 a month than cancellation. They are out of their minds if people can afford that.

Please be mindful of Ancestry.com's less than moral business practices in regard to billing and cancelation fees. This is an organization that has "early termination" fees in their terms and conditions. These fees are in the $30 USD range. Be mindful of their interface as it is designed to promote unintended purchases.

They are a money pit. Don't get this service. They will charge a fortune to get to see your grandma picture. I think this service is just for business. I paid and I sent my swap test to get my zone results, and after that, I was unable to see anything in their website. They are money ridden as its best. They want me to pay More and More and More, and More and More.