www.ancestry.co.uk Reviews

Click here if this is your business
www.ancestry.co.uk
★★★☆☆
2.6
47.0% of users recommend this
Click here if this is your business
  • Value For Money

? Ask our helpful community of experts about this product or company
www.ancestry.co.uk - Ask a question now

Media Gallery for www.ancestry.co.uk

Refine your search

  • Average Rating Over Time
  • Within the last month ***** (From 0 reviews)
  • Within the last 6 months *** (From 0 reviews)
  • Within the last 12 months * (From 0 reviews)

Latest Reviews

“Auto renew with no cooling off period”

★☆☆☆☆

written by wolfram007 on 16/05/2022

Ancestry have stiched me up. They have auto-renewed membership and are refusing to refund even a day after payment taken. No cooling-off period. Customer Service could not care less. Very shabby during this cost of living crisis. This is hardly an essential spend.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 3 0

“No warning of auto renewal.”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Goodwin86 on 26/01/2022

Be very careful when using this service. The very moment you stop using it you must stop your auto renewal. They take the money from your account with no warning email. I know of no other service which does this. 

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 3 0

“Subscription Confidence trick”

★★★☆☆

written by ColinJames101 on 24/06/2021

You can sign up for a free trial but your credit card will be charged as soon as they can get away with it. And forget getting a refund you will waste more time in an attempt and grt nowhere. In my case I tried to get the useless Royal Bank of Scotland to cancel an impending payment they said I had to wait till the sum was taken from my account before I could report it. having done this I was told to get the company Ancestry to refund the money and the Royal Bank of Scotland could not help ( this took 43 minutes on the phone) Give Ancestry a miss Cheers

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 1 0

“They took £99 from my bank account for a membership...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by joaichroth on 03/01/2020

They took £99 from my bank account for a membership that I did not want to renew, what I spotted the debit a week later I asked for a refund, No they said. So they tool my money without permission and won't give it back!!

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 4 0

“Avoid if most of your ancestors are Scottish”

★★☆☆☆

written by 354Robinson on 02/01/2018

The blurb says that Ancestry.co.uk gives access to all UK births, marriages and deaths records. This is simply not true. Scotland is part of the UK, but the site does not have full records from Scotland. All my family are from Scotland. I can only find a fraction of them on Ancestry, but when I use Scotlandspeople.gov.uk I can find most of them very easily.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 7 0

“ DO NOT USE”

★☆☆☆☆

written by OanaJoan on 01/11/2017

I initially signed up to the free trial and was excited to find out about my ancestry. However, I soon realised it was no use to me because I'm a Romanian national (and only then did I discover this...) Then, I never received my 'free' trial payment back and my subscription was auto-renewed, which I then cancelled. I emailed and requested a refund, however they simply pointed me to their terms and conditions and told me I couldn't have one. As a student, I feel stolen from, to be honest. Their auto-renewal is very sneaky. I definitely WOULD NOT recommend to anyone.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 3 0

“This company should be investigated by the police.”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 08/03/2017

I decided to cancel my £24.99p monthly subscription just after Xmas and done so on line. As soon as I pressed the cancel tab a message appeared telling me if I would reconsider cancelling they would offer me a free period until the end of May. I accepted the free offer but discovered a few days ago they had continued taking the monthly payment of £24.99p from my account. When I phoned asking for a refund they insisted they had no record of me cancelling and said they did not give refunds as I must have pressed the wrong button. I knew that was a barefaced lie because the offer of a free period is only generated if you press the cancellation tab. I am going to try and get in contact with some organisation that will investigate those people and close them down for good. I notice there are hundreds of complaints about them all over the internet. Something has to be done to put them out of business

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 1 0

“COULD NOT EVEN PURCHASE ONLINE AS SYSTEM DIDN'T WORK”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 17/12/2016

Tried to purchase 6 month gift subscription online via my computer and when that didn't work I tried my iPhone. Finally I rang them directly and the person I was speaking to had me on the phone for 15 minutes doing something that in the end wasn't even what I asked for. I quickly realised she wasn't even aware of the gift product Ancestry was offering! I hung up and now I'm going to find another present to give. Ancestry has lost out and left a horrible taste in my mouth before I have even gotten to try the service or give it to someone else!

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0

“Transcription Errors”

★★☆☆☆

written by KadenTerry235 on 11/10/2016

I have been a member of Ancestry UK for nearly ten years on and off. Over the years I have become increasingly frustrated by the many thousands of transcription errors. These errors have led me down blind alleys many many times now. It took me several years to find one ancestor in the 1881 cen because the family name "Tite" had been transcribed as"Yates". When you consider that from my own experience I have seen at least one error on nearly every page I've ever looked at. This includes 1841 to 1901 cen as well as parish record's,there must be thousands of very frustrated genealogists at this point. As far as I can see,Ancestry is NOT providing the service that it says it does. Unfortunately this situation is only going to be resolved by a complete review of all documents(Millions). So I wouldn't hold your breath for that.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0

“Shoddy service”

★☆☆☆☆

written by keni010 on 06/10/2016

Re. Ancestry.co.uk Bought a Pay per view today in desperation trying to find a family member,..... (DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS SHODDY OUTFIT!... & DON'T BUY ANY OTHER SUBSCRIPTION WITH THIS UNPROFESSIONAL LOT, THESE PEOPLE ARE conning us, THEY TAKE YOUR MONEY AS QUICK AS YOU LIKE AND THEN WHEN THINGS GO WRONG THEY WASH THEIR HANDS OF YOU, I AM ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS, PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS, THEIR AFTER SALES SERVICE IS NONEXISTENT!.)..... the first viewing worked ok and merely confirmed what I had, the next one I clicked on, nothing happened so I thought, oh well, I'd try again and accept the single wasted credit. Nothing happened again.... so I wrote an email explaining what had happened or hadn't I should say, and got a reply within the hour saying in their opening line that they were sorry etc. and they would help me with this issue. I was relieved to read this. The very next line in that email said they were unable to reimburse a, (i.e. one) credit and advised that I clear my cookie cache implying that the fault was with me and not with their clearly useless programme. My email clearly stated that I had lost 2 credits and not ONE so they obviously don't read emails thoroughly before responding to any complainant, they clearly treat us with contempt because we complain at their inadequacies instead of addressing the issue . Tomorrow I am contacting Trading Standards and shall continue to pursue this until I am reimbursed, trust me, I'll spend as much time as it takes. MY ADVICE IS STICK TO A SITE CALLED, "thegenealogist.co.uk" it's an excellent site and they are really helpful. Also, to build a family tree use, "My Heritage", Their FAMILY TREE BOOK is brilliant where you can see everyone in the tree, I have over 3000 people in mine and the book has photo's as well as many different headings, dates, places, biographies etc. etc. mine has about 700 pages.....much better than any chart where you can only see 100 or less people. My friend transferred his tree via a gedcom file from Ancestry to My Heritage because of this and he's glad he did. The reason, incidentally, that I tried a pay per view is that I am stuck on a particular relative. I looked again after the two lost credits and Ancestry.Ripoff.uk didn't have what I wanted anyway. I shall be posting again after speaking with Trading Standards tomorrow. Please stay tuned!... I WILL be letting you know on this site what Trading Standards has to say.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.

Keni010's Response to keni010's Review

Written on: 06/10/2016

6/10/16..... Ancestry have realised they were wrong and have reimbused the 2 credits. My fury has subsided!

Reply to this comment
If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 1 0

“No stars - no customer service!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Riley410 on 27/08/2016

I was cajollled into setting this up for my son to use through the summer? BIG MISTAKE! This is a liability - takes your credit card details, then it is impossible to cancel your trial subscription. Phone number doesnt connect. Online log in says details invalid when certain they are correct. The service may be useful for genealagists, but the financial side is little short of dishonest. I cannot recommend at all as I have no trust in them charging appropriately or being contactable to deal with problems. Avoid, avoid! Is this day and age, this kind of site should be taken down in my opinion.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 2 0

“Don't trust Anc stry”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 25/07/2016

I joined up fot a free trial and cancelled two day's later having realised it was not for me (for a number of reasons ( including useless and incorrect 'hints'). I went through the cacellation process EXACTLY following the Ancestry procedure. This prompted a red box saying that i could continue to use the site as a guest. I assumed that was that until 10 day's later I noticed that an amount of money, representing a monthly instalment, had been taken from my bank account. I phoned Ancestry to be told that my "cancellation had not processed". I was also told that had the cancellation gone through I should have received an email with a 'cancellation number". I made the point that as I did not know I was supposed to get this then I would not be alerted when it did not arrive!! I also made the point that I had checked my Ancestry account before calling and there was no "cancel subscription" box on my account page which, according to Ancestry means that thereis no live subscription no that account!!! Maybe because i had cancellled???i was then toldo that no refund was posible. To get rid of the hassle I have written-off the money taken. Beware - exactly this has happened to many others on various review sites.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0

“Stay aware from them”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Reynaa380 on 05/04/2016

Fairy user friendly but its very limited in finding people and double checking. I or my mum don't even exist. Cancelled subscription however was charged in full again, ancestory not helpful when called.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 1 0

“Rubbish Site”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Boctomp on 27/03/2016

This site couldn't even find my birth details so a complete waste of time.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 1 0

“New website is dreadful”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 27/01/2016

The new website layout is awful to use and feels as though it has been designed by children for children - what used to be a really enjoyable way to spend my time has now turned into a chore. I hardly log in to Ancestry now and have cancelled my annual membership which I had held for many years. Very sad that one of my favourite things to do has been ruined by Ancestry.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.

Pamelaparkinson's Comment

Written on: 23/03/2016

I totally agree with you. I feel that all my enjoyment on the website has been taken away, I feel that I don't want to go on it now and will not be renewing my contract with them. That dark grey screen drives me crazy and finding information doesn't seem to have any logic to it! I like you really enjoyed the old site.................... Bring it back.

Reply to this comment
If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 1 0

“Clunky, cluttered and unresponsive new site for Ancestry”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 26/01/2016

I absolutely hate the new Ancestry site. I have been an Ancester member for 10 relatively problem free years until the new site was introduced. Having had a trial run of the new format and becoming extremely frustrated with it, I reverted back to the old format, until I was informed that I had no choice as the old format was no longer available. The new site is very slow, I've given up attempting to move from one individual to another on the tree page as nothing moves, and I find individual profiles far too cluttered - it's bad enough having the details of an individual's relative on a person's profile, without having to contend with an historical time line also (although I am aware this can be removed). The tree colours are dreadful, and for some reason my recent contacts are now never available. I could go on, there are so many things which I dislike about the new site. It's not that I'm averse to change, but users pay a lot of money through their subscriptions and expect better. Unless things improve considerably, I shall certainly not be renewing mine.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0

“Awful”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Freemanxn91 on 23/12/2015

New layout is appaling. This was a serious genealogical site. Now it's just bells nd whistles for the dabbler who will use it a couple of times, then forget it. It' like gym membership: get your money and move on to the next sucker.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0

“taking money from my bank account in my dead fathers name”

★☆☆☆☆

written by Clarke496 on 04/12/2015

I am absolutely amazed at this company. I ordered a birth cert of my father only to find out that this company has been taking out payments for the last 6 months. I rang twice to cancel two days after I had apparently joined. I was told I was not on their website so not to worry as they wouldn't be able to bill me. Now I find you have been doing it in my fathers name who is very dead, with my bank details but I was only offered one months payment back and basically tough you cannot have any more.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0

“Plusses and minusses of new format”

★★★★☆

written by davidland43 on 27/11/2015

New format = plus for clarity of the timeline and the inclusion of major life events for close family members. Minus (strong) for changing placenames from what they were at the time of events to present day, no doubt 'politically correct' names. A really bad example is translating Sebastopol in Russia in the Crimean War to the Ukraine. Thoroughly irritating is Ceylon, at the time of the Indian Mutiny, to 'Western Sri Lanka'. 

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0

“The photo gallery is not easy to use and placing a...”

★★★☆☆

written by 142Lloyd on 29/10/2015

The photo gallery is not easy to use and placing a photo to a person is not easy. I have searched for a known relative in the electoral rolls with no result with exact name and location, however I had another account with a cometitor of Ancestry UK and found the person and downloaded a copy of electoral roll in the eaarly 1900's

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0

Our helpful community of likeminded people will be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Before posting your question please check to see that it has not already been asked.

Thanks for asking a question.

Once we've checked over your question we will put it live on the site and our strong community of experts will hopefully give you some great answers that you find useful.

We will email you when the question is on the site

Asked by jill15l on 25th January 2015 Report this content
If I join Ancestry can I find out information about my grandfather who was in World War 1? How long he enlisted and also what address he was living at when he left the service?

Thanks for answering this question.

Once we've checked over your answer we will put it live on the site so others can gain from your experience. We rely on members like you to sustain our vibrant community so thanks again, we couldn't do it without you.

We will email your when your answer is on the site

Answers (3)
Report this content DEREKLJ Written on: 26/01/2015
You can find information on your grandfather where he lived ETC, and if you delve deep enough you can even go further back, so give it a go. As far as I know, you can try ancestry.com as a trial.
Report this content LesDx Written on: 27/01/2015
Hi Jill. Just to add my two ha'p'orth ... the more you know about your relative before you start, the more chance of getting the exact information you need. It's highly probable there will be more than one person with the name. Do you know his date of birth? Do you know if he married and his wife's maiden name? Do you know the names of their children? This sort of information might have been on his service record. If he died in action, the Commonwealth Graves Commision may have the location of his burial place. If he lived around London, the Electoral Registers are available which would show his residence at various times. But be careful! Once you start, there will be no stopping you! Good Luck....LesD.
Report this content gxmartinbaker Written on: 27/01/2015
I agree with LexDx answer - the more you know, the better your chances. If your Grandfather had an uncommon name or a middle name this may help. Having an idea of his year or date of birth might help. Any info you have about sort of Forces unit he was with will certainly help, eg was he army, navy, merchant navy or RFC/RAF ? If he was army then what regiment or corps was he in, and what rank ? Ancestry often offer 14 days free trials, and some Libraries offer free access to Ancestry. But Ancestry may not be your best answer. If you are lucky the Medal Rolls at The National Archive (TNA) may give you the answers - this is accessible online, and some info is free, or his war record (if available) or other records may incur a small cost. Find My Past is also another good option and their data is often more reliable than Ancestry. Good luck.
See All Answers
overview