# Ancestry dot com **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 15, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698 "2015-10-15T04:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/21 "2015-10-15T23:08:09Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That’s unpleasant! It makes me think I may have been lucky to have avoided the sons of bitches in the first place. Thank you for the warning! In fairness to Ancestry they offer much more than the Trees. Access to old newspapers, census and DAR records, and much more. If you’ve got the genealogy bug, Ancestry may be worthwhile. To economise just go on a long sleepless binge of searches and cancel the subscription when searches are delivering diminished returns (or when your partner or psychiatrist complains too much about the sleepless binges :eek: ). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/22 "2015-10-15T23:51:55Z")
What I don’t like about [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com) is that I could find no way to correct information that they had wrong. My maternal grandmother was given a completely different name. Without registering or paying them something I can’t correct the inaccuracy. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/23 "2015-10-16T00:19:40Z")
What **Baker** said. I did find some interesting information about my paternal side, but nothing on my maternal side that wasn’t in the family Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/24 "2015-10-16T07:05:11Z")
Can I pit Ancestry for something else? They are hoovering up one genealogical, biographical, or historical website after another; services which are now generally free. In many cases these services have remained free, but that doesn’t mean they’ll always continue that way. Ancestry has invested a lot of time in indexing census forms, and good on them for doing that. They deserve to be paid for the effort. But in the process, it seems have also cornered all online access of any kind to any census forms of 1790 - 1930. 1940, alone, is freely available on the Bureau’s website. I don’t expect to be able to do an indexed name search for free. But in cases when I know what tiny hamlet my ancestors lived in during 1900 or 1910, I thought by now I’d be able to find them on the census sheet for that community. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/25 "2015-10-16T07:12:55Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Can I pit Ancestry for something else? They are hoovering up one genealogical, biographical, or historical website after another; services which are now generally free. In many cases these services have remained free, but that doesn’t mean they’ll always continue that way. > > Ancestry has invested a lot of time in indexing census forms, and good on them for doing that. They deserve to be paid for the effort. But in the process, it seems have also cornered all online access of any kind to any census forms of 1790 - 1930. 1940, alone, is freely available on the Bureau’s website. > > I don’t expect to be able to do an indexed name search for free. But in cases when I know what tiny hamlet my ancestors lived in during 1900 or 1910, I thought by now I’d be able to find them on the census sheet for that community. Well the Mormons also grab as much free data as they can, and aren’t likely to change to a subscriber model, so Ancestry can’t become a full monopoly. And you could always convert to a different nationality. All Norwegian public record data is free. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/26 "2015-10-16T14:09:41Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What concerns me more is how difficult some places make it to cancel. Back in the early days when everyone was getting those “free” AOL disks, it was almost impossible to quit. > > Not that I ever signed up for AOL… I remember that. The fastest way was to cancel the card they had, then sue them when they tried to hassle you for non payment. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/27 "2015-10-16T14:33:19Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I must be shopping in the wrong grocery store as I’ve don’t recall ever seeing a sale sign that didn’t specify the brand, size, type and number allowed of any product being offered on sale. Granted, signs get moved by idiots sometimes but that’s not the stores fault. > > Reading is fundamental. Not when the print is small and at just at the sweet spot of too-close for the top of my bi-focals and too far for the bottom. Or the price simply isn’t there, which Illinois needs to crack down on, but with our budget deadlock Illinois isn’t cracking down on much. ---
**Author:** ![IDtenT\_Error](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@IDtenT\_Error](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IDtenT_Error)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/28 "2015-10-16T15:01:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What concerns me more is how difficult some places make it to cancel. Back in the early days when everyone was getting those “free” AOL disks, it was almost impossible to quit. > > Not that I ever signed up for AOL… Actually, it was really easy to quit. I always spammed the email address of the CEO from the account I wanted to cancel. It got cancelled within the hour. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/29 "2015-10-16T15:04:20Z")
> [@IDtenT\_Error](#): > > Actually, it was really easy to quit. I always spammed the email address of the CEO from the account I wanted to cancel. It got cancelled within the hour. Oh that’s a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/30 "2015-10-16T18:24:18Z")
I’m annoyed by come-ons for such as internet, phone service or cable where it says something like “$10 a month!”, then in teensy letters: “for the first 12 months”, but nowhere does it say what it costs after that. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/31 "2015-10-16T21:51:50Z")
There’s a fun one I hadn’t seen until I was debating signing up for Planet Fitness, at which point I discovered that their “ten bucks a month” price was actually **Only $10 per month!** Plus also more money than that Seems they also had a sign-up fee, an annual fee, and my favorite, an “oh, you want to actually _use_ the stuff we have?” upcharge of double the monthly price. It still would’ve come out a bit cheaper than my next-best option, but I went with the place with the non-scummy price structure (and given a lot of what I’ve heard about PF since then, I’m glad I did). I have to admit, though, it’s an intriguing business model. It seems to work gangbusters for PF, so I wonder why you don’t see more of it — the only comparable thing I think I’ve encountered is the “resort fee” on Vegas hotels. Makes me want to open a used car lot where I sell for 10 easy payments of just $25 a month (does not include $10,000 purchasing fee). ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/32 "2015-10-17T02:47:27Z")
So much easier in Iceland, there you can just download an app to find out if you’re about to bang a relative when you’re bar hopping. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/33 "2015-10-17T03:15:38Z")
My credit card lets me set up temporary credit card numbers that expire in a short time. I did that when I signed up for the free trial. While we are sharing [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com) stories, shortly after my mother died they started sending me emails exclaiming that they had found new information on one of my relatives which they would share with me for a fee. They were trying to sell me my mother’s obituary information. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/34 "2015-10-17T06:52:48Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I’m annoyed by come-ons for such as internet, phone service or cable where it says something like “$10 a month!”, then in teensy letters: “for the first 12 months”, but nowhere does it say what it costs after that. Also in teensy letters: that the $120 for the whole year has to be paid all at once. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/35 "2015-10-18T01:30:29Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > So much easier in Iceland, there you can just download an app to find out if you’re about to bang a relative when you’re bar hopping. Why would you even NEED an app for that _in Iceland_? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![IDtenT\_Error](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@IDtenT\_Error](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IDtenT_Error)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/36 "2015-10-18T02:37:09Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Oh that’s a good one. Steve Case didn’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/37 "2015-10-18T21:24:36Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Don’t almost all “free trials” on the Internet require credit card info? > > What annoy me are sites where there’s no indication that payment might ever be expected, and you’re asked for payment method only _after_ wasting a minute filling in a form. I was pretty annoyed to discover the Roku that I bought, in a store, required credit card info before it would allow me to use it, even for free channels or services that are paid for outside of Roku. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/38 "2015-10-18T22:08:26Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I must be shopping in the wrong grocery store as I’ve don’t recall ever seeing a sale sign that didn’t specify the brand, size, type and number allowed of any product being offered on sale. Granted, signs get moved by idiots sometimes but that’s not the stores fault. > > Reading is fundamental. Excellent vision may also be fundamental. Some stores (I’m kinda thinking it’s CVS in particular) have sale signs on nearly _everything_ that usually also say, at the bottom, in nearly microscopic font size, that it’s for store card members. Elsewhere, I’m often annoyed by shelves full of _very similar_ products, with sale signs or often even regular shelf price tags, where it’s hard to figure out exactly which shelf tags go with which product. The products aren’t always _exactly_ above their own price tags, and sometimes one needs to hunt around to find the right price tag. Then, the products are often described with some really obscure abbreviation on the tag, and the size/quantity is often cryptic, and the bar codes on the tag (if any) aren’t always the UPC codes (or last 5 digits thereof) that are on the product itself. Target is especially bad about this. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/39 "2016-06-10T09:05:58Z")
My sister asked me to look at her DNA match results at [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com) … and I’m reminded how much I hate that website. The DNA match results themselves are superb and almost amazing! They “survey a person’s entire genome at over 700,000 locations.” I’m not sure exactly what that means but they can find 4th and 5th-8th cousins. My sister’s DNA is matched to several thousands of other members who are Distant cousins, and many hundreds of 4th cousins. BUT. When my sister purchased the DNA test she was given a different account. Click anywhere interesting in the DNA results page and you get a request for $99. My sister has already paid the $99, but we have to log out and log-in with the different account to access those features. :smack: My sister has pointed this out to Ancestry several times, receiving promises to fix but it’s still the same years later. The two accounts use the same email, same credit card, etc. I’m sure people giving up and clicking away an extra $99 is part of their business plan. Of course even when you do click from the $99 account, you’re likely to be disappointed. “Family Tree” is a frequent click and results in an ungodly, almost unusable display that scrolls for miles off the screen in every direction into fields which are immune to any convenient control-C copy anyway. Am I missing something? If I hold down Ctrl, Shit and Alt while scratching my nose when clicking “Family Tree” is there a civilized ancestor table that will present instead of the ungodly mess? I started dabbling in Internet genealogy almost 20 years ago. Some of the early sites, e.g. Rootsweb, were obviously altruistic — genealogy lovers helping other genealogy lovers. The early sites have all been bought by Ancestry which has joined the real world in understanding that customer _ **in** _convenience is the path to profits. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698/40 "2016-06-10T09:15:57Z")
Why hasn’t she discontinued the account without the DNA results and switched to using the one with the results? She could share her DNA results with her other account and access most of the information available to the main account that has the DNA attached. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancestry-dot-com/734698.md?page=3)