I purchased two Ancestry kits from a seller with excellent feedback. The price was excellent--less than half of what Ancestry.com sells them for. I was skeptical, but I looked at their feedback. I also Googled "buying Ancestry kits on Ebay". I also scoured the Ancestry.com website for "warnings" and threads. I found nothing, so I went ahead and purchased them. They arrived, on time and sealed. I opened the kits and proceeded to create my accounts on the Ancestry website. I entered my activation code, but received an error message. Not the type of error message I would have expected with a bogus product. Instead, the error message said something like "Oops. Some data isn't loading. Some things may be missing on the page. Try again later". I tried different computers, different browsers, I tried Googling this error, etc. I called Ancestry's Customer Service and they immediately shut me down when they learned that my kits were purchased on Ebay. They told me that they do NOT support kits purchased outside of their website or Amazon--the only other authorized reseller. They would not help me at all. One customer service rep went so far as to imply that my seller was a "scammer" who purchased his kits from them, then cancelled their order to receive a refund, and then re-sold me their kits. Makes no sense. Anyway, I have requested a refund from the seller for defective kits. I am awaiting his response. But this brings me to my questions:
1. Has anyone else had this issue with the activation codes? I really wish they would work.
2. Why are there no message threads about Ancestry not supporting kits bought on Ebay? If I was scammed, why wasn't there a warning somewhere out there? Ebay is full of threads warning folks about fake jewelry, fake fashions, etc.
Bottom Line: Ancestry will NOT give you customer support on any kits purchased on Ebay. You've been warned.
