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Archives

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Overview

Archives has a rating of 1.1 stars from 158 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Archives most frequently mention credit card, free trial, and customer service problems. Archives ranks 54th among History sites.

  • Service
    17
  • Value
    15
  • Shipping
    10
  • Returns
    12
  • Quality
    15
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
Positive
0
Neutral
0
Negative
3
7
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How would you rate Archives?
Top Positive Review

“Scott P”

Scott P.
1/21/13

Scott P. I cannot believe that every single person on this review page has something negative to say about archives.com. The only conclusion I can come up with is that the millions who have actually HAD a great experience with the site is just simply not saying so. This is now the second year I will be using the resource, and I just love what I've accomplished. I use it often and have been doing extensive research into 16 different lineages. I have been able to (with much patience) trace most of my ancestors back for 300 or more years. I'm sorry to hear how some have lost out. I love using this site. The only thing I have to complain about is that they do not have extensive background in continental Europe. Otherwise, I've really enjoyed the results.

Top Critical Review

“SCAM BEWARE”

Riley R.
3/19/24

This is a scam, they will give you 7 days, then auto charge your card, you have to call them to cancel no way to do it from your site, I was on the phone for a hour, to get a human. I will never use this again. They NOT REFUND YOU! I canceled in Feb over the phone, and then got charged again in March had to call again.

Reviews (158)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

credit card (34) customer service (20)
Thumbnail of user rileyr98
1 review
2 helpful votes
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March 19th, 2024

This is a scam, they will give you 7 days, then auto charge your card, you have to call them to cancel no way to do it from your site, I was on the phone for a hour, to get a human. I will never use this again. They NOT REFUND YOU! I canceled in Feb over the phone, and then got charged again in March had to call again.

Products used:
This is a newspaper search, which does not get any results.

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Value
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Thumbnail of user lindseyd205
1 review
4 helpful votes
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January 31st, 2024

Go straight to the necessary county for what you need, not this criminal source. Or you will be out $$$. We kept getting "reasons" for the delay of receiving the certificate requested. Those "reasons" were to buy Archives time to make it so I was unable to dispute the charge. As mine and your bank has a cut off time. I am out $$$ with no way of getting it back now.

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Thumbnail of user thaism11
1 review
2 helpful votes
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July 23rd, 2023

According to the Archives website, I should have all the 4 requested certified documents within 10-15 business days. But after more than a month, I am still waiting for them. What this company is doing is outrageous and completely outside the scope of what they promised for their customers. I paid in advance and when I complained over the phone, they didn't cancel my order or give me any compensation. It is absurd that a company like this continues to operate dealing with certified documents online, which should be a job of great responsibility and reliability, which Archives is far from being.

Tip for consumers:
I want to add that the customer service over the phone was useless, and also that the person who answered the phone started laughing at my complaint. I want to make sure that Archives will be well known as an unreliable company.

Products used:
For now, just one.

Thumbnail of user ninad27
1 review
14 helpful votes
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January 27th, 2017

This site is still taking payments from my Bank even though I cancelled(or believed I did) my free trial.
I want to apply for a refund of the money they have taken however when I attempt to sign in I get the message that they do not recognise my email address.
How on earth do I get through to these people?

Tip for consumers:
Steer Clear

Thumbnail of user patriciab3065
1 review
3 helpful votes
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January 15th, 2022

Started "trial subscription". Quickly realized poor decision. Tried to CANCEL by email and phone (reached Indian call center). Said they had no record of me. Charged my Paypal act 14 days later. Got paypal to cancel further charges. These folks are liars, scammers and cheats. AVOID them

Tip for consumers:
it is a total scam. it will offer you nothing and rip you off

Products used:
zero none nil nada

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Quality
Thumbnail of user scottp25
1 review
5 helpful votes
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January 21st, 2013

Scott P. I cannot believe that every single person on this review page has something negative to say about archives.com. The only conclusion I can come up with is that the millions who have actually HAD a great experience with the site is just simply not saying so. This is now the second year I will be using the resource, and I just love what I've accomplished. I use it often and have been doing extensive research into 16 different lineages. I have been able to (with much patience) trace most of my ancestors back for 300 or more years. I'm sorry to hear how some have lost out. I love using this site. The only thing I have to complain about is that they do not have extensive background in continental Europe. Otherwise, I've really enjoyed the results.

Thumbnail of user michaeld90
1 review
15 helpful votes
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May 30th, 2014

Why hasn't the appropriate attorney general arrested people in charge of Ancestry.com and Archives.com for fraud? What state are they located in? Will some of you above request an investigation? Please do so and help get thugs like this off the web.

Thumbnail of user eliotb7
5 reviews
39 helpful votes
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April 4th, 2014

Strongly recommend against using this service, including signing up for free short term membership, which I did.

Without my knowledge, they began charging $7.95 per month. When I began looking at my bank statement carefully, I asked them to cancel and give me a refund. They refused.

Thumbnail of user berniek23
3 reviews
34 helpful votes
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June 19th, 2017

This Archive.com scam is operated by Ancestry.com. Sir John Rogerson Quay. Dublin Ireland.
What ever they say they are the same conmen/women who operate both companies. I thought I had cancelled my subscription 12 months ago but on going through my statements I discovered to my dismay they are still taking £8.95 monthly payments from my account.
I believe my bank must be partly responsible for allowing this to happen and I will be taking it up with them today.

Thumbnail of user marlyd
2 reviews
12 helpful votes
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May 21st, 2016

I signed up for a free 14 day trial 8 days ago and cancelled today. The site is useless. I tested it with several names of people, both living and dead, who I know are on record in the U.S. and out of 7 or 8, I got one actual result. Also, if you do see something you want to check into, you have to open new accounts to view anything. It's such a scam! Now, when I went to cancel my account, it shows I signed up for a $9.99 monthly membership with a free 14 day trial. They better not try to charge me ANYTHING! Please tell everyone you know to avoid this scam site!

Thumbnail of user ianc174
1 review
11 helpful votes
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February 19th, 2019

I used the free trial in Nov/Dec 2017, I then cancelled the membership to which they gave me a cancellation date and number. I've recently found out that they have been withdrawing money from my credit card for over 12 months. When I've been in touch with both UK & Australian departments they acknowledge cancellation but want me to ring International to ask me what I have already supplied them by email. This mob are criminals and go out of their way to fob you off. Pay me the $200 you owe me you thieves!

Thumbnail of user judew4
1 review
28 helpful votes
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August 14th, 2014

I subscribed to Ancestry.com for a 6-month period for $49.95. I have a few months left and low and behold I was charged $39.95 for Archives.com... something I never signed up. I never checked out their services or their website, yet out of the blue, they hit my paypal account for the charges. Obviously Ancestry.com is linked into Archives.com and shares personal payment information. I will be opting out early from Ancestry and will not renew. Too bad really, they could be on the up-and-up and still make a fortune from people wanting to do research. And yes, I did check the box so that archives.com will get a copy of this review.

Thumbnail of user valeriel
1 review
6 helpful votes
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July 1st, 2013

Don't use - you'll find nothing at all when you search. You have to provide a charge card for your trial period, however you're "assured" if you cancel within 7 days, you won't get charged. I cancelled within 1 hour and not only did they still charge my card, they then charged me the following month as well. Luckily I used my American Express card and it was promptly removed from my account.

Thumbnail of user nataliea
3 reviews
5 helpful votes
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April 29th, 2012

I paid $10.00 for a 3 month membership through an online coupon. In my opinion archives.com are deceptive regarding the scope of information they have to offer. After 3 MINUTES I knew I had thrown away my money. Total waste.

Thumbnail of user kj175
1 review
15 helpful votes
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March 17th, 2016

I signed up for the "free 10 day trial" Within 10 minutes I realized that I could not find even the simplest most recent records. I cancelled the account. We'll see if I get charged. I emailed them on how to delete my account and here is there answer:
Thank you for contacting Archives.com in regard to deleting your account.

"We apologize for any confusion or frustration in this matter. For auditing and accounting purposes, we are unable to delete accounts from our systems."

They're site is not helpful and I suspect I will have to fight not to get charged for multiple months... STAY AWAY!

Thumbnail of user mikeb3088
1 review
1 helpful vote
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February 22nd, 2023

The site seems great, but really they have a very small database of data. If your search does not fall into line with one of their archives you'll get nothing. If you live in California you may have a decent experience, but they are missing so much data from most other states that there is a great chance that you won't get a good result. They give you a 14 day trial because they already know that most people will forget to cancel after 8 days statistically and they will get at least 10 bucks out of every person that visits the site. This adds up to millions in revenue for them and you will get nothing valuable out of it. This is a scam for sure.

Tip for consumers:
Don't use this site. There are other ways to get the information you need for free, but you may have to wait a little bit .

Products used:
Search

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Thumbnail of user kenp498
1 review
3 helpful votes
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March 11th, 2022

I signed up one day in February and immediately emailed to cancel subscription as the site had no useful information! They cancelled but in March took £8.95 out of my bank account and told me they could only refund $8.95 dollars and anything lost was currency exchange! It's not currency exchange when they're not even attempting to match the amount they took without permission in the first place!

Tip for consumers:
Get off it asap, don’t sign up and don’t give them your card details!

Products used:
None immediately asked to cancel subscription

Service
Value
Shipping
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Thumbnail of user royl39
1 review
11 helpful votes
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July 18th, 2016

I tried the free trial found nothing of use to me.and beware newspaper.com is a sister co. I got stuck with them deducting $74.90 from my bank account needless to say I am not very happy with this company. But hopefully a gentleman by the name of Justin can get this issue resolved.

Thumbnail of user saramanoff
1 review
1 helpful vote
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August 24th, 2023

No way to reach a live person. They take your money and will not cancel the service. DO NOT USE THEM. If I couldngive negative stars, I would. I did find a phone number after a while of searching *******442 is supposedly customer service. Be careful with info you give them please

Tip for consumers:
DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE FOR ANY REASON.

Products used:
Trying to find anything was a joke. Too much info and no real way to narrow it down. No live person to talk to and they just keep billing you. They will not cancel the service.

Thumbnail of user janetw14
19 reviews
92 helpful votes
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April 4th, 2014

For almost two years I have had a paid subscription. I agree that this site is a real scam! Not much info is available and now there's another huge issue. A few months ago I requested that my subscription be cancelled, i. E., not renewed again in May, so I don't know yet if they'll charge me for a renewal. Today when I try to access archives.com and their members.recordsbase.com, there is a message warning that the site's security certificate has EXPIRED! Now what? My subscription has not expired yet!

Thumbnail of user michaelm129
1 review
4 helpful votes
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March 22nd, 2013

Very deceptive. Leads you to believe with a click of the mouse you will be able to view documents like birth, marriage and death certificates that may be helpful in working on your family tree for a small monthly fee. In reality most of the information is not documents but rather data that you can get for "free" by just surfing the net.

Thumbnail of user leonardom54
1 review
1 helpful vote
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August 6th, 2018

I had a great experience with archives.com When I wanted to cancel I called them right up and they took good care of me. I use it often and have been doing extensive research into 16 different lineages. I have been able to (with much patience) trace most of my ancestors back for 300 or more years.

Thumbnail of user anak6
1 review
10 helpful votes
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February 13th, 2014

I signed up for the 7-day trial seeking to verify family information from elderly members. Was unable to find verification and could not find information on myself. Called the phone number for customer service within an hour to cancel and Matt said he would document my cancellation. Then a charge showed on my card. When I emailed the customer service they responded to say they show no record of me calling and I would be charged.

Thumbnail of user gaylew4
1 review
14 helpful votes
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February 24th, 2015

I gave them one star because that was the lowest possible score. It should be a ZERO! Everything everyone has written before me is TRUE! You can cancel if you follow all the confusing instructions but it is not clear or easy. You are led to believe you have indeed cancelled but the charges keep coming. Removing your billing info from the site won't keep them from continuing to bill you.

WHAT A SCAM!

Thumbnail of user sandyc28
1 review
24 helpful votes
  • Send Message
October 29th, 2014

BEWARE CONSUMERS! Archives.com is a company owned by Ancestry.com. Yes it has records you can review when doing genealogy research but you are limited to the amount of records available to you. Once you have reviewed the few records they offer on Archives.com they refer you to Ancestry.com for the thousands of records available. The catch is you have to pay for Ancestry.com as well. So instead of purchasing Archives.com on a monthly basis why not make the purchase to Ancestry.com for basically the same amount of money AND you get access to ALL the records. The owner of Ancestry.com and Archives.com, being the same person, is scamming you to get you to join both. Why? To add to his pocketbook. Consumers please don't fall for this scam.

Tip for consumers:
BEWARE CONSUMERS! THIS IS A SCAM!

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