Like others, we were taken in by the Ancestry.com "Free Trial" period promotion that automatically takes the "Free Trial" user into their expensive billing cycle. Of course, this is (conveniently for Ancestry.com) not clearly published, except in fine print that the company understands many people will not read closely.
I would like to suggest that even if such billing information were to be clearly published on the front page of their website (which would be very helpful to consumers) the business model would still constitute, in my opinion, a manner of doing business that is unethical and possibly illegal in different states or countries. This relates to charging a person for a service that could be clearly identified as not being used; and also making use of a credit card without the user's authorisation.
My understanding of how a business contract works is that there must be a transfer of goods or services in good faith, for any charges made to the consumer to be valid. If a service is never used beyond a trial period then I believe the user should not be charged, no matter what is concocted in the so-called company "terms and conditions". I would also like to see limits placed on Ancestry and similar companies that take automatic billing payments without checking with the card holders first. I would like to see this tested in court with Ancestry.com if they will not listen to the multitude of complaints against them. Perhaps also the public shaming of this company to take some responsibility for the way they do business will have the desired effect.
Toni Mehigan Reviews
Like others, we were taken in by the Ancestry.com "Free Trial" period promotion that automatically takes the "Free Trial" user into their expensive billing cycle. Of course, this is (conveniently for Ancestry.com) not clearly published, except in fine print that the company understands many people will not read closely.
I would like to suggest that even if such billing information were to be clearly published on the front page of their website (which would be very helpful to consumers) the business model would still constitute, in my opinion, a manner of doing business that is unethical and possibly illegal in different states or countries. This relates to charging a person for a service that could be clearly identified as not being used; and also making use of a credit card without the user's authorisation.
My understanding of how a business contract works is that there must be a transfer of goods or services in good faith, for any charges made to the consumer to be valid. If a service is never used beyond a trial period then I believe the user should not be charged, no matter what is concocted in the so-called company "terms and conditions". I would also like to see limits placed on Ancestry and similar companies that take automatic billing payments without checking with the card holders first. I would like to see this tested in court with Ancestry.com if they will not listen to the multitude of complaints against them. Perhaps also the public shaming of this company to take some responsibility for the way they do business will have the desired effect.