Buying a DNA Kit on Ancestry as a gift

[Essnell]

Hi Ruskie and Phil57,

thanks both of you for replies. all good suggestioins.
Ruskie son in laws' parents are both deceased so nothing there to consider and the issues were there already.
There are suspicions which I was asked to try to sort but my info is even more difficult as it leads no where.  Finding the truth would, even if difficult, clear the air and needs to happen.

I think that the realisation that this test needs to be done for truthful answers has finally happened.

Daughter and I have had discussion and this is where she told me that he is now happy for the test and that I had suggested it for XMAS.

Now it transpires that Dau has suggested that I manage the Account and the DNA results as I am the one doing the research.  I am about to investigate that option and what it entails.
This appears to be a solution.  We need a central point of communication instead of half a dozen.
Here's hoping.
Essnell

[Ruskie]

Thanks for the clarification Essnell. It does sound like the time is right to be going ahead with this if all are agreed. Is son in law happy for you to manage his account?

Does son in law have any siblings who have an opinion on this?

I hope your son in law and his cousin get the answers they are looking for.

Please come back and let us know how you get on. 

Good luck.

[Lisa in California]

…Does son in law have any siblings who have an opinion on this?

Good point.  Without getting into details, I asked a couple of my relatives if we could share the information about the ancestor’s baby given up for adoption and their decision was to not disclose the adoption to other relatives (even though it happened in the 1800s). I respected their wishes and never told other family members.

If son-in-law does have siblings they may have strong feelings one way or another.

[Essnell]

Hi Ruskie and Lisa,

thankyou both for ideas.

He has one sibling and I have no idea about their involvement but most of the extended family have known for years so it just needs to be aired by all.
yes i hope so too.
 Just to make it all worse for me, I missed the special for 89 dollars and have had to buy at the usual 129 which has upset me no end. My computer has been woeful all day and I just gave up for a few hours and missed it.  The Ancestry site has simply been locking down and not responding.

   Essnell

 

[Cell]

Hi Ruskie and Lisa,

thankyou both for ideas.

He has one sibling and I have no idea about their involvement but most of the extended family have known for years so it just needs to be aired by all.
yes i hope so too.
 Just to make it all worse for me, I missed the special for 89 dollars and have had to buy at the usual 129 which has upset me no end. My computer has been woeful all day and I just gave up for a few hours and missed it.  The Ancestry site has simply been locking down and not responding.

   Essnell

Is this in Australia?(  as you mention $89 and $129  which our kits in Aus are normally these exact prices).
The $89  price is still  on.
It's  now called " The Festive Sale " and ends on the 28th of December.

Ancestry go from one sale to the next. More often than not  they have a $89 sale on.
It seems you may have been rather unlucky and purchased it just in between their Black Friday sales and their now  current Festive sale , which  was just a mere matter of a day or two apart between their two so called sales . ( ie it would have only been $129 for just a day or two after that  $89 sale ended and when the now current $89 sale  began)
Ugh! I'd  be  rather annoyed at that too.

If you ever  want to buy a another one again in  the future, never buy it when they are at that $ 129 full price as they are continuously having  their  sales . I bet they'll  probably have some type  of New year sale on the 1st Jan  ,when their Festive sale ends on the 28th Dec too, as they usually do.
Kind regards
Ps
Edited to add
Like  Ruskie has also said below.
I think it is probably worth getting in contact with them over the price you were charged. Explain that the site kept going down when you tried to purchase it at $89 , and now you see  that they have another sale on at $89 that is just a day or two after . They may refund you the difference.  It's worth a shot .

[Ruskie]

I would contact them to complain Essnell. Especially since it was their site playing up when you were attempting to purchase. And especially since they now have yet another sale on. They may/should refund the difference.

[Essnell]

I will try contacting them. Possibly by phone if I can get that number.
 I was asking on their chat bot for info and it just simply stopped working in mid conversation. Tried three times to no avail and that's when I gave it a rest.  It was late night here when I finally was able to at least purchase the kit which they have already shipped - about that 8 hrs later, early this morning Frid 2nd Dec Aussie time.

Yes a refund might help it was almost double by the time the tax and postage was added. 

Just to make it clear there is no issue between father and son. His father died a good many years ago.

The unknown about child was his mother's between marriages.  So  some heavy info there.

Yes I know it's up to him to decide and his wife, so I will just give him the kit nicely wrapped and take it from there.

Thanks all for your concern and input. 

I shall come back after Xmas and update how it all works out.

Essnell.

[Ruskie]

Not with Ancestry, but I’ve complained a couple of times about items purchased when immediately after purchase the item has gone on special before having a chance to use it, or before it arrived if it was ordered online.

You have nothing to lose by being a bit cheeky and telling them the issues you had on their chat which prevented you getting it at the reduced rate. It must grate as you then bought at full price, and now it is reduced again!

 I’d be trying to get some money refunded even if the kit has been sent (quick service though). 

How much extra was the postage on top of the price of the kit? I was considering ordering a kit around Christmas last year but there was some confusion about return postage, whether it was it free or included in the cost of the kit, does the sample go into a street post box, or do you need to take it to the post office, then there were no flights to Ireland, and online discussions about how to get round that ….. so I decided not to bother. Maybe this year. 

[phil57]

Ruskie, certainly for the UK return postage is included in the cost of the kit, and a pre-addressed and postage paid box for returning the sample comes in the kit. It can be posted in any post box. The sample is placed in a sealed bag inside the box. I haven't had any issues during the pandemic, apart from slightly longer processing times.

I did read on here I think, some time back, that due to some sort of disagreement or disruption by the Aus. postal service, Australians were having to pay return postage though.