Weird problem with Ancestry membership … anyone else?

[AnnieBard]

I received an Ancestry email this morning saying they’d failed to take a payment and to update my card information online. I did this but to no avail … I just see an error message which says the update has failed and to try again later. So I called the Ancestry helpline and they have tried all three of my credit cards at their end and they get the same error message every time. The lass I spoke to suggested we check the cards with the respective banks but having confirmed there is no problem with any of them the same error message appears. Trying to persuade the person I was talking to that the problem was at the Ancestry end was impossible. As of now she has cancelled the account and I can’t reinstate it online. Apart from the bit where I’m livid I’m somewhat at a loss as to what to do next and would welcome any suggestions.

[Gadget]

Are you sure that the e-mail and person you spoke to was from Ancestry?

[AnnieBard]

Are you sure that the e-mail and person you spoke to was from Ancestry?

The email, not 100%, although it certainly appears legit … but of course the possibility of a scam was there from the get go so I was trying to update my card via my Ancestry account info online on the website and I telephoned the number the Ancestry website’s helpbot gave me, a number which tallied with the one generally available online. I didn’t click on any links etc. etc. etc. so I have no reason to think there was an issue.

[bikermickau]

Call Ancestry again and if the person can't/won't help then ask to speak to their supervisor.

I don't think your account should have been cancelled!

Mick

[AnnieBard]

Call Ancestry again and if the person can't/won't help then ask to speak to their supervisor.

I don't think your account should have been cancelled!

Mick

Thanks Mick, and I agree, it just all seems really odd to me

[AnnieBard]

I just wanted to add that I have now been able to, in Ancestry’s terminology, upgrade my cancelled account  … it’s now back to being a Full Access account, just as it has been for years. I still can’t update payment card information on my profile but I have been able to set up payments using PayPal. The person I spoke to earlier told me that this was not an option when I suggested to her that it might be a solution and instead cancelled my account because she couldn’t fix the card payments glitch. Ironically the cancellation was what brought up the PayPal option. That said, beware the Ancestry telephone helpline!

I really would be interested to know if anyone else has had similar issues … I’m struggling to believe just one account would be affected by this, it feels like a software glitch at Ancestry’s end to me.

[PatLac]

Something similar happened to me and I assumed it was because my card was a debit card, but according to the helpline person, the bank was not accepting the credit card option, when I clearly had checked the debit option. I talked to the bank and they said there was no payment request from Ancestry, debit or credit card. What I have found out later on is that the card payment options vary depending on the country and that only PayPal works in all countries.