Legacy Tree GenealogistsReviews of legacytree.com

I paid over 5k for services and basically got a copy paste of everything I already had in my private ancestry profile. It took months to get that information, the pretty small filled narrative of information I already knew. The plus side, was the discovery of my blood ancestors through my self-paid DNA test. My friend asked for recommendations from me on their work and I honestly couldn't. I gave her the info I am giving you now.

The goal I submitted to LTG was to find my bloodline via DNA. That goal was approved on 6 Feb 2024 and LTG processed my payment of $2,950.00. By April 2024 my project had reached the top of the queue and I was contacted by an LTG project manager, but as we corresponded I was redirected, coached, and pressured into addressing totally different issues rather than moving forward with my goal. LTG staff knew I was clearly conflicted, but told me that research staff had time constraints. With chemo brain, illness, and exhaustion, I succumbed to their terms—in my opinion—clearly under duress. I received a final report 28 June 2024. LTG had added documents to my online family tree using 30 year old public research sources already available to me and anyone else. After LTG had usurped research hours I'd paid for, I was told that the information posted could be deleted by anyone. Had LTG disclosed that little tidbit of information beforehand I would have canceled the project before any research hours were used. Most disturbing was LTGs end of report recommendation: that I continue research with LTG and use the DNA route in order to establish bloodline…the very goal I submitted at the get-go that LTG had refused to honor. I asked for a full, then partial refund due to LTGs misguidance and pressuring me to accept staff’s suggestions. LTG refused to refund any portion of my $2,950.00. LTG methods in redirecting my goals, not disclosing specifics of research hours, providing email communication spattered with twisted truths, leaving a multitude of spelling and typographical errors in the final report, providing reformatted sources already available to anyone online, etc.—in my opinion—points to LTG being focused more on profit making than meeting clients’ goals. Legacy Tree Genealogists states that it is protected with its “no guarantee” clause, and although staffers were cordial, I was not a valued client. My approved goal was dismissed and LTG profited from my vulnerability.

Sadly we were really disappointed at the support and result we received from legacy Tree Genealogists. We were really keen to understand more about my wife’s Italian heritage which sadly did not pass though as her mum sadly died early in her life. We hoped using legacy tree that they could help us but we were so disappointed. Paying around US$5000 and giving some what we thought was a good project brief and upfront information we hoped with little expectation to have something back to pass down to our children . Sadly the project took much longer than expected with requests for further funds for expenses to get someone onsite for one side of the family before even considering what we had asked for and then adding more for that. We raised the project with legacy tree in Feb/Mar 2023 with some preliminary desk work being completed by them then with local help needed . We had to wait until November for this ( although to be fair they did say they could possibly get someone they had found to look a month or so earlier but we decided to wait to get their first choice local researcher to review . All in all not a great experience and only 50% of family tree review we hoped an thought paid for ( due to further fees requested we asked them to just focus on my wife’s fathers side) final bound document disappointing with out of focus documents and no real idea even where my wife’s parents lived in Rome in The 30s despite lots of official documents that sadly we cannot personally translate . We were hoping to use legacy tree again for my Irish family tree. We won’t

I debated on writing this review. I wanted to desperately to be one of these other glowing reviews, as this was actually one of the elements I considered when first engaging LegacyTree. However, if I were a prospective customer, I would want to know about this experience, thus, I will leave my review below. This has already been provided to the company and I spoke with a manager, but it is what it is at this point. I expect they might reply, but the emotional damage is done. Beginning: When I engaged with the sales representative, she did a fantastic job at explaining the packages and getting me excited. For context, this research project was a birthday gift to myself as I now live in the UK and wanted to go on a genealogy trip to find my ancestors. I purchased the “Standard50” package to research 2 goals. It is worth noting that a large amount of ancestry prework had been done along with DNA to help get the process started. Becoming a customer: Once I signed and paid, this is where my experience started to deteriorate. In terms of Project Management (PM), Legacy Tree makes it clear that PM time is charged to research time and therefore, they keep it brief. However, for the small updates I did expect from my PM, these were lacking. When I did finally engage, my PM could not confidently tell me where we were on the journey and how much research time was remaining. Not being able to say things like 'we are 50%/60%/etc of the way through your project" made me lose confidence in this organisation. In addition to the above, the PM, who is supposed to act in my interests (EVEN after spending time briefing her on my goals), did not sound the alarm when it was clear 1 of my goals would not be met. I had to intervene and redirect the effort. This is bizarre to me - why was I doing so much work for a firm I hired? I feel that my project was mis-managed, thus leading to the second reason I am disappointed. Secondly, my 2 objectives did not have much overall progress / my actual goals were not achieved. Based on the initial conversations and clarifications spent at the beginning of the engagement, I expected more progress (even if they could not get to my exact goal, I do not feel they made significant progress for the allotted time). For example, while the summary report is lengthy, it is not clear (in plain, simple language) on which ancestors have been successfully verified versus which more research needed. While I did escalate this to a Manager and my report was re-reviewed, my overall impression with LegacyTree made me feel a bit like a number after the contract was signed. I did not feel like my target outcomes were kept at top of mind until I myself had to intervene. They spent time on 'bonus' areas of research which I did appreciate, but again, my actual documented targets were not met. Outcome: I did receive an output. The binder is sturdy and the original documents ordered were nice to have. However as stated above - the summary report can be confusing and repetitive (i.e. they included a reformatted copy of a family tree from ancestry.com as a result). Overall, while I can sense that the research talent is good, I am not sure if I will ever use this service again nor recommend it to a friend. For the price I paid, I am genuinely sad about the outcome.

The end results is a good outline. I expected better results for $4,500.00. Sincerely, Ann Voiles Hill

My goal in contacting Legacy Tree was to have research conducted and provide documents to apply for dual citizenship for Italy. This is in all the numerous correspondence. The Client Solution Specialist confirmed in writing "after researching your family connection and obtaining all necessary documentation". I contracted with Legacy Tree to research ancestors in Italy, specifically, great grandparents, then grandparents in the states. I had done some successful research on Ancestery.com to find the correct names of the great grandparents but did not have their birth information or town where they were born. I was also able to locate documents that stated my great grandfather never naturalized in the United States, thus I would be able to apply for dual citizenship. I am still waiting on this documentation from L. Tree. I also needed Legacy Tree to conduct research on my grandmother as well, which they did not due, because they stated "they ran out of time". I paid $2500.00 for 25 hours of research work. Yet they did not provide any time logs on the research. The goals for this project were very specific as the goals were written by the project manager assigned to my research. Why were the goals written by the project manager and never delivered on? I received some New York documents, 80 percent of these documents, I already had, but have not received any documents from Italy as of today. Now I wait. I hope Legacy Tree will continue to follow-up with my Italy documents. To date, no documents have been received. Please do not make the mistake I did. Hire a good Italian Dual Citizenship law firm to get all the documents you need. This would have to be my next step.