Batch 114 delay???

[Jim Denning]

Amen!!!! We all understand delays and most of us can roll with the punches. The good folks at FTDNA need to figure out a way to pass the word as suggested in the message above and let us know when delays occur and keep the best estimated date on our personal pages. This is only fair as many of us are trying to coordinate other research or activities and the DNA results may be a prerequisite to other work.

Thanks...Rick and John

ACTUALLY THATS WHAT THIS FORUM SECTION IS before they started it you didnt know when things were late or if it was just you
they gave you the schedule ,and each thread is about a batch

[jm138]

J1b...what am I?

Okay got the first run on my mom's side(Batch 114) and some historical stuff about settlers and traders etc. So what is a J1b and does that make me an alien? How do I find out my most recent ancestery from this information? I am waiting for my dad's side to come in, so in the mean time I will throw this one out there. Any info would be great!
jm

[litlnemo]

It doesn't make you an alien, but it makes you a cousin of sorts. I'm a J*. So we are both descended from a common ancestor: the founder of the Js.

[jmm45]

I don't know what the problem is but our sample in Batch 114 has now missed its Anticipated Date for the third time. We've done a number of samples in the past without any problems so this has us frustrated. Reading the other messages in this thread makes us think that there is some kind of resource problem in getting the work done. We've had some polite but vague general answers to two e-mail inquiries. It would be nice to be able to get some accurate info and even nicer to get our results. We have been contemplatating starting a larger study with these folks on another branch of the family but we are rethinking that based on the problems we are seeing.

[Jim Denning]

Okay got the first run on my mom's side(Batch 114) and some historical stuff about settlers and traders etc. So what is a J1b and does that make me an alien? How do I find out my most recent ancestery from this information? I am waiting for my dad's side to come in, so in the mean time I will throw this one out there. Any info would be great!
jm

LOL everyones an alien of some kind

[Jim Denning]

I don't know what the problem is but our sample in Batch 114 has now missed its Anticipated Date for the third time. We've done a number of samples in the past without any problems so this has us frustrated. Reading the other messages in this thread makes us think that there is some kind of resource problem in getting the work done. We've had some polite but vague general answers to two e-mail inquiries. It would be nice to be able to get some accurate info and even nicer to get our results. We have been contemplatating starting a larger study with these folks on another branch of the family but we are rethinking that based on the problems we are seeing.

its happened before usually around dec/jan and aug/sept combined with some problems , the increase of testees[a great thing] and other stuff
basicly that old bumper sticker is appropriate stuff happens. i have been there my 25 update was 4 times and i was up the wall. thats why i suggest doing it all first if you can relax sit back and take your mind off of it lol [easy for me heh] the whole watched pot thing

[douggill]

I agree JMM45

Hi Jmm45:

I am in agreement with your views. What bothers me the most is not delays in receiving test results rather it's the general business plan of this organization. It appears to be managed by scientists for the purpose of scientific research.
That is a significantly different corporate orientation form a business plan who's main purpose is to foster and develop genealogical research for it's clients. A couple of examples

1) go to the section titled research library and notice the last addition to this library is about a year old. Do you believe no scientific papers have been released in this last year. Maybe so but I doubt it.

2) My test results are in Batch 113 which is listed as being completed around July 21st. So far no results but worse no unsolicited communication as to the delay.

3) You would believe a company attempting to establish itself as the premier leader in genealogical genetic research would provide resources to assist clients in furthering their research. While several good organizational structures are in place (i.e., surname project, geographic location projects, and this forum) more can still be done, for example project coordinators for each haplotypes or subclads. Yes, it takes manpower but they need to realize their capital structure needs to be deep enough to corner the potential market of clientele. They truly lack Marketing skills and client relation skills. All of which is not done on the cheap.

Overall my feeling is this company could lose it's commanding position if it fails to understand it's real business purpose. Sort of an Apple Vs Microsoft battle where Apple thought it's own genius was enough to command a market, while Microsoft understood the genius lay in marketing to it's clients.
While I have been very harsh on FTMDNA it is only they are ploughing new turf and come from a scientific background. I just hope they can make the transition from a company of scientist excited about scientific output to a company who models it's operations on client satisfaction and growth.

Like you JMM45 before I bring in more family line members to FTMdna I need to see more commitment by them in organizing there delivery systems.

Take Care
Doug

[Jim Barrett]

You hit the nail on the head!

Hi Jmm45:
I am in agreement with your views. What bothers me the most is not delays in receiving test results rather it's the general business plan of this organization. It appears to be managed by scientists for the purpose of scientific research.
That is a significantly different corporate orientation form a business plan who's main purpose is to foster and develop genealogical research for it's clients. A couple of examples
Doug

Doug, you are exactly right. They are managed by scientists doing scientific research. Not only that, they are allowing us to be part of that research. This isn't like walking into a store and picking up a product. Not only are they doing research, they are doing research on samples collected by their customers. You didn't have to go to a lab and have professional collect your sample. Maybe the sample wasn't collected properly. Maybe it was contaminated. Personally, I rather have slow, reliable results than fast questionable results. If you didn’t want scientist doing scientific research you should have waited five or ten years. I say thank you to FTDNA for letting us be a part of this research and letting us have these answers this year rather than at some unknown time in the future. Busy yourself with research while you wait.

[jmm45]

Jim,

We think you are missing the point. One of our biggest collective problems is the lack of communication between the vendor and its customers as to the status of the customers' order(s). We know of no other such business relationship where the lack of order status seen here is accepted business practice. You say work on other research while waiting. Well, we have worked as much around our project as we can and are literally stalled pending the results we are waiting for of this test. We are all in favor of accurate, high quality results and no one is suggesting that this be compromised. What we want are more accurate schedules and timely notification when those expected timelines can not be met. If there is a resource problem, tell us. If it is truly a case of a rerun required due to quality control issues, tell us that. We don't want the generic "it might be this or might be that".

John and Rick

[Jim Barrett]

Jim, We think you are missing the point. We don't want the generic "it might be this or might be that". John and Rick

[dentate]

I am still waiting for two batch 111 results (my wife's HVR-2 and my uncle's SNP, which still gives an expected date of 6/23). Two weeks ago I contacted Eileen Krause about this. She has been very helpful in the past but in this case she was not able to tell me what was going especially with the SNP test (she did give me a week's heads-up before my wife's HVR-1 came back last week).

Each time I have communicated with Max, he has suggested that a rare and unusual technical problem has delayed the results. I think he is being straightforward, but has to go by wht the lab is telling him.

FTDNA consists of a business venture selling the services of a scientific laboratory. I think that their dependence on a university lab to provide their stock in trade, so to speak, is the problem. Believe me, I would dearly love to have frequent updates on what is going on with my samples. I am not sure that I know how they could do better, other than to ask them not to promise what they can't deliver.

I am trying out the services of another company, EthnoAncestry.com. This is geared more toward deep ancestry rather than recent family ties. They are a new start up, but so far, so good. They have kept me up to date on where my samples were; i.e. yesterday I received email notification that the samples were currently returning from the lab, that the personnel who would do the interpretation were out this week, so to expect the result in about two weeks. That kind of communication is very helpful, I think...

[jmm45]

Finally got our Batch 114 results in. Unfortunately they didn't work out the way we hoped they would but it helps to know who you aren't related to in your search to figure out who you are kin with. Good luck to all in your efforts. We are off to regroup and figure out where to go from here...
Rick and John

[Jim Denning]

i just posted in batch 101 it might help those with delays to read that whole folder
if i remember 96 or 97 had simular delays in dec and jan of that year