Processing Problems? Error in FF

[lazabby]

I manage the account for a friend. The results were sent in and the results came back a few days ago. Per the results my friend has no DNA relatives and there are no results in Family Finder (FF). I contacted customer support (who responded very quickly) and the contact person said "This is likely the result of the uniqueness of the test-taker's genetic signature." Huh? Out of the thousands of people in FTDNA's not a single person isn't even remotely related? I don't think so. This person has tested at 23andme and has about 1,000 DNA relatives ranging from a half sister to distant relatives. I wrote back to customer support and pointed that out and included information that the person's DNA had been uploaded to Gedmatch and has relatives there who tested at FTDNA including second cousins. I even sent the FTDNA kit numbers. I haven't heard back from customer support.

This makes me wonder about the quality controls in the testing. Something has definitely gone wrong with this particular test. My friend obviously had DNA relatives in FTDNA as proven by Gedmatch. I don't know if this is an individual case or if this is more wide spread.

[efgen]

Customer Support is still checking into whether there's an issue with this kit. They will respond when there's a further update to provide.

Something like this isn't simple to check on. If there is indeed an issue, it could either be a technical glitch or a lab issue. So it'll take some time to check into the possibilities.

Also, please be aware that Gedmatch has much looser matching thresholds than we do. You may see "matches" there who are not within our matching thresholds and therefore will not show up as a match in Family Finder. So the specific kit numbers that you provided will help Customer Support look into whether this is the case or whether something else is going on.

Thanks for your patience.

Elise

[lazabby]

Thanks for the update. Regarding Gedmatch, even with looser requirements, I would thing that a second cousin would show up in FF.

[I'm Hoppy]

I manage the account for a friend. The results were sent in and the results came back a few days ago. Per the results my friend has no DNA relatives and there are no results in Family Finder (FF). I contacted customer support (who responded very quickly) and the contact person said "This is likely the result of the uniqueness of the test-taker's genetic signature." Huh? Out of the thousands of people in FTDNA's not a single person isn't even remotely related? I don't think so. This person has tested at 23andme and has about 1,000 DNA relatives ranging from a half sister to distant relatives. I wrote back to customer support and pointed that out and included information that the person's DNA had been uploaded to Gedmatch and has relatives there who tested at FTDNA including second cousins. I even sent the FTDNA kit numbers. I haven't heard back from customer support.

This makes me wonder about the quality controls in the testing. Something has definitely gone wrong with this particular test. My friend obviously had DNA relatives in FTDNA as proven by Gedmatch. I don't know if this is an individual case or if this is more wide spread.

Could this be a problem caused by this persons "Match & Email Settings" in their Account Settings? I have seen other posts in regards to missing matches and it was due to these settings. Just a thought.

Hoppy

[lazabby]

The Match and Email Settings are set to show everything and everyone as best as I can tell. Good suggestion though.

[dna]

Errors do happen everywhere, but I was not (and still I am not) afraid that someone at FTDNA might drop it. However, as a part of standard research protocol we keep testing in pairs, so we can instantly verify the results.

In the case of your friend, if he does not see his half-sister, that is either an obvious error or a situation the scientists behind FTDNA would be very interested in (at least that is my imagination).

If his half-sister did not test at FTDNA, welcoming her here is highly recommended.

[lazabby]

Errors do happen everywhere, but I was not (and still I am not) afraid that someone at FTDNA might drop it. However, as a part of standard research protocol we keep testing in pairs, so we can instantly verify the results.

In the case of your friend, if he does not see his half-sister, that is either an obvious error or a situation the scientists behind FTDNA would be very interested in (at least that is my imagination).

If his half-sister did not test at FTDNA, welcoming her here is highly recommended.

The sister did not test at FTDNA but several cousins did. No one shows up in the FF. Not a singe individual. Since Gedmatch shows a number of individuals as relatives who tested at FTDNA, I would think they would show up under FF. At least the second cousins.

[dna]

The sister did not test at FTDNA but several cousins did. No one shows up in the FF. Not a singe individual. Since Gedmatch shows a number of individuals as relatives who tested at FTDNA, I would think they would show up under FF. At least the second cousins.

I understand that the story of this kit is a mystery. However, the second cousins are not guaranteed, half-sister is guaranteed.

The 2nd cousins can share as little as 80cM (242.8cM on average), and if common segments are spread over the pieces smaller than 1cM, then Family Finder will not mark them.

[lazabby]

I understand that the story of this kit is a mystery. However, the second cousins are not guaranteed, half-sister is guaranteed.

The 2nd cousins can share as little as 80cM (242.8cM on average), and if common segments are spread over the pieces smaller than 1cM, then Family Finder will not mark them.

I uploaded my friend's DNA results from FTDNA to Gedcom. She had tested at 23andme and I had uploaded her results to there months ago (see previous posts). Since her results from 23andme and FTDNA are both on Gedmatch then she should match herself, right? There is no match.

[lazabby]

A bit frustrating. Still no response regarding what the issue is. I called today and left a message.

[dna]

@lazabby

Seeing problems other users report here, why don't you try the following troubleshooting sequence:

• change some settings to more restricted ones
• logout
• wait an hour
• log back in and change every single setting to the least restrictive you can imagine (even if these are not the settings you might be using for her later on)
• logout
• wait and hour and re-check