For those awaiting Y results

[E19463]

E19463 It seems there was a misunderstanding, I am also sorry that I was cross (upset with your comments); we have a misunderstanding here and I did not realise you were not a native speaker (I am not American by the way and so also sometimes misunderstand certain things). FTDNA attracts customers from all over the world and this type of mis-understanding can often occur .

English is not your 1st language E19463 and my post was probably complicated. Actually, your English is very good . I must also learn to write more clearly in such cases. It did not occur to me at first that you were European because of the quality of your English was so high. Understanding though is more difficult sometimes.

I will go through your posts thoroughly and try to work out what the problem is.

Also for chrfish I might have some information that is helpful to him as well.

Hello Alexandrina, I have really no hard feelings whatsoever!
I think the problem was rather my sentence "And no, he is definitely not the only one with problems as you can read an awful lot of complaints here in this forum."
That personalized the problems to chrfish.
What I meant was "And no, his problems are definitely not the only ones as you can read an awful lot of complaints here in this forum."
To clarify: No matter what kind of problems, there seems to be an underlying cause/root to all problems.
I mean, if there is a problem you as a company analyse it and take action to solve what causes the problem but in FTDNA's case there is only remedy to the symptoms by trying to sedate the customers by telling them stories and not interacting with them at the same level, on an equal footing.
One major sign that FTDNA is not willing to solve the cause of the problems is the fact that the problems are there for such a long time.
Maybe FTDNA needs to be forced to solve it's problems and I think that is what chrfish is trying to do. Like I said, he is the one fighting the battle for all of us, no matter what the specific problems are.
Thank you too, Alexandrina, for sharing with us your problems and showing solidarity by writing in this forum. The more we are, the louder our voice is.

[E19463]

That's a possibility.

If the shipping wasn't so out of control, I would be tempted to try 23andMe also. I'm thinking about calling and asking if they would consider adjusting the shipping fee. The rate is so exorbitant that it seems like a mistake.

Yes, mistake may also be a reason bearing in mind the excessive shipping cost. This reason was not on my "radar" and asking them is a very good idea! Thank you in advance for telling us their answer!

[Tali]

This is from the 23andMe website:

International orders are shipped by DHL and shipping times vary based on international customs procedures.

They ship by DHL and not USPS (United States Postal Service).

International customs procedures:

Your shopping cart will indicate the shipping charges associated with each of these shipping methods. All kits in a single order will be shipped to the indicated shipping address.

23andMe provides detailed instructions, pre-paid shipping supplies, and in some cases prepared documentation to assist with the uninterrupted return of your sample back to our contracted laboratory.

How are shipping costs calculated?
The shipping cost for each collection kit includes shipping to the recipient, guaranteed return shipping to the laboratory, handling, and additional transportation fees and customs duties where applicable.

[E19463]

They ship by DHL and not USPS (United States Postal Service).

Is there really that much of a price difference between this two competitors when it comes to shipping to foreign countries?

[Tali]

Is there really that much of a price difference between this two competitors when it comes to shipping to foreign countries?

Absolutely! Family Tree charged me $10 for shipping.

[Sarmat]

23andMe charges $92.95 just for shipping!!! FT DNA only charges $10 for international orders.

If you have friends or family in the States, ship the kit to them and have them send or bring to you. Yeah, it adds some time, but it's much cheaper. I've carried kits in my luggage to Germany to test family.

But yeah, it would be much easier if 23andme had more reasonable international shipping prices.

[Sarmat]

But maybe 23andMe knows his limits of his capacity and wants to avoid to fall into the same trap as FTDNA by accepting too much samples from all over the world and building up such a huge backlog as FTDNA obviously did, so the shipping cost seems to be used as a deterrence by 23andMe. I cannot imagine any other reason for this excessive shipping cost, can you?

I think it's because for any countries besides the UK and Ireland, they ship only from California via DHL, which costs an arm and a leg. It doesn't really make sense, as they ship from a distribution center in the Netherlands when shipping to the UK and Ireland.

[MikeP]

Test

I'm checking to see if I'm still blocked. I tried posting yesterday. My first attempt disappeared after I was asked to reregister. My second went to moderation and never came back. The first part was defending FT's times for FF results. The second was noting that the y backlog seems to be increasing based on how few people are reporting getting results back.

[RCR]

I sent my kit in week after Christmas for the Y-DNA test 37-markers, and my expected date for results has been pushed back twice. I was thinking about upgrading to more markers, but not until FTDNA gets my first results back. I'm getting real irritated, and I'm known as a patient guy. Batch 603.

[Tenn4ever]

I sent my kit in week after Christmas for the Y-DNA test 37-markers, and my expected date for results has been pushed back twice. I was thinking about upgrading to more markers, but not until FTDNA gets my first results back. I'm getting real irritated, and I'm known as a patient guy. Batch 603.

I'm waiting on a cousin's kit for a Y111 upgrade in Batch 603 too but my main concern is another cousin's kit batched on 11/13 Batch 596 which hasn't come in.

RCR, I agree I definitely wouldn't order an upgrade until you get your Y37 results. You need to see what those results are first before you decide what to do or if you even want to order an upgrade.

[Tenn4ever]

That's a possibility.

If the shipping wasn't so out of control, I would be tempted to try 23andMe also. I'm thinking about calling and asking if they would consider adjusting the shipping fee. The rate is so exorbitant that it seems like a mistake.

I have several male cousins who have tested with 23&Me and a few female cousins too. There is no separate Y testing like on FT. The male cousins' haplogroup is given but no other results such as strings etc. Plus, one cousin told me that matches from the paternal line are not given either. You get atDNA matches. Plus, 23&Me results can not be transferred to FT because of the software they use.

[MikeP]

I saw a 602 almost two weeks ago. But there haven't been any from 602 or later since. That's why I posted that it seems as if the backlog is growing again ... there have only been a few 59x in that time frame - not enough I would think to balance the new kits being batched. I had hoped to get results in time to take advantage of the 15for15 coupon if another test seemed appropriate, but now it looks like the coupon will expire first ...

[Tali]

If you have friends or family in the States, ship the kit to them and have them send or bring to you. Yeah, it adds some time, but it's much cheaper. I've carried kits in my luggage to Germany to test family.

Great idea.

[E19463]

Absolutely! Family Tree charged me $10 for shipping.

How can DHL survive the competition with USPS if they are indeed that much more expensive?

[crhfish]

Well after all of my waiting and complaining, my results actually posted this morning. Batch 593, started October 1 2014. Everything I have tried to do on this forum has been in an effort to make FTDNA better. I just wish they would improve their system so that they can answer questions better. The folks I have communicated with have been fine but I think they are in the dark a bit themselves.

I have 7 matches at they y-67 marker so I do appear to be on track for a potential NPE. I have some digging to do.

Good luck everyone.